>Look at the problems EARN has had with its officially recognized EARN >Technical Committee (or whatever it's call; I know it as EARNTECH). There is a misunderstanding here. The "EARN Technical Group" (I mean the "old", pre-EARN89 one) had never had any official status or definition; its only purpose was to make the Board feel good, as it would ask it to study the technical aspects of something, carefully listen to its technical recommendations, and then do exactly the opposite of what was suggested (but after having listened to the pro's and con's and haven taken them into account). The problem has been solved in EARN89 by defining the new "EARN Technical Committee" as being just anybody (from EARN) who wished to join. This group meets only once a year, during the EARN end-user meeting, and does nothing in particular except that members from the group are encouraged to form sub-groups to study specific technical topics and report to the Executive Committee('s wastebasket). Eric