> From: "Robert Elz" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> > Certainly the way the IETF works, in all regards, is different to
> > most other organisations - not having any real defined members as
> > such makes a difference.
> If you recall, the notion that the IETF has no members changed when
> ICANN arrived on the scene. At the IETF meeting in Sweden, when,
> ICANN was recruiting followers for the PSO, the IETF, W3C and
> ETSI were considered equals. Apparently, the IETF people objected
> and noted that ETSI has a small number of members. Someone else
> apparently noted that the IETF has no members, and is therefore
> smaller than ETSI. In order to become part of ICANN, the IETF had
> to quickly talk out of the other side of its mouth and claim to have
> thousands of members.
Reread what Robert said -- there's a big difference between not having a well
defined "is a member of" test and not having any members. Any contributor to
the IETF is effectively a member of it.
Ned
