Network Working Group J. Klensin Internet-Draft July 5, 2010 Updates: BCP 101 (RFC4071, RFC4371) (if approved) Intended status: BCP Expires: January 6, 2011 Streamlining the IETF Administrative Support Activity (IASA) draft-klensin-iasa-streamline-00.txt Abstract There have been many opportunities to examine the functioning of the IETF Administrative Support Activity (IASA) since its creation in 2005 and the subsequent addition of the IETF Trust to its scope. Suggestions to do so have generally not progressed, in part because of constraints imposed by the IETF Trust. Those constraints have now expired. The IASA has often fallen short of the expectations about openness and transparency called for in BCP 101, with members of the IAOC and IETF Trust claiming excessive workload as a major cause of that problem. This document proposes to change the workload requirements. Status of this Memo This Internet-Draft is submitted in full conformance with the provisions of BCP 78 and BCP 79. Internet-Drafts are working documents of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). Note that other groups may also distribute working documents as Internet-Drafts. The list of current Internet- Drafts is at http://datatracker.ietf.org/drafts/current/. Internet-Drafts are draft documents valid for a maximum of six months and may be updated, replaced, or obsoleted by other documents at any time. It is inappropriate to use Internet-Drafts as reference material or to cite them other than as "work in progress." This Internet-Draft will expire on January 6, 2011. Copyright Notice Copyright (c) 2010 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the document authors. All rights reserved. This document is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal Provisions Relating to IETF Documents Klensin Expires January 6, 2011 [Page 1]
Internet-Draft IASA Streamlining July 2010 (http://trustee.ietf.org/license-info) in effect on the date of publication of this document. Please review these documents carefully, as they describe your rights and restrictions with respect to this document. Code Components extracted from this document must include Simplified BSD License text as described in Section 4.e of the Trust Legal Provisions and are provided without warranty as described in the Simplified BSD License. Table of Contents 1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 2. Proposal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 2.1. Members Appointed by the NomCom, IESG, and IAB . . . . . . 4 2.2. Member Appointed by the ISOC Board of Trustees . . . . . . 4 2.3. IESG Member . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 2.4. IAB Member . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 2.5. The ISOC President/CEO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 2.6. IETF Administrative Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 3. Transition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 4. Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 5. IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 6. Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 7. Normative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Author's Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Klensin Expires January 6, 2011 [Page 2]
Internet-Draft IASA Streamlining July 2010 1. Introduction There have been many opportunities to examine the functioning of the IETF Administrative Support Activity (IASA) since its creation in 2005 and the subsequent addition of the IETF Trust to its scope. Suggestions to do so have generally not progressed, in part because of constraints imposed by the IETF Trust. Those constraints have now expired. The IASA has often fallen short of the expectations about openness and transparency called for in BCP 101 [RFC4071] [RFC4371], with members of the IAOC and IETF Trust claiming excessive workload as a major cause of that problem. This document proposes to change the workload requirements. There is no guarantee that a change in the workload for individual members of the IAOC will improve transparency and communication with the community. If the workload is really the cause of infrequent and inadequate minutes or other lapses, this specification should fix that. If it is not, the proposal will create opportunities for: o Better matches of people and their skills to particular tasks. There is no inherent reason to believe that the right set of skills for the IAOC in its administrative oversight rule is the right set of skills for the IETF Trust and its intellectual property and legal administration role. Most tasks that benefit from shared knowledge between IAOC members and Trustees would benefit from broader exposure to the community even if that is slightly less efficient. o Understanding and fixing the real problems with lack of openness and transparency. It is hence desirable in its own right although perhaps less compelling if the workload issue does not exist.. 2. Proposal Modify BCP 101 as described more specifically in the subsections below. RFC 4071 provides for the different members of the IAOC to be selected using a number of different mechanisms. The IETF Trust Agreement and the update in RFC 4371 provides that the Trustees of the IETF Trust will be the same as the members of the IAOC. That was certainly the best idea at the time, but some of the considerations that led to it no longer apply and it appears that the workload is excessive, especially for people with other responsibilities inside and outside of the IETF. So the membership of the two bodies is now Klensin Expires January 6, 2011 [Page 3]
