the 0 default thing is frankly ridiculous - what happens if you are delayed because of a traffic accident, and so on? No 1 hour is fine as is thank you, if an opponent feels insulted thats his problem. Never was insulted by anybody turning up late for me. Sounds like political correctness gone mad.

MilenPetrov wrote on 12/17/08 at 21:18:38:

I might accept a 0 min. default rule in an elite event, if the sponsors demand it. Though personally I think it's OK to allow a few minutes late arrival even there. As a spectator I certainly prefer a game starting late to a game not starting at all (i.e. 1-0 default).

But the FIDE president wants to allow no exceptions, and that means even small local swisses and leagues must default players after 0 min. in order to be FIDE rated! There is litte sponsorship or audience involved in such games; where amateurs play for their own enjoyment. This rule would be pointless in such games, since most people are there to play chess, not to get a free point. If you travel to an away league game the whole trip would be for nothing if either you or your opponent is a few minutes late! This is simply unacceptable and I hope the Exexutive Board members come to their senses.

When I took a chess arbiter course, the teacher repeated several times a main principle for deciding cases where the FIDE rules are not clear: If in doubt, try to ensure as far as possible that games are decided by the actual position and moves made on the board. The same principle should apply here.

P.S. A tennis match can reach lengths comparable to a chess game, and they have rules for toilet breaks. There is no point torturing players with no toilet breaks for 7 hours. It is also useful to leave the board occasionally to rest and stretch out, if you force the players to sit for hours you will get weaker play, and that can't possibly be the goal. Football and hockey have much shorter playing periods (45 and 20 minutes, respectively) and are not relevant here.

As far as I am aware the idea of increasing the K factor is because there is a proposal for 6 rating lists per year to be issued. That will cause lowering the ELO increase during a period. Initial idea is to increase K with K+20. But it still not accepted and should be approved on the Presidential Board. 
About the delays... I fully accept that no delays should be allowed. Let me explain why... Imagine a football match where one team is not present at the begining and arrives in 80th minute. Then scores one goal and wins the match. Completely unacceptable. Why the spectators spent their money... Just to see an empty stadium... So I agree that if the sponsors spend some money (even in open tournaments) they want to see the players playing and not walking around or drinking coffee or beer. I am a smoker but I could also accept that leaving playing hall should be forbidden during the game. Just imagine.. in a football or hockey match one of the players goes to the bar or toilet... Nonsense.... So i see the rationale behind those decision and think that they will make us more disciplined and respectful of the organizers and sponsors.
Would be glad to hear another opinions... Certainly this theme should be continued...

I am more concerned about the default time of 0 if local tournament organizers decide to blindly parrot that.  That is fine for professional tournaments, and probably appropriate. But for local amateur tournaments where you are often rushing to a game after work, some grace time is essential.

There's a discussion, which I can't locate right now, at the English Chess Forum, but here http://www.ecforum.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=543 is a summary, albeit by an opponent