[LEAPSECS] Cheating means more planning, not less

Rob Seaman seaman at noao.edu
Sun Dec 28 09:45:27 EST 2008


I wrote:


>> The ITU has a responsibility to consider options with a long term

>> future.


Poul-Henning Kamp writes:


> ITU has no such responsibility:

>

> 1 The purposes of the Union are:

>

> a) to maintain and extend international cooperation

> among all its Member States for the improvement and

> rational use of telecommunications of all kinds;

>

> [...]

>

> (http://www.itu.int/net/about/basic-texts/constitution/chapteri.aspx)

>

> If leap-seconds impeede telecommunications, ITU has a responsibility

> to get rid of them.



1) An organization with a limited scope (telecommunications) should
not control a standard with a much broader scope (timekeeping).

2) All organizations have an implicit responsibility not to pursue
shortsighted agendas. If an option has no long term future, the ITU
certainly has no business considering it.

Rob



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