





Network Working Group                                       M. Wasserman
Request for Comments: 3934                                    ThingMagic
Updates: 2418                                               October 2004
BCP: 94
Category: Best Current Practice


   Updates to RFC 2418 Regarding the Management of IETF Mailing Lists

Status of this Memo

   This document specifies an Internet Best Current Practices for the
   Internet Community, and requests discussion and suggestions for
   improvements.  Distribution of this memo is unlimited.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2004).

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.

Table of Contents

   1.  Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  2
   2.  Specific Changes to RFC 2418 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  2
   3.  Security Considerations  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  3
   4.  Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  3
   5.  References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  3
       5.1.  Normative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  3
       5.2.  Informative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  3
   6.  Author's Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  4
   7.  Full Copyright Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  5














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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 that, 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





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   be carried out in accordance with other IETF-approved procedures.
   See BCP 83 [RFC3683] for one set of procedures already defined and
   accepted by the community.

3.  Security Considerations

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

4.  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 document:
   Harald Alvestrand, Dave Crocker, James Kempf, and John Klensin.

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

5.  References

5.1.  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.

5.2.  Informative References

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

   [RFC3683]  Rose, M., "A Practice for Revoking Posting Rights to IETF
              Mailing Lists", BCP 83, RFC 3683, March 2004.














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6.  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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7.  Full Copyright Statement

   Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2004).

   This document is subject to the rights, licenses and restrictions
   contained in BCP 78, and at www.rfc-editor.org, and except as set
   forth therein, the authors retain all their rights.

   This document and the information contained herein are provided on an
   "AS IS" basis and THE CONTRIBUTOR, THE ORGANIZATION HE/SHE REPRESENTS
   OR IS SPONSORED BY (IF ANY), THE INTERNET SOCIETY AND THE INTERNET
   ENGINEERING TASK FORCE DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED,
   INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTY THAT THE USE OF THE
   INFORMATION HEREIN WILL NOT INFRINGE ANY RIGHTS OR ANY IMPLIED
   WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

Intellectual Property

   The IETF takes no position regarding the validity or scope of any
   Intellectual Property Rights or other rights that might be claimed to
   pertain to the implementation or use of the technology described in
   this document or the extent to which any license under such rights
   might or might not be available; nor does it represent that it has
   made any independent effort to identify any such rights.  Information
   on the ISOC's procedures with respect to rights in ISOC Documents can
   be found in BCP 78 and BCP 79.

   Copies of IPR disclosures made to the IETF Secretariat and any
   assurances of licenses to be made available, or the result of an
   attempt made to obtain a general license or permission for the use of
   such proprietary rights by implementers or users of this
   specification can be obtained from the IETF on-line IPR repository at
   http://www.ietf.org/ipr.

   The IETF invites any interested party to bring to its attention any
   copyrights, patents or patent applications, or other proprietary
   rights that may cover technology that may be required to implement
   this standard.  Please address the information to the IETF at ietf-
   ipr@ietf.org.

Acknowledgement

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







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