Network Working Group Scott Bradner Internet-Draft Harvard University Intended status: BCP Updates: 4071 Expires: November 22, 2015 May 22, 2015 Updating the Definition of Term for IAOC Members draft-bradner-iaoc-terms-00.txt Abstract The start and end dates specified in BCP 101 for IAOC members has proven to be impractical. This memo updates BCP 101 to establish start and end dates for terms of IAOC members that will be more practical. In addition, this memo clarifies the term of the IAOC Chair. 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 November 22, 2015. Copyright Notice Copyright (c) 2015 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 (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 Bradner [Page 1] Internet-Draft IAOC Terms May 2015 described in the Simplified BSD License. 1. Background BCP 101 says "IAOC terms normally end at the end of the first IETF meeting of a year". ([RFC4071] Section 4.) Having the terms of the IAOC members expire at the end of the first IETF meeting of the year has proved impractical for the IAOC to carry out its business and to elect its Chair during the meeting week. For a number of years, the IAOC has fudged the issue somewhat by defaulting to an informal process of having the transition occur during the administrative plenary (as the IESG does). This informal arrangement violates the letter of BCP 101. But even this arrangement is problematic if the transfer happens after the IAOC's face-to-face meeting that happens during the week. For a number of years, the IAOC's meeting has been on the morning of the administrative plenary so the incoming IAOC members, while present, are not seated even with the informal arrangement. Having the new IAOC members take office after the face-to-face meeting has caused difficulties in the chair selection and voting processes during the IAOC's face-to-face meeting held during the same week. There has been confusion over who should vote in the chair election and on any business actions that require a vote of the Trustees. If the incoming members are not seated then they should not vote, for example, to select a chair for the next year yet they, more than the outgoing members, should have a say in the chair selection. There is also confusion over who is eligible to be elected as chair - if the term of an IAOC member has not yet started could that IAOC member be elected chair (since the chair is selected from among the members) Having the terms expire at the end of the week also risks the IAOC not being able to raise a quorum if outgoing members decide to not come to the meeting. Since the IAOC members are the Trustees of the IETF Trust the same issues arise with the IETF Trust and its ability to carry out its business and elect a Chair during the meeting week An additional issue with BCP 101 is the current definition of the term of the IAOC Chair. BCP 101 says "The term of the IAOC chair shall be one year from the time of selection or the remaining time of his or her tenure on the IAOC, whichever is less". Since the dates for the first IETF meeting of the year vary from year to year the current BCP 101 text could result in there being no IETF chair in weeks before the a meeting or in overlapping terms for IAOC Chairs. 2. BCP 101 Update Bradner [Page 2] Internet-Draft IAOC Terms May 2015 This memo adds a requirement that the IAOC hold a face-to-face or teleconference meeting during the first IETF meeting of each year during which the IAOC members select an IAOC Chair and conduct other business as needed. This memo updates BCP 101 to define that that the terms of IAOC members normally run from the start of the IAOC face-to-face or teleconference meeting held during the first IETF meeting of a year until the start of the IAOC face-to-face meeting held during the first IETF meeting of the year in which his or her term ends. This memo updates BCP 101 to define that the term of an IAOC member that is selected to fill a vacancy runs from when the appointment or selection of the IAOC member is announced on the IETF Announce list until the start of the IAOC face-to-face or teleconference meeting held during the first IETF meeting of the year in which his or her term ends. This memo also updates BCP 101 to start that the term of the IAOC Chair runs from when the Chair is selected by the IAOC members until the start of the next IAOC face-to-face or teleconference meeting held during the first IETF meeting of a year. Since the IETF Trust Agreement defines Trustees of the IETF Trust as "then-current member[s] of the IAOC", ([Trust Agreement] sections 3.1 and 6.1) the above change also resolves the issues with selecting a Chair of the IETF Trust during a face-to-face or teleconference meeting of the Trustees during the first IETF meeting of a year. 3. Security Considerations This memo relates to IETF process, not any particular technology so it does not impact the security of the Internet. 4. References 4.1. Normative References [RFC4071] Austein, R and B. Wijnen, "Structure of the IETF Administrative Support Activity (IASA)", BCP 101, RFC 4071, April 2005. [Trust Agreement] "IETF Trust Agreement", http://www.ietf.org/trust/IETFtrustAgreement20051208.pdf, December 2005. IANA Considerations Bradner [Page 3] Internet-Draft IAOC Terms May 2015 This memo requires no action by the IANA. [this section should be removed for publication] 5. Editor's Addresses Scott Bradner Harvard University 8 Story St. Cambridge MA, 02138 Phone: +1 617 495 3864 EMail: sob@harvard.edu Bradner [Page 4]