Re: Last Call: <draft-bradner-rfc3979bis-10.txt> (Intellectual Property Rights in IETF Technology) to Best Current Practice

[Jari Arkko <[e-mail]>]

Stewart,

Thanks again for your comments. Inline:

> In the body of this document you say:
> 
> j. "Internet-Draft": a temporary document used in the IETF and RFC
>      Editor processes, as described in [RFC2026].
> 
> RFC2026 states that the drafts are removed from the directory, implying
> that after that time they are not available. Whilst that never really
> reflected reality, the IETF through its tools system actively makes these
> documents available in perpetuity. Given the legal nature of this draft
> we ought to properly note the permanent availability of these temporary
> documents.

OK. Do you have a text suggestion, or would dropping “temporary” in this
context be sufficient?

> Section 5.3.3 specifically calls out ADs but there are many others who
> fall into the same category: the GEN_ART team, the directorates of
> other areas such as SEC and OPS, and of course regular contributors that
> only read an out of area RFC when they need to use its contents.

Fair point.

> If the text is specifically going to call out ADs it ought to also call
> out those that help ADs as part of their review process.
> 
> The test says:
> 
>   An IPR disclosure must list the numbers of any issued patents or
>   published patent applications or indicate that the disclosure is
>   based on unpublished patent applications.  The IPR disclosure must
>   also list the name(s) of the inventor(s) (with respect to issued
>   patents and published patent applications) and the specific IETF
>   Document(s) or activity affected.
> 
> In some cases that is simply impractical. For example one might
> know that IPR was filed at a previous employer, for example
> because you were on the patent review panel, but of course
> would no longer have access to the documents to tease out the
> exact identity of the patent. All that we can expect by the first
> stage discloser, perhaps filing a third party disclosure, is as
> much information as they still have available.

Right. Is there a possibility to have a different rule for 3rd party and
“regular” declarations?

> In section 7 you state
> 
>   When adopting new technologies, the participants in an IETF working
>   group are expected to evaluate all the relevant tradeoffs from their
>   perspective. Most of the time these considerations are based purely
>   on technical excellence, but IPR considerations may also affect the
>   evaluation and specific licensing terms may affect the participants'
>   opinion on the desirability of adopting a particular technology.
> 
> There is a catch 22 problem with this text and later text in the section.
> The IPR situation may indeed affect an adoption decision, but the WG
> is not allowed to discuss the terms of the licence. In some cases the
> terms of an encumbered technology may be just fine, but
> contributors making an adoption decision cannot form a view
> on this as part of the IETF process. So you can end up with
> one partly saying yes because of IPR, another saying no
> because of IPR and neither allowed to explain their position as
> part of the IETF process.

Good point. But I see no way around that. There are plenty of
good reasons why negotiation about license is not a good
idea to do in IETF.

Also, end results matter. If a draft fails to be adopted,
I’ve seen companies post not just updated drafts but
also updated declarations that ultimately led to adoption.

That’s a fine mode of operation, and one way out of your
catch-22.

Jari