[Last-Call] Last Call: BCP 83 PR-Action Against Dan Harkins

[IETF Chair <[e-mail]>]

Following community feedback after various incidents, as documented below, the
IESG has initiated a posting rights (PR) action that would restrict the posting
rights of Dan Harkins, as per the procedures found in BCP 83 (RFC 3683).
Specifically, his posting privileges to these lists would be suspended:

* admin-discuss
* gendispatch
* ietf
* terminology

In the IESG's opinion, this individual has a history of sending emails that are
inconsistent with the IETF Guidelines for Conduct (RFC 7154) and thereby
"disrupt the consensus-driven process" (RFC 3683). Among these are contributions
that:

* Express racism in the form of denying, belittling, and ridiculing anti-racist
  sentiment and efforts

* Are rude and abusive, and often amount to insulting ridicule

(Links to examples of such emails sent to the lists above during the last two
years are provided at the end of this email.)

Multiple attempts have been made to enter into a private discussion with this
individual, both by IESG and community members, to communicate disquiet with his
conduct on the lists. These attempts to restore respectful and courteous conduct
on the lists have been rebuffed with communication that can be considered both
antagonistic and hostile, and the pattern of behavior observed has continued.

The IESG also notes that the following actions have already been taken in
response to the individual's actions:

* Two I-Ds were removed from the public archive due to their offensive nature:
  https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/draft-les-white-intersectional-dots
  https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/draft-les-white-tls-preferred-pronouns
  (following these links displays the tombstone notice explaining their removal)

* His posting rights were restricted on the admin-discuss mailing list:
  https://mailarchive.ietf.org/arch/msg/admin-discuss/ZANH2VPN-U8VMvvOWLb5l03FdCs/

* A final public warning was issued on the gendispatch mailing list:
  https://mailarchive.ietf.org/arch/msg/gendispatch/68a4amMa1aiaRUPzPGgXdiY9gHg/

None of the attempts to discuss his participation style or warn the individual
have led to any improvements. The IESG therefore believes that a PR action is
the correct response to his continued problematic behavior across a number of
different lists.

The IESG plans to make a decision in the next few weeks, and solicits final
comments on this action. Please send substantive comments to the
[e-mail] mailing lists by 27 October 2022. Exceptionally, comments may
be sent to [e-mail] instead. If sending private feedback to the IESG,
please indicate if you would be open to having your comments anonymized and
shared in a summary.

Please note: Comments should be limited to the criteria described in BCP 83,
notably on whether the individual in question has engaged in postings that are
"unprofessional commentary, regardless of the general subject" in a manner
disruptive enough to warrant this action.

Lars Eggert
IETF Chair, on behalf of the IESG
–-

Examples of problematic emails during the last two years include:

* https://mailarchive.ietf.org/arch/msg/gendispatch/zdq3F0PV40Cyw5ooj0orOWaYyUw/
* https://mailarchive.ietf.org/arch/msg/gendispatch/i-d7HlWgrkmrVlC7JZQSXDwIJCQ/
* https://mailarchive.ietf.org/arch/msg/gendispatch/YhPI9zZ_3xfidt5V-ORRnET36yY/
* https://mailarchive.ietf.org/arch/msg/gendispatch/B33zk8VfOYt4b4Cj-kIHXG3AXdg/
* https://mailarchive.ietf.org/arch/msg/gendispatch/d3iDS4WNkCJA3aMFnX2HjP4tsps/
* https://mailarchive.ietf.org/arch/msg/gendispatch/-On8AHrdnnCMlJOOyb1M1nlYMpk/
* https://mailarchive.ietf.org/arch/msg/terminology/n6UMvDuYLKmmvpP1ajICFvf634M/
* https://mailarchive.ietf.org/arch/msg/terminology/QCdjDbokmlARcwVqQ1TV3Rlz7eQ/
* https://mailarchive.ietf.org/arch/msg/terminology/X6OF0MBKAzyLhYaAfAxS6srXRNw/
* https://mailarchive.ietf.org/arch/msg/terminology/idJhG1MsLmKHyRlaAafcW2JF6Z8/
* https://mailarchive.ietf.org/arch/msg/ipsec/LoGSVatZ4EsYRq4K52rmvRZTndk/
* https://mailarchive.ietf.org/arch/msg/ietf/pl2lVqhtF4Z-0YuTjhCOmdyi1qE/
* https://mailarchive.ietf.org/arch/msg/ietf/DFgnF_j8py_eMBGI1IUFdMahTKw/
* https://mailarchive.ietf.org/arch/msg/terminology/T3oCpY3BbTNLXWAWsCnFvahRLUQ/
* https://mailarchive.ietf.org/arch/msg/admin-discuss/xLuz4WTCm5ibIiMVN5ID8OWsCI0/