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

[Terry Manderson <[e-mail]>]

> On 19 Nov 2019, at 2:42 pm, Barry Leiba <[e-mail]> wrote:
> 
> I think this is wildly inappropriate.  I think those of us in IETF
> leadership should be scrupulously careful NOT to call out our IETF
> affiliations this way unless we are speaking for the organization.
> The fact that the letter refers to things that have been published
> with IAB consensus doesn’t change the fact that the *letter* does not
> have IAB consensus, and we must be careful not to give the impression
> that it does.
> 

Wildly? I don’t share that view. Generally inappropriate - yes.

> happen again, and I hope the ensuing discussion supports that.
> 

The answer here, in my opinion, is fairly simple. 

If the IAB make a statement, we know what that looks like.

If a collective of individuals choose to make a statement then it is done with ALL of their credentials (with permission), or none of their credentials. If a company (as a part of their credentials list) decides to not allow someone to not include them, then I feel that person shouldn’t use any credentials aside from their own academic honorific.

This is something that was drummed into me years ago by a brilliant legal rep.
Simply; “you don’t speak for them, nor can you imply it, unless you have their express permission - removing some, but keeping others associates weight of support from an organisation” I remember those words so clearly.

Of course, YMMV.

Cheers,
Terry