Internet-Draft IASA Streamlining July 2010 separated, as described in detail below for each of the categories of appointment or designation. 2.1. Members Appointed by the NomCom, IESG, and IAB The NomCom, IESG, and IAB will continue to appoint IAOC members as specified in BCP 101. At the same time, they will appoint Trustees for the IETF Trust, using the same procedures. At the discretion of those bodies and with agreement by the appointees, the same person may serve in both positions, but this is not a requirement. To the extent to which the appointing bodies believe that any of the problems with the IASA result from excessive workload for individuals, there is a clear advantage of appointing different people to the two roles. 2.2. Member Appointed by the ISOC Board of Trustees The ISOC Board of Trustees will continue to appoint an IAOC member as specified in BCP 101. Using the same procedure, or another procedure of their choosing, they will appoint a Trustee for the IETF Trust. They may choose to stagger the terms if they conclude that is desirable. At their discretion and with agreement by the appointees, the same person may serve in both positions, but this is not a requirement or recommendation. 2.3. IESG Member The IESG shall select, annually and at or immediately after the first IETF meeting of the year, one of their membership to serve on the IAOC. The IETF Chair shall serve, ex-officio, as a Trustee of the IETF Trust. The IETF Chair may serve in both roles at the discretion of the IESG. There are several reasons for the IETF Chair to serve in both roles, but, while the Trustee one is critical given the relationships involved (including the role of the General Area AD with regard to IETF Intellectual Property work), an incumbent Chair and sitting IESG should be able to make decisions about balancing workload and priorities for IAOC representation with other other IETF requirements. Within the term of the IAOC position, the appointee serves at the pleasure of the IESG. 2.4. IAB Member The IAB shall select, annually and at or immediately after the first IETF meeting of the year, one of their membership to serve on the IAOC and one to serve as a Trustee of the IETF Trust. The same person may serve in both roles at the discretion of the IAB. There are several reasons for the IAB Chair to serve in one or both roles, but, at the time the IAB appoints its Chair, the incoming Chair and Klensin Expires January 6, 2011 [Page 4]
Internet-Draft IASA Streamlining July 2010 sitting IAB should be able to make decisions about balancing workload, priorities for IAOC and Trustee representation, continuity, and other other IETF requirements. Within the terms of the two positions, the appointee serves at the pleasure of the IAB. 2.5. The ISOC President/CEO The ISOC President/CEO shall continue to serve, ex-officio, as a member of the IAOC. At the discretion of that individual and recognizing ISOC's historical role in holding and management of IETF resources, a different person may be designated to serve as Trustee of the IETF Trust or to act in that role when the ISOC President/CEO is unavailable. Any such designee or alternate serves at the pleasure of the ISOC President/ CEO. 2.6. IETF Administrative Director The IETF Administrative Director continues, unchanged, as an ex- officio non-voting member of both the IAOC and IETF Trust. 3. Transition Members of the IAOC who were appointed by the IESG, IAB, NomCom, or ISOC Board of Trustees as provided for in RFC 4071 shall continue in both roles until the ends of their current terms. If they find the dual roles burdensome relative to their available time and other commitments, they may resign from one, with the vacancy being filled as specified by RFC 4071 or the procedures of the appointing body. The IETF and IAB Chairs are expected to continue in their current roles (i.e., both the IAOC and Trustee positions, ex-officio) until the first IETF meeting of the calendar year after this specification is adopted unless the IESG or IAB choose to change the arrangements sooner. Should the ISOC President/CEO choose to appoint a designee or alternate to act as Trustee of the IETF Trust, that appointment may be made at any time after this specification is adopted. 4. Acknowledgements This document was derived from an earlier, narrower, proposal and is the result of extensive informal conversations within the IETF. Klensin Expires January 6, 2011 [Page 5]
Internet-Draft IASA Streamlining July 2010 5. IANA Considerations [[anchor10: RFC Editor: Please remove this section before publication.]] This memo includes no requests to or actions for IANA. 6. Security Considerations This document affects IETF administrative procedures and should have no effect on the security of the Internet. 7. Normative References [RFC4071] Austein, R. and B. Wijnen, "Structure of the IETF Administrative Support Activity (IASA)", BCP 101, RFC 4071, April 2005. [RFC4371] Carpenter, B. and L. Lynch, "BCP 101 Update for IPR Trust", BCP 101, RFC 4371, January 2006. Author's Address John C Klensin 1770 Massachusetts Ave, Ste 322 Cambridge, MA 02140 USA Phone: +1 617 245 1457 Email: john+ietf@jck.com Klensin Expires January 6, 2011 [Page 6]