Updates to RFC 2418 Regarding the Management of IETF Mailing Lists
draft-wasserman-rfc2418-ml-update-01

Network Working Group                                       M. Wasserman
Internet-Draft                                                ThingMagic
Expires: August 1, 2004                                    February 2004

    Updates to RFC 2418 Regarding the Management of IETF Mailing Lists
                 draft-wasserman-rfc2418-ml-update-01.txt

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 August 1, 2004.

Copyright Notice

    Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2004).  All Rights Reserved.

Abstract

    This document is an update to RFC 2418 that gives WG chairs explicit
    responsibility for managing WG mailing lists.  In particular, it
    gives WG chairs the authority to temporarily suspend the mailing list
    posting privileges of disruptive individuals.

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Table of Contents

    1.  Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  3

    2.  Specific Changes to RFC 2418 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  3

    3.  IANA Considerations  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  4

    4.  Security Considerations  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  4

    5.  Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  4

    6.  References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  4
    6.1   Normative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  4
    6.2   Informative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  4

        Author's Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  5

        Intellectual Property and Copyright Statements . . . . . . . .  6

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1.  Introduction

    As written, RFC 2418 [RFC2418] gives WG chairs more authority to
    manage face-to-face discussions than to manage mailing list
    discussions.  In face-to-face meetings, the WG chair has the
    authority "to refuse to grant the floor to any individual who is
    unprepared or otherwise covering inappropriate material, or who, in
    the opinion of the Chair is disrupting the WG process."  However, RFC
    2418 does not give the WG chair the authority to suspend the mailing
    list posting privileges of an individual who is similarly disrupting
    WG mailing list discussions.  RFC 2418 explicitly requires full IESG
    approval for this action.

    This document is an update to RFC 2418, section 3.2.  It gives WG
    chairs the authority to temporarily suspend the posting privileges of
    disruptive individuals, without IESG approval.

2.  Specific Changes to RFC 2418

    The following paragraphs supersede the last paragraph of RFC 2418,
    section 3.2:

    As in face-to-face sessions, occasionally one or more individuals may
    engage in behavior on a mailing list which, in the opinion of the WG
    chair, is disruptive to the WG process.  Unless the disruptive
    behavior is severe enough that it must be stopped immediately, the
    WG chair should attempt to discourage the disruptive behavior by
    communicating directly with the offending individual.  If the
    behavior persists, the WG chair should send at least one public
    warning on the WG mailing list.  As a last resort and typically after
    one or more explicit warnings and consultation with the responsible
    Area Director, the WG chair may suspend the mailing list posting
    privileges of the disruptive individual for a period of not more than
    30 days.  Even while posting privileges are suspended, the individual
    must not be prevented from receiving messages posted to the list.
    Like all other WG chair decisions, any suspension of posting
    privileges is subject to appeal, as described in RFC 2026 [RFC2026].

    This mechanism is intended to permit a WG chair to suspend posting
    privileges of a disruptive individual for a short period of time.
    This mechanism does not permit WG chairs to suspend an individual's
    posting privileges for a period longer than 30 days regardless of the
    type or severity of the disruptive incident.  However, further
    disruptive behavior by the same individual will be considered
    separately and may result in further warnings or suspensions.  Other
    methods of mailing list control, including longer suspensions, must
    be approved by the IESG or carried out in accordance with other
    IESG-approved procedures.

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3.  IANA Considerations

    This document makes no request of IANA.

    Note to RFC Editor: this section may be removed on publication as an
    RFC.

4.  Security Considerations

    This document describes a modification to the IETF process for
    managing mailing list discussions.  It has no security
    considerations.

5.  Acknowledgements

    This document reflects a discussion that was held on the MPOWR
    mailing list in December 2003 and January 2004.  In particular, the
    following people contributed ideas that influenced this draft: Harald
    Alvestrand, Dave Crocker, James Kempf and John Klensin.

    This document was written using the xml2rfc tool described in RFC
    2629 [RFC2629].

6.  References

6.1  Normative References

    [RFC2026]  Bradner, S., "The Internet Standards Process -- Revision
               3", BCP 9, RFC 2026, October 1996.

    [RFC2418]  Bradner, S., "IETF Working Group Guidelines and
               Procedures", BCP 25, RFC 2418, September 1998.

6.2  Informative References

    [RFC2629]  Rose, M., "Writing I-Ds and RFCs using XML", RFC 2629,
               June 1999.

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Author's Address

    Margaret Wasserman
    ThingMagic
    One Broadway, 14th Floor
    Cambridge, MA  02142
    USA

    Phone: +1 617 758 4177
    EMail: margaret@thingmagic.com
    URI:   http://www.thingmagic.com/

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Acknowledgment

    Funding for the RFC Editor function is currently provided by the
    Internet Society.

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