Response to WG last call, Problem Statement: Thoughts on the IETF problem statement

[Romascanu, Dan (Dan)]

>As an example of a successful standards organization that 
>has sliding fees, one can consider IEEE.  To participate in 
>IEEE standards voting, individuals pay $35/yr to join the standards organization 
>and from $25 to $147/yr to join the IEEE, based on location 
>and status.  One must also request membership in the balloting 
>pool. 

I am afraid that this information is not accurate, at least in what concerns IEEE 802. 
 
There is no individual fee 'to join the standards organization' in order to become a voting member in an IEEE 802 WG. There are some attendance conditions however (participating in two of the last four meetings). See http://grouper.ieee.org/groups/802/802%20overview.pdf for details. There is a registration fee for most of the meetings, usually lower than the IETF registration fee. 
 
 
>'Neither IEEE nor INCITS prohibit non-paying people from participating and contributing, just from voting.'.  

This also not accurate for the IEEE 802 case, as the IEEE documents are not freely available, unless you participated at at least one meeting.
 
Of course, what is a  'successful standards organization'  is also a relative matter. Personally I think that both the IEEE and the IETF have each their success stories and their horror stories. 
 
Regards,
 
Dan
 
  
 
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