If a hold were to be place on a document, I think it would be wise to:
- require a explicit request from the body handling the appeal first
- the body handling the appeal should do a quick evaluation and make
an initial judgement as to the likelyhood of upholding the appeal,
and only hold up publication if it expects to uphold the appeal
- the body should consider whether publication needs to be delayed in
order to have a reasonable remedy, should an appeal be upheld
- there needs to be a specific and reasonable deadline for resolving
the appeal, so that the process does not drag out indefinitely
There are probably other factors to consider I'm not thinking of right
off. I'll also note that in the past, AFAIK, neither the IESG nor the
IAB have placed holds on documents pending appeals (e.g.,
SNMPv2). Doing so now would set a precedent that we need to think
carefully about.
Thomas