Update to RFC 3777 to Clarify Nominating Committee

Eligibility of IETF Leadership

Abstract

RFC 3777 specifies that "sitting members" of the IAB and IESG "may not volunteer to serve on the nominating committee". Since the time that document was written, the IETF Administrative Oversight Committee (IAOC) was formed; that body is not covered by RFC 3777. There is also ambiguity in RFC 3777 about whether ex officio members and liaisons are included as "sitting members". This document updates RFC 3777 to clarify the rules as they apply to members of the IAB, the IESG, and the IAOC.

Status of This Memo

This memo documents an Internet Best Current Practice.

This document is a product of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). It represents the consensus of the IETF community. It has received public review and has been approved for publication by the Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG). Further information on BCPs is available in Section 2 of RFC 5741.

Information about the current status of this document, any errata, and how to provide feedback on it may be obtained at http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc6859.

Copyright Notice

Copyright © 2013 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the document authors. All rights reserved.

This document is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal Provisions Relating to IETF Documents (http://trustee.ietf.org/license-info) in effect on the date of publication of this document. Please review these documents carefully, as they describe your rights and restrictions with respect to this document. Code Components extracted from this document must include Simplified BSD License text as described in Section 4.e of the Trust Legal Provisions and are provided without warranty as described in the Simplified BSD License.

1. Introduction

The "IAB and IESG Selection, Confirmation, and Recall Process: Operation of the Nominating and Recall Committees" document [RFC3777] defines the nominating committee process. On the nominating committee, it is important to include people who have the experience necessary to understand the IETF process: those individuals can bring a broader perspective to the nominating committee and will help ensure that the people it selects are better prepared to fulfill the roles. That said, one of the key points in the process and in the selection of the nominating committee is that the IETF wants to avoid having the IAB and the IESG be self-selecting. The selection of the nominating committee, therefore, excludes individuals who currently serve on the bodies to which the nominating committee selects seats.

RFC 3777 specifies that "sitting members" of the IAB and IESG "may not volunteer to serve on the nominating committee". Since the time that document was written, the IETF Administrative Oversight Committee (IAOC) was formed. Some IAOC members are selected by the nominating committee (see [RFC4071], Section 4), and that body is not covered by RFC 3777. There is also ambiguity in RFC 3777 about whether ex officio members, liaisons, and such are included as "sitting members". This document updates RFC 3777 to clarify the rules as they apply to members of the IAB, the IESG, and the IAOC, with the understanding of the intent of RFC 3777 as outlined above.

RFC 3777 does not exclude participation by working group chairs, IRTF research group chairs, members of directorates and special review teams, or members of other advisory bodies. This document makes no changes in that regard.

2. Replacement of RFC 3777, Section 4, Rule 15

The following paragraph replaces RFC 3777, Section 4, rule 15 in its entirety.

15. Any person who serves on any of the Internet Society Board of Trustees, the IAB, the IESG, or the IAOC, including those who serve on these bodies in ex officio positions, may not volunteer to serve as voting members of the nominating committee. Liaisons to these bodies from other bodies or organizations are not excluded by this rule.

3. Security Considerations

This is a procedural document, and it is entirely unrelated to security.

4. References

4.1. Normative References

   [RFC3777]  Galvin, J., "IAB and IESG Selection, Confirmation, and
              Recall Process: Operation of the Nominating and Recall
              Committees", BCP 10, RFC 3777, June 2004.

4.2. Informative References

   [RFC4071]  Austein, R. and B. Wijnen, "Structure of the IETF
              Administrative Support Activity (IASA)", BCP 101,
              RFC 4071, April 2005.

Author's Address

Barry Leiba
Huawei Technologies

   Phone: +1 646 827 0648
   EMail: barryleiba@computer.org
   URI:   http://internetmessagingtechnology.org/