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: [email protected]
  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-
  [email protected].

Acknowledgement

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







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