Re: [Ietf108planning] Registration open for IETF 108

[Stephen Farrell <[e-mail]>]

Hiya,

On 11/06/2020 01:20, Colin Perkins wrote:
> I tend to view the fee as a reduced rate on the in-person IETF 
> meeting fee, since the meeting has to happen in a different format 
> due to the pandemic.

That is reasonable. It is equally reasonable to regard this
as an increase from zero to non-zero. That is why we need
a community debate, before, and not afterwards.

> As an exceptional case, that seems reasonable to me. If it becomes 
> the new normal, then clearly a broader community discussion will be 
> needed around the IETF funding model.

I don't think anyone has said that we need this revenue
now or else are in trouble. Thought has also clearly been
directed to preventing "unauthorised" access to IETF
meetings and materials. To me, those strongly imply
that this is not really perceived as a once-off, but that
relevant people do consider that we will continue charging
fees for remote registration. Again, that is not an
unreasonable proposition, but imposing it on the community
without debate is unreasonable.

Cheers,
S.