Re: [Gendispatch] New Version Notification for draft-thomson-gendispatch-rfc-derivatives-00.txt

[Martin Thomson <[e-mail]>]

I raised a question during the IETF 117 plenary.

> https://www.ietf.org/archive/id/draft-thomson-gendispatch-rfc-derivatives-00.html
> https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/draft-thomson-gendispatch-rfc-derivatives
>
> Abstract:
>
>    The IETF Trust holds rights to RFCs.  This document updates RFC 5377
>    to request that the IETF Trust change its licensing for IETF
>    documents to permit the creation of derivative works.

This is a relatively simple request, but - based on previous discussions on this subject - I'm sure it will be quite controversial.

Firstly, there is no plan (at least that I'm aware of) to fork the IETF or to take any RFC to another venue.  The authors are pursuing this work because we believe that it is the right thing to do. We believe that this change is consistent with the IETF mission and the principles of open standards that this community abides by.

More liberal licensing on RFCs will make it easier for people to continue with the maintenance of IETF work, especially when the IETF has no desire or ability to do so itself.

This would go beyond the excerpting licenses that are included in some RFCs (for example, RFC 6716), where people independently license their contributions independent of the license they grant the IETF Trust, or the inconsistent fair use carve-outs that are available in some jurisdictions.

Some people have observed that this makes it easier to copy IETF work with the intent of confusing the market.  We have requested the inclusion of what we think are reasonable conditions in the draft.  These conditions are targeted at the potential for misrepresentation and include a requirement to acknowledge the original and its authors, plus a stipulation that protocols use a different name.

The best defense against this sort of abuse is not copyright protections.  My non-legally-trained understanding is that the IETF cannot copyright a protocol anyway, only its specification can be protected. Our best defense is the quality of the work performed here and the excellent reputation of this institution.

If there is time on the (already packed) gendispatch agenda, I'd appreciate it if some time could be made for this topic.

Cheers,
Martin