Re: "An open letter" signed by some IAB members

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I agree completely with Andrew's position. I only wish I'd been the one to
write this. A few additional comments below.

Andrew Sullivan wrote:

> On Tue, Nov 19, 2019 at 02:42:04PM +0800, Barry Leiba wrote:

> > 1. By being signed by four IAB members who are identified primarily as
> > IAB members, the letter *appears* to be from the IAB.  I have passed
> > this by three non-IETF friends, asking them who they think the letter
> > is from, and all three said, “The Internet Architecture Board.”

> I am entirely unwilling to speculate about worldwide interpretation
> trends of texts based on the sample, "Three friends of Barry Leiba
> under uncontrolled questioning."  Please don't stand on that kind of
> sample as anything other than the worst kind of anecdata.

FWIW, I asked a couple, and they both said "Ted Hardie", and looked at me like
I was nuts for asking.

> > 2. By using “Member, Internet Architecture Board” this way, those
> > signing the letter are effectively (whether by intent or not) using
> > their IAB positions to gain credibility for their personal opinions.

> Or else they are presenting evidence that a community that the audiece
> might otherwise respect decided that these were people who had a thing
> or two to say about how the Internet works.  That seems to me
> important because …
 
Exactly. To the extent anyone actually knows what the IAB is and what it means
to be appointed to it, it's help to know that something was said by someone on
it.

> > I think this is wildly inappropriate.

> … I think it is wildly appropriate.  The _very point_ of the IAB is
> that it is not subject to consensus rules that the IETF is.  I think
> it would indeed be inappropriate for people to use their affiliation
> with the IESG this way: the IESG _does_ speak for the IETF.  But the
> IAB does not, and that not-speaking-for role is in fact part of the
> _point_ of having the IAB at all.

> If IAB members cannot tell people, "I have this view and, by the way,
> my community appointed me to this August Body precisely so that I
> would have views and say them," then I am mystified what we want the
> IAB for except simple constitutional duties.  If the IAB exists to be
> the Governor General[1] of the IETF, then we should change its
> charter.  But I don't think that's the IAB job today, and I think its
> members need to be able to be clear under what title they have an
> opinion.

What we as individuals might want the IAB to be is of no relevance here, the
issue is what the IAB *is*. 

				Ned

> Best regards,

> A

> [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Governor_General_of_Canada


> --
> Andrew Sullivan
> [e-mail]