GENWiki

Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) S. Bradner, Ed. Request for Comments: 7691 Harvard University BCP: 101 November 2015 Updates: 4071 Category: Best Current Practice ISSN: 2070-1721

                     Updating the Term Dates of
       IETF Administrative Oversight Committee (IAOC) Members

Abstract

 BCP 101 defines the start and end dates for the terms of IETF
 Administrative Oversight Committee (IAOC) members; these terms have
 proven to be impractical.  This memo updates BCP 101 to direct the
 IAOC to establish more practical start and end dates for terms of
 IAOC members.

Status of This Memo

 This memo documents an Internet Best Current Practice.

 This document is a product of the Internet Engineering Task Force
 (IETF).  It represents the consensus of the IETF community.  It has
 received public review and has been approved for publication by the
 Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG).  Further information on
 BCPs is available in Section 2 of RFC 5741.

 Information about the current status of this document, any errata,
 and how to provide feedback on it may be obtained at
 http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc7691.

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
 described in the Simplified BSD License.

Bradner Best Current Practice [Page 1]  RFC 7691 Term Dates for IAOC Members November 2015

Table of Contents

 1. Background ..................................................... 2
 2. Updates to BCP 101 ............................................. 3
 3. Security Considerations ........................................ 3
 4. Normative References ........................................... 3
 Editor's Address .................................................. 4

1. Background

 Section 4 of RFC 4071 [BCP101] says "IAOC terms normally end at the
 end of the first IETF meeting of a year."  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 improvised 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 takes place that week.  Under
 the informal arrangement, the IAOC typically meets on the morning of
 the administrative plenary, which means that the incoming IAOC
 members, while present, are not seated.

 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; however, to select a chair for the next year, for example,
 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 (as 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.  Because 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 length of the IAOC Chair.  RFC 4071 [BCP101] 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."
 Because 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

Bradner Best Current Practice [Page 2]  RFC 7691 Term Dates for IAOC Members November 2015

 IAOC chair for weeks before the a meeting or in overlapping terms for
 IAOC Chairs.

2. Updates to BCP 101

 This memo updates Section 4 of RFC 4071 [BCP101] to remove the
 following sentence:

    IAOC terms normally end at the end of the first IETF meeting of a
    year.

 Furthermore, the following requirements are added:

 1. The IAOC and the IETF Trust each hold a regular meeting close to
    the time of, or during, the first IETF meeting of the year.

 2. The IAOC and the Trust select their chairs as the first order of
    business in their individual meetings in a manner of their
    choosing.

 3. The IAOC determines the beginning and end of the normal terms of
    its members relative to the above mentioned IAOC meeting; such
    terms must start and end close to the time of this meeting, unless
    those determinations are made by the appointing bodies.

 A regular meeting has proper notice, minutes that are posted, and may
 be held face-to-face, via teleconference, or as a combination of the
 two.

3. Security Considerations

 This memo relates to IETF process and not to any particular
 technology, so it does not impact the security of the Internet.

4. Normative References

 [BCP101] Austein, R., Ed., and B. Wijnen, Ed., "Structure of the IETF
          Administrative Support Activity (IASA)", BCP 101, RFC 4071,
          April 2005.

          Carpenter, B., Ed., and L. Lynch, Ed., "BCP 101 Update for
          IPR Trust", BCP 101, RFC 4371, January 2006.

          <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/bcp101>

Bradner Best Current Practice [Page 3]  RFC 7691 Term Dates for IAOC Members November 2015

Editor's Address

 Scott Bradner
 Harvard University
 8 Story St.
 Cambridge MA, 02138
 United States

 Phone: +1 617 495 3864
 Email: sob@harvard.edu

Bradner Best Current Practice [Page 4]