Yes the ocean is a procedural environment; just like any other controlled piece of sky we operate in. You seem to have missed the point here. A flight plan is filed which includes a full routing description so why the need to get a seperate clearance for just one part of it? If it is your flight planned route it is your flight planned route .........period. All the controlling centres will have a copy of your flight plan so what is the story? If, for example, you are late running or there is a projected conflict down track then a simple reclearance would be given to you enroute, just like anwhere else in the world. We now have acars clearances so why the need for a full readback and clog the airwaves. The clearance procedures across the pond haven't changed since the comet!!! Even the continued use of HF radio. Come on that was used in WW2 !!!! Just because we have done something ever since Adam and Eve walked the earth does not mean we should keep doing it. Why aren't we using SATCOM? Also the datalink trials have taken far too long. Years, when other areas have only taken months. Someone, somewhere is stalling the program and I suspect it is job related . The Atlantic is a sorry mess.