I am pleased to see this discussion emerge finally.  I raised it
quite a while ago in a statement appearing in the SOPA newsletter
when I served on the SOPA Board.  The board did not take up this
issue in any of the many deliberations or meeting I attended..  The
response to my comments and questions in the newsletter was
underwhelming -- NOT a word or a whisper.
 
To add another dimension to the discussion, I have worked in "other
countries" - and on occasion witnessed the "local professionals"
engaging in activities that not only blatantly violated explicit SOPA
standards, but in specific instances I observed acceptable acts (in
the context of fully sanctioned and officially permit-granted
archaeological excavations) that if done in my home state of North
Carolina would result in arrest on a Class H felony!  Not any
archaeological standards but by state law.  I cited this instance at
a formal Board meeting and was asked if I has participated.  I said
that I had not and in fact was sufficiently outraged that I abrupted
terminated the US portion of the work, conceivably jeopardizing any
future opportunities to work there again.  That non sequitur
question ended the topic.  The discussion was immediately
directed away by the chair, avoiding the relevant issue.  What does
ROPA do when the archaeological standards of the host country clearly
violate the standards which (as corrected pointed out) are
substantially designed to operate in the USA.  The fact that there
may be other nations whose standards are similar is irrelevant to the
issue of whether ROPA is to become the global archaeological police
in the many nations where standards are not similar.
 
I won't support any organization that is convinced it has an absolute
right to do so.  Advocates of ROPA haven't addressed such issues
sufficiently, if at all.  Until this happens, I'll vote "no" a priori.
I fully expect that a small voting turnout with result in the
dedicated ROPA core carrying the vote.  I am a charter member of
SOPA, but the unresolved issues of ROPA, such as its
clouded vision of the international issues, scare me.  So, if ROPA
carries, I will have be convinced to change my mind about joining,
which at this moment, I am strongly inclined NOT to do.
 
Irv Rovner
Binary Analytical