Re: [Din] kick-start the discussion on DINRG charter revision

[Mallory Knodel <[e-mail]>]

Hi,

On 3/22/23 1:27 PM, Melinda Shore wrote:
> On 3/22/23 2:58 AM, Mallory Knodel wrote:
> > I do not believe the two topics— blockchain and internet 
> centralisation—
> > are enough alike to justify a simple recharter the DINRG.
>
> dinrg was not chartered as a blockchain-focused group, but people hear
> "decentralization" and immediately think blockchain and distributed
> ledgers, so that's largely, but not entirely, what we got.
>
> <snip>
>
> FWIW it was often frustrating that it was assumed that dinrg was a
> blockchain research group and while we did get participation from
> projects using DHTs and whatnot I do think that that incorrect
> understanding tended to limit what was actually done.  I like the
> overall direction of the new proposed charter.
>
Decentralisation means many things and I, too, have felt frustrated by 
it only meaning blockchain for years. We may be past this era now and 
DINRG may be one of many unfortunate artifacts of the time when 
decentralisation meant blockchain to nearly everyone, but it especially 
meant blockchain for the vast majority of participants in the RG.

I don't know what the intentions were of the chartering process the 
first time, but I do know that the history of the meetings gives a 
distinct sense that most if not all presentations and list discussion 
have ended up being about blockchain. That of course very obviously 
follows from the old charter, which mentions a lot of issues and 
specific projects related to blockchain. It does not, very notably, 
discuss issues of centralisation.

So intentionally or unintentionally (though I just demonstrated strong 
evidence of the intention) what actually happened was DINRG proceeded to 
discuss blockchain projects and related issues and amassed subscription 
to the list accordingly. Re-chartering would mean that the list, meeting 
history, and drafts remain intact based on the old charter.

There is likely broad support for the centralisation work. It should go 
through a chartering process.

-Mallory

-- 
Mallory Knodel
CTO, Center for Democracy and Technology
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