[Techspec] RFC Author Count and IPR

Russ Housley <housley@vigilsec.com> Wed, 24 May 2006 17:37 UTC

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From: Russ Housley <housley@vigilsec.com>
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Cc: ipr-wg@ietf.org, techspec@ietf.org, rfc-editor@rfc-editor.org
Subject: [Techspec] RFC Author Count and IPR
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I am concerned that the current RFC Editor practice that limits the 
number of authors is in conflict with the IETF IPR policies.  The RFC 
Editor currently limits the author count to five people.  Recent IPR 
WG discussions make it clear to me that authors retain significant copyright.

In one of the working groups in the Security Area, there is a 
document with six authors on it.  I asked the WG chairs to reduce the 
author count in the hope of avoiding a problem down the road.  At 
that time, I was not aware of the copyright.  Now, I think I gave the 
WG Chairs inappropriate directions.

The IESG and the whole Internet Community needs clear direction on 
this issue.  I suspect that the IPR WG will be a part of the process 
to resolve it.  Also, the Tech Spec document, which is currently in 
Last Call, many need to include a requirement that the RFC Editor 
explicitly acknowledge copyright holders in some fashion.

Russ


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