Internet-Draft Internet Architecture Board (IAB)
Expires November 21, 2001 L. Daigle, editor
Category: Best Current Practice
draft-ietf-poisson-pso-appointments-00.txt
May 21, 2001
IETF ICANN Protocol Support Organization Appointments Procedures
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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Abstract
This document specifies the process by which the IETF appoints its 2
representatives to ICANN's Protocol Support Organization's Protocol
Council (PSO-PC). Additionally, mechanisms that the IETF will adopt
for identifying candidates for the PSO's appointments to the ICANN
Board of Directors are specified. This process specification
reflects 2 years of IETF experience with ICANN, the PSO-PC and the
PSO organization, since their inception in 1999.
Updates [RFC2282].
1.0 Introduction
The ICANN Protocol Support Organization (PSO) is defined by a
Memorandum of Understanding (PSO MoU), [RFC2691], which in turn
defines the structure and requirements of a "Protocol Council" (PSO-
PC) made up of representatives appointed by the PSO MoU signatory
organizations. The PSO MoU also stipulates that the PSO-PC will
nominate an ICANN Director each year.
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Two separate selection/appointment roles are discussed here. The
reader is referred to the ICANN By-Laws (available from
http://www.icann.org) and the PSO MoU for the precise definitions of
the support organizations and roles. In short, ICANN has a "Protocol
Support Organization", which is an abstract entity made up of several
signatory standards development organizations. The IETF is one such.
To coordinate the communications and activities of the PSO, the
participating organizations appoint 2 people to the Protocol Council
(PSO-PC), which then acts as the communications nexus between the
participating organizations and ICANN. The first process discussed
here is for the selection of IETF members on the PSO-PC.
Separately from that, the PSO, through the PSO-PC, is tasked with
naming 3 members for the ICANN Board of Directors (1 per year, for 3
year terms, staggered). Individual participating organizations (such
as the IETF) can propose candidates for consideration. The second
process described in this memo is for the selection of potential
candidates for ICANN Board seats.
Therefore, this document specifies the processes by which the IETF
appoints its 2 PSO-PC representatives, and selects candidates for
consideration for the PSO ICANN Board of Directors appointment.
Insofar as the latter is seen as a task for the IETF Nominations
Committee, this document is an update of the IETF NomCom procedure
defined in [RFC2282].
2.0 Experience -- PSO-PC members and ICANN Board appointments
Two years of experience with the PSO-PC as a functioning entity has
made it clear that the primary role of PSO-PC members is to act as
liaisons from their appointing organization. The PSO-PC itself does
not do technical deliberations or policy-making, beyond the actions
specified in the RFC 2691 and acting as a clearing house for PSO MoU
signatories' combined input and consensus. The PSO-PC currently
undertakes its activities through scheduled teleconferences, and
holds an annual general assembly, normally scheduled in conjunction
with one of the PSO signatories' meetings.
Originally, one of the IETF's PSO-PC appointees was an IAB member,
and the other was not. Subsequently, the latter was selected by the
IETF NomCom to serve on the IAB, which provided the opportunity to
evaluate whether direct communication with the IAB improved the
effectiveness in the PSO-PC role. The conclusion is that it's best
to have established communication links with the IAB/IAB members,
though IAB membership itself is not a requirement.
The role of a member of the ICANN Board of Directors is much the same
as that of any corporation, with the associated statutory
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responsibilities. Additionally, the PSO as a whole aims to ensure
that ICANN has people with strong Internet technical knowledge on its
Board, and any IETF-proposed candidate should be chosen with that in
mind. The IETF's standard process for selection, through its
Nominations Committee ([RFC2282]), is considered the most appropriate
for soliciting candidate proposals and selecting the best fit with
these requirements.
3.0 IETF PSO-PC member appointment process
The primary role of a PSO-PC appointee is to participate in the PSO-
PC interactions with ICANN, as described in the PSO MoU. In acting
as a representative of the IETF's participation in the PSO,
appointees are responsible for liaising with the IAB on technical
matters requiring PSO input, and otherwise keeping the IAB up to date
on the state of the PSO.
As part of its mandate for appointing external liaisons for the IETF
(see [RFC2850]), the IAB is tasked with appointing PSO-PC members for
the IETF.
Normally, the IAB will appoint PSO-PC members for a 2 year term, with
each position coming up for renewal/replacement in alternate years.
The IAB may recall/change an appointment at its discretion. In
accordance with the PSO MoU, the IAB will consider any candidates
proposed as a result of the PSO-PC's/ICANN's call for nominations,
posted concurrently with the posting of notice of the date of the
annual meeting of the PSO General Assembly on the PSO Web Site.
4.0 IETF identification of potential ICANN Board member candidates
As an addition to the responsibilities of the IETF Nominations
Committee defined in RFC 2282, the NomCom shall also be responsible
for selecting the IETF's proposals for Board candidates to be
considered by the PSO-PC. This shall be done by the usual NomCom
procedure of a public call for nominations, discussion and selection
of the best candidate(s) matching the requirements defined by the PSO
MoU (e.g., geographic representation). The NomCom will use as much
as possible the procedures defined in RFC 2282.
The IAB shall be responsible for confirming the selection(s) of the
NomCom. If any or all of the NomCom's selections are not accepted by
the IAB, the NomCom shall select alternative(s).
The PSO-PC chooses one ICANN Board candidate annually, for a 3 year
term, in time for the candidate to take up their seat in October.
The NomCom's selection should be scheduled to coordinate with the
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PSO-PC's call for candidates, typically in June of every year.
Therefore, the IAB will inform the NomCom chair as to the number of
candidates the IETF will put forward to the PSO-PC no later than
March 1.
If any PSO-appointed Board seat should be vacated early, the IAB may
call upon the standing NomCom to select candidates for consideration
as a replacement.
5.0 Security Considerations
As this document deals strictly with appointments processes, it is
not expected to have any impact on network security.
6.0 References
[RFC2691] Bradner, S., "A Memorandum of Understanding for an ICANN
Protocol Support Organization", RFC 2691, September 1999.
[RFC2282] Galvin, J., "IAB and IESG Selection, Confirmation, and
Recall Process: Operation of the Nominating and Recall
Committees", RFC 2282, February 1998.
[RFC2850] IAB, B. Carpenter (ed), "Charter of the Internet
Architecture Board (IAB)", RFC 2850, May 2000.
8.0 Authors' Addresses
Leslie L. Daigle (editor)
EMail: leslie@thinkingcat.com
Internet Architecture Board
EMail: iab@iab.org
Membership at time this document was completed:
Harald Alvestrand
Ran Atkinson
Rob Austein
Fred Baker
Brian Carpenter
Steve Bellovin
Jon Crowcroft
Leslie Daigle
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Steve Deering
Sally Floyd
Geoff Huston
John Klensin
Henning Schulzrinne
IAB [Page 5]
