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Proposed update to RFC 2418
So, I wrote a draft (attached) that proposes several
updates to RFC 2418 to give WG chairs the responsibility
and authority to ensure the quality of WG documents. It
also gives WG chairs (with AD approval) the authority to
removes offenders from WG mailing lists.
I'd be interested in any feedback you might have on
these changes. I haven't published this I-D yet, but
I am considering doing so before the -00 cut-off.
I'm also interested in any thoughts you might have about
how to move forward with these changes? Could we do this
directly with review on a public mailing list (maybe
solutions@alvestrand.no)? Or, do you think we'd need
to start a WG to make these types of changes?
Margaret
Network Working Group M. Wasserman
Internet-Draft Nokia Research Center
Expires: March 1, 2004 September 2003
Increasing the Authority and Responsibility of Working Group Chairs
draft-wasserman-rfc2418-update.xml
Status of this Memo
This document is an Internet-Draft and is in full conformance with
all provisions of Section 10 of RFC2026.
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This Internet-Draft will expire on March 1, 2004.
Copyright Notice
Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2003). All Rights Reserved.
Abstract
This document contains several updates to RFC 2418 designed to give
more responsibility and authority to IETF Working Group Chairs. In
particular, Working Group chairs are given the responsibility of
ensuring the technical quality, completeness and suitability of work
produced by their Working Groups, and the authority to refuse to
advance any work that does not meet the acceptance criteria for its
proposed publication level. Working Group chairs are also given more
responsibility and authority for the management of working group
mailing lists.
This document is not intended to be published as an RFC in its
current form, but instead to result in the publication of a new
version of RFC 2418 that includes the changes contained herein.
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1. Introduction
This document suggests five specific changes to the "IETF Working
Group Guidelines and Procedures" described in RFC 2418 [2]. The
intent of these changes is to give WG chairs the responsibility to
ensure the technical quality, completeness and relevance of work that
is produced by their Working Groups, as well as the authority to
refuse to advance any work that does not meet the acceptance criteria
for the proposed publication level, as described in sections 4.1 and
4.2 of RFC 2026 [1].
This document also gives WG chairs the authority to deal directly
with disruptive behaviour on WG mailing lists. In particular, chairs
are authorized to revoke mailing list posting priveleges, after
consultation with the responsible AD, rather than requesting IESG
action.
These changes are presented in the OLD/NEW format used to send
document changes to the RFC editor. Text in the OLD section will be
replaced by text in the corresponding NEW section. It is not
expected that this document will be published as an RFC in its
current form. Once we have reached consensus on a set of changes to
RFC 2418, that RFC should be updated accordingly.
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2. Changes to Section 6.1, WG Chair
OLD
Document development
Working groups produce documents and documents need authors. The
Chair must make sure that authors of WG documents incorporate changes
as agreed to by the WG (see section 6.3).
NEW
Document development
Working groups produce documents and documents need editors. The
Chair must make sure that editors of WG documents incorporate changes
as agreed to by the WG (see section 6.3). The Chair must also ensure
that WG documents are adequately reviewed by reviewers with expertise
in all applicable areas.
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3. Changes to Section 7.4, Working Group Last-Call
OLD
When a WG decides that a document is ready for publication it may be
submitted to the IESG for consideration.
NEW
When a WG decides that a document is ready for publication, and the
WG Chair believes that the document has been adequately reviewed and
meets the publication criteria for the proposed document level, the
WG chair may submit the document to the IESG for consideration.
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4. Changes to Section 7.5, Submission of documents
OLD
Once that a WG has determined at least rough consensus exists within
the WG for the advancement of a document the following must be done:
NEW
When a WG Chair has determined that rough consensus exists within the
WG for the advancement of a document and the Chair believes that the
document has been adequately reviewed and is appropriate for
publication, the following must be done:
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5. Changes to Section 6.3, Document Editor
OLD
As a general practice, the Working Group Chair and Document Editor
positions are filled by different individuals to help ensure that the
resulting documents accurately reflect the consensus of the working
group and that all processes are followed.
NEW
It is important that the Working Group Chair and Document Editor
positions are filled by different individuals to help ensure that the
resulting documents accurately reflect the consensus of the working
group and that all processes are followed. In rare cases, perhaps
due to a role change, a WG Chair may serve as a Document Editor, but
this should be avoided whenever practical.
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6. Changes to Section 3.2, Session Venue
OLD
As with face-to-face sessions occasionally one or more individuals
may engage in behavior on a mailing list which disrupts the WG's
progress. In these cases the Chair should attempt to discourage the
behavior by communication directly with the offending individual
rather than on the open mailing list. If the behavior persists then
the Chair must involve the Area Director in the issue. As a last
resort and after explicit warnings, the Area Director, with the
approval of the IESG, may request that the mailing list maintainer
block the ability of the offending individual to post to the mailing
list. (If the mailing list software permits this type of operation.)
Even if this is done, the individual must not be prevented from
receiving messages posted to the list. Other methods of mailing list
control may be considered but must be approved by the AD(s) and the
IESG.
NEW
As with face-to-face sessions occasionally one or more individuals
may engage in behavior on a mailing list which disrupts the WG's
progress. In these cases the Chair(s) should attempt to discourage
the behavior by communication directly with the offending individual
rather than on the open mailing list. If the behavior persists then
the Chair(s) must send at least one public warning on the mailing
list. As a last resort and after explicit warnings, the WG Chair(s),
with the approval of the Area Director, may request that the mailing
list maintainer block the ability of the offending individual to post
to the mailing list. (If the mailing list software permits this type
of operation.) Even if this is done, the individual must not be
prevented from receiving messages posted to the list. Other methods
of mailing list control may be considered but must be approved by the
AD(s) and the IESG.
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7. Security Considerations
This section is taken directly from RFC 2418, and would remain
unchanged in the new document.
Documents describing IETF processes, such as this one, do not have an
impact on the security of the network infrastructure or of Internet
applications.
It should be noted that all IETF working groups are required to
examine and understand the security implications of any technology
they develop. This analysis must be included in any resulting RFCs
in a Security Considerations section. Note that merely noting a
significant security hole is no longer sufficient. IETF developed
technologies should not add insecurity to the environment in which
they are run.
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8. Acknowledgements
This document was written using the xml2rfc tool described in RFC
2629 [3].
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Normative References
[1] Bradner, S., "The Internet Standards Process -- Revision 3", BCP
9, RFC 2026, October 1996.
[2] Bradner, S., "IETF Working Group Guidelines and Procedures", BCP
25, RFC 2418, September 1998.
[3] Rose, M., "Writing I-Ds and RFCs using XML", RFC 2629, June
1999.
Author's Address
Margaret Wasserman
Nokia Research Center
5 Wayside Road
Burlington, MA 01803
US
Phone: +1 781 993 4900
EMail: margaret.wasserman@nokia.com
URI: http://www.nokia.com/
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