gagging *IX directors re snoop/block orders

Fri Feb 17 17:19:32 UTC 2017

> On Feb 17, 2017, at 16:46, Patrick W. Gilmore <patrick at ianai.net> wrote:
> 
> There is one problem: The article is factually incorrect on multiple points.

It would be interesting to know what points those are, it reads mostly accurately
to me.

> The proposed constitutional changes are in the public domain.

The main problem, though this point may have gotten lost in the very long
discussion on the LINX members list, is that the reasoning and motivation for
the changes was not made clear. Even when explanatory materials were
belatedly provided, they weren’t especially clear.

So instead of saying, "we have this new spying law in the UK and we need
to rejigg the decision-making at LINX so we will be ready in case we are
required to do something that must be kept secret" what was proposed to
the membership was, "we have embarked on this long governance journey
and this is what we have come up with as the best way to run LINX". Those
are two very different propositions, especially for busy people who don’t have
time to read in detail and understand all the implications.

All that I suggested is that the members be properly informed so that they
can make this choice with their eyes open. It is important to have this
discussion in the open, and explicitly mark the transition where Internet
Exchange Points re-organise themselves to accommodate spying laws and 
gag orders.

William Waites
Laboratory for Foundations of Computer Science
School of Informatics, University of Edinburgh
Informatics Forum 5.38, 10 Crichton St.
Edinburgh, EH8 9AB, Scotland

The University of Edinburgh is a charitable body, registered in
Scotland, with registration number SC005336.