Re: IETF / UN

On Fri, 12 Oct 2007 16:41:40 -0400
Matt Larson <mlarson@verisign.com> wrote:

> On Fri, 12 Oct 2007, Eastlake III Donald-LDE008 wrote:
> > 	"But the UN is a government--"
> > 	"No it isn't," Martin insisted, "It's a talking shop.
> > Started out as a treaty organization, turned into a bureaucracy,
> > then an escrow agent for various transnational trade and standards
> > agreements. After the Singularity, it was taken over by the
> > Internet engineering task force. It's not the government of Earth;
> > it's just the only remaining relic of Earth's governments that your
> > people can recognize. ..."
> > 
> > Singularity Sky, by Charles Stross, ISBN: 0-441-01179-9, Ace Books.
> > From page 281 of the July 2004 paperback edition.
> 
> We're already on the edge of on-topic and this comment has the risk of
> sending us spiraling off, but everyone really must immediately stop
> whatever you're doing to go out and buy and read everything by Charles
> Stross.  You won't regret it.
> 
Indeed.

A few years ago, I dropped him a note and mentioned that that line was
quite popular in the IETF.  He replied

	As it happens I'd be quite surprised if the IETF or something
	like it *doesn't* end up running the planet one of these days.
	(Running the planet being a thankless infrastructure
	maintenance task, after all.)

		--Steve Bellovin, http://www.cs.columbia.edu/~smb

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