Yes this inevitably leads to another instantiation of the Grande Olde
Religious War on Settlements. However now the folk who are religiously
tainted towards supporting the continued viability (or even absolute
necessity in some versions of the War) of zero dollar interconnection
now have the added hurdle of demonstrating how they can also solve the
routing table scaling issues as a basic precursor of demonstrating
that Zero Dollar settlements (aka free transit) is a Good Thing.
Good luck and may the force be with them.
And the forum in which this will happen? Personally I'm of the view
this is not an area which naturally lends itself to the open processes
of NANOG and the IETF. The most likely scenario is that the forum will
either be smoke-filled back rooms or elevated views on the 150th
floor, or both.
And no, this is not a completely comforting answer for many.
thanks,
Geoff