In Memory of Dr. Jonathan B. Postel, 1943-1998

[Robert Shaw <robert.shaw@itu.int>]

At http://www.gtld-mou.org/#postel

The Internet Policy Oversight Committee joins the world in mourning the
death, on October 16, 1998, of Dr. Jonathan Postel, a founding father of 
the Internet and the director of the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority.

As a direct result of the initiative by Dr. Postel and the Internet Society 
in 1996, our committee was formed originally as the International Ad Hoc 
Committee to undertake a restructuring of the generic top level domains of
the Internet. Some of us were fortunate enough to have known him for many 
years; others came to know him as an inspiring and legendary figure who 
provided wise counsel, mixed with humor and friendship, as we struggled to 
bring consensus to a subject that generated no small amount of controversy. 
Dr. Postel not only led us through the engineering thickets. He also quickly 
realized that the explosive growth of the Internet had brought in legal and 
political concerns that would radically change the way the Internet had operated 
in its first 25 years. In an astonishingly short time, he absorbed a crash course 
in intellectual property law, and was able to point the way to an entirely new 
foundation for the administration of the net. We had no quarrel with the 
description, by the Economist Magazine, of Jon's role in the Internet - god. 
Characteristically selfless, he never took such statements seriously. 

We share the sorrow of all involved with the Internet, and we extend our deepest 
sympathy to his family and colleagues. 

						The Policy Oversight Committee