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

[Eliot Lear <[e-mail]>]

Hi Adam,

On 02.10.22 11:12, Adam Roach wrote:
> For what it's worth, the SAA team has a formal policy of handling 
> matters of "uncivil commentary and disruptive behavior" off-list 
> unless and until the poster persists in their behavior. See 
> <https://github.com/ietf/Moderators/tree/main/email-templates>. 
> Subsequent actions are publicly announced, because they carry at least 
> nominal consequences for the people being disruptive, and because the 
> community has historically demanded a radical amount of transparency 
> when anything like that happens.

Two point heres:

  * I think it was a mistake to delegate this function away from the
    chair.  It is the chair and the IESG who are accoutable to NOMCOM,
    and the chair in particular is a voice of authority on behalf of the
    IESG and the IETF.  There is nothing like having the parent in the
    room, rather than people who report to mommy or daddy.  Yes, I know
    chairs don't want to play that role.
  * I am not sure a broadcast message is the appropriate way to inform
    the community of an action.  For one thing, it leads to endless
    debates, like this one ;-)  And that in turn pulls us further afield
    from what we should be talking about- networking.

> As your anecdote demonstrates, these kinds tools are already entirely 
> within the purview of WG chairs (and their analogs for other mailing 
> lists). The introduction to BCP 83 explicitly calls out that actions 
> of this sort have historically been undertaken, and does nothing to 
> remove permission for them to continue to be applied to this day. 

As long as the chair has them in the toolkit, that's fine- I'll confess 
I'm not an expert on this aspect of IETF process.  My issue with BCP 83 
has to do with steps 2, 3, and 5 of the process.  2 and 3 are not 
necessary, and the community needn't make a decision about an 
individual.  It's a poor use of our time, and subjects the individual to 
humiliation.  We should stop that.

Eliot