Re: IETF LLC & IETF Participation from USA-sanctioned countries

[Keith Moore <[e-mail]>]

In addition to the clarification that Fernando asked for, I guess I'd 
like to know (vaguely) whether this has been a problem in the past, 
maybe how many people have been turned away.

I'm guessing that there are other barriers in a similar category: do we 
have any  idea how many people haven't been able to attend meetings in 
person because of visa issues?

And perhaps also: do we have any idea how many people have been unable 
to participate remotely due to internet censorship in the countries 
where they were located?


(note: we don't need to try to address these problems at the moment, 
just trying to make the list of issues that limit participation 
reasonably complete.)


On 3/3/21 4:32 PM, Fernando Gont wrote:
> Folks,
>
> While studying the topic of diversity and inclusiveness in the IETF, 
> the question arouse about what are the implications of the IETF LLC 
> being registered in the USA.
>
> In particular, I'm concerned about the possible implications for 
> participants from USA-sanctioned countries or organizations.
>
> I asked a few people here and there, and was referred to this 
> document: 
> https://www.ietf.org/media/documents/IETF_LLC_OFAC_Compliance_Policy_2020-10-06.pdf
>
> That document contains text such as:
>
> ---- cut here ----
> Meeting Registrations
> The current automated meeting registration system can continue, but at 
> regular intervals, and no later than 30 days before the meeting 
> begins, the list of registered participants and financial institutions 
> associated with payment of registration fees must be checked (both for 
> individual names and country of domicile and residence).
> ---- cut here ----
>
> and
>
> ---- cut here ----
> Action
> The IETF Executive Director will work with IETF LLC counsel to 
> determine what action to take in each individual case. This may 
> include not pursuing the contractual relationship, revoking the 
> meeting registration, cancelling any existing contract or other action.
> ---- cut here ----
>
>
> I'm certainly not a lawyer, and hence I'd like an authoritative and 
> clear explanation about what are the possible outcomes of this "OFAC 
> Compliance Policy".
>
> For example, could it result in participants from Cuba, Iran, Myanmar, 
> North Korea, Sudan or Syria being rejected their registration, and 
> hence being prevented to participate in IETF meetings?
>
> If that were the case, I'm sure that we'd all agree that that would be 
> inappropriate, discriminatory, oppressive, and ultimately 
> unacceptable. I hope that that's not even a possibility.
>
> Could anyone please clarify this?
>
> P.S.: Besides sanctions on countries such as the above, there also 
> seems to be a whole list of people and organizations that are 
> sanctioned/banned: 
> https://home.treasury.gov/policy-issues/financial-sanctions/specially-designated-nationals-and-blocked-persons-list-sdn-human-readable-lists
>
> Thanks,