Re: [Gendispatch] New Version Notification - draft-eggert-bcp45bis-04.txt

[Lars Eggert <[e-mail]>]

Hi,

On 2021-9-25, at 4:47, Keith Moore <[e-mail]> wrote:
> 1.  From experience with several "moderation" events over the past few years, I believe the power to appoint SAAs (and by inference, to direct the SAAs) has been misused by IETF Chairs in the past on multiple occasions, such as to suppress useful input that the Chair at the time did not like.

under BCP45, the IETF Chair can directly restrict posting privileges of individuals or on a thread, without involving the SAA team or relying on their ability to appoint SAAs. You will find that BCP45bis removes this ability, because practice for a number of yers has been to let the SAAs operate independently.

>  I therefore believe that the IETF Chair should no longer be appointing or directing the SAA of the IETF list.   I believe that the SAAs should act as independent, generally neutral moderators whose decisions can be overridden by IAB, and that the SAAs should instead be appointed by the nomcom or perhaps the IAB Chair.

As has been suggested on this thread, if there is a desire for a more fundamentally respecification of how list moderation on the discussion list operates, this would be better handled as a separate work item.

> Separating the SAA function from IESG entirely would leave IESG freer to concentrate on providing technical direction and evaluating technical work.

Under BCP45 and BCP45bis, the IESG is not involved in the appointment or operation of the SAAs. This is - and AFIK has been - always handled by the IETF Chair.

> 2. The use of the term "unprofessional" remains problematic,

The term "unprofessional" appears once in BCP45bis, in a bullet item that is directly taken from BCP45.

> But I think it would better to not use the term at all, and instead of trying to exclude "negative" contributions, define positive criteria for what makes a constructive contribution to the discussion.

BCP45 chose to do both, i.e., describe which topics are appropriate and give examples of which are considered inappropriate. BCP45 retains that structure.

Thanks,
Lars