Is the IP layer the right place to support location information

["EXT Sharman,Richard" <richard.sharman@roke.co.uk>]

I sent the following note a while back, but it got lost - here it is again
(slightly annotated):

>>>>
I'm not suggesting that extending capabilities at the IP layer is the only,
or even the best, solution to the requirement. I was just arguing that since
the IP layer is ubiquitious, and has some of the necessary mechanisms
already in place for (especially for authenticity and privacy) it would seem
natural to consider it [supporting location information].

 One could take the view that this [problem, providing location information
to users and requestors] is a transport, or even application layer function,
and simply make the requirement on network and link layers that they provide
the apppropriate mechanisms on which the services can be built. There seems
to be the need for some healthy discussion here. 

 Also, I agree that the requirement itself hasn't been totally articulated.
The evidence of the archive on this discussion group is ambiguous. On the
one hand it would be nice to have a few specific examples of services with a
compelling commercial justification, from which some generic capability
requirement could be extracted. Of course, if the business case is too
compelling it could lead to some short term, proprietary solutions which
might not be best in the long run. Again, this needs amplification. 
>>>>

regards, Richard Sharman