RE: [Geopriv] Irregularities with the GEOPRIV Meeting at IETF 68
"James M. Polk" <[email protected]>
| Newsgroups | gmane.ietf.general,gmane.ietf.geopriv |
|---|---|
| Message-ID | <[email protected]> |
At 04:31 PM 4/19/2007, Dawson, Martin wrote: >And there it is. > >You're going to have to justify the accusation, John. Barbara S has >already said she thinks she'll be constrained to deploying a system such >as this - so it's certainly not a hidden agenda on her behalf. Other >than that, it constitutes about 1% of the reasons for needing a location >protocol that works above IP. > >The conspiracy theory is quite simply wrong. energy and misrepresentation doesn't make things right either.... >Cheers, >Martin > >-----Original Message----- >From: John Schnizlein [mailto:[email protected]] >Sent: Friday, 20 April 2007 7:13 AM >To: GEOPRIV WG; [email protected] >Subject: Re: [Geopriv] Irregularities with the GEOPRIV Meeting at IETF >68 > >It is worth recalling that a subset of the AD's and GeoPriv Chairs >have pursued surprise changes to the advertised agenda before. > >The agenda of the GeoPriv WG meeting at IETF 57 was distinctly >different from the one advertised, with the inclusion of a >presentation by Jon Peterson on draft-ietf-geopriv-dhcp-lci-option at >the beginning. During Agenda Bash, I objected to the insertion of >this presentation without the knowledge of the authors, and was told >that the author not present had been told. Jon's presentation was a >well-organized ambush with slides in which he raised a wide variety >of "concerns" about the draft that he had not (for that matter never >did) post to the WG mailing list. On the day after the draft minutes >of the meeting were posted on September 23, 2003, I posted >clarification on the mailing list of the whitewash of the objection >to the inclusion of that ambush presentation. > >With modifications, that draft became RFC 3825, and represents the >then-consensus position that hosts should obtain and control >information about their geographic locations. The alternative that >may have been the hidden agenda at IETF 68 instead advocates that >control of a host's geographic location reside with the network >operator, and delivered through location servers. The only >"requirement" for these location servers appears to be the business >interests of their operators, following the model of existing >cellular telephone networks. Advocates for this server-centric model >have pushed a protocol called HELD, which may have been represented >as an IETF product (based on individual-submission drafts) to >operator groups. Some of the same advocates have also undertaken >attacks on RFC 3825 with arcane arguments about claimed differences >between "uncertainty" and the resolution of a (latitude, longitude) >location. After one of the chairs requested a draft to clarify the >meaning of resolution in RFC 3825, and the comments from IETF 67 were >incorporated into a WG-approved draft, the chairs have arbitrarily >labeled this draft: draft-ietf-geopriv-binary-lci-00 as "Awaiting >revision by author team". > >There is reason to suspect that the maneuvers in Prague are part of >an agenda to move control over a host's location from the host to the >network operator in order to create a business of providing it. >There is a pattern with implications on the outcome of the WG, not >just procedural lapse. > >John > >On Apr 18, 2007, at 8:59 PM, Ted Hardie wrote: > > > Howdy, > > I'd like to make some comments on the issues discussed below. >Before > > diving into the details, I'd like to make two meta-comments. First, > > I believe that the chairs' messages noted that they had received > > private messages > > of concern, and that their e-mail was expressed as a response to > > those messages. > > As chairs, it is their responsibility to take the community's > > concerns seriously > > and to respond to them. My reading of their response is that they > > believe > > that the IETF 68 meeting of GEOPRIV was sufficiently unusual that > > it requires us > > to be very careful to follow our standard procedures in following > > up the meeting, > > so that the overall process is obviously fair and is as transparent > > as possible. > > This serves the interests of those who were at the GEOPRIV >meeting at > > IETF 68, as well as those who participate but could not physically > > attend > > the meeting. Reading Cullen's response, it looks like he saw this > > as the > > chairs' impression and reaction as individuals; maybe that is part > > of it, > > but I believe is important to see this in terms of the view of the > > participant > > community (of which the Chairs certainly form part). I also > > believe that their > > suggested response is basically "do business as usual, and make > > sure that's obvious", > > which I believe is non-controversial as a way forward. > > Secondly, I believe that this response has picked up some style > > elements of the original chairs' message and exaggerated them, > > falling into quasi-legal language that hurts us as a group of folks > > trying to > > get this done. As I read the original message, the core is that > > there were three > > unusual aspects of the GEOPRIV meeting at IETF 68: the schedule > > changed, which > > had some unfortunate consequences; the meeting agenda changed more > > than usual; > > and the way the group made progress was at the far end of our > > process. Any > > one of those, alone, might be enough to cause us to want to be > > careful of the > > follow-up. All of them together are definitely enough. Rather > > than push against > > how any one of these points got to be, let's see if we can agree on > > the way > > forward. I think, honestly, we already do, and bogging down in how we > > got here is not that useful. As you'll see below I see some > > mistakes I made > > here, and I suspect others do as well. Let's learn from them and > > move on. > > > > At 1:23 PM -0700 4/18/07, Cullen Jennings wrote: > >> In the email below, the GEOPRIV chairs express serious concerns > >> about the process surrounding the GEOPRIV meeting at IETF 68 in > >> Prague. In particular, they allege: > >> > >> - That improper meetings occurred between the ADs and the working > >> group participants and that this "potentially harmed the integrity > >> and transparency of GEOPRIV and the IETF" > >> > >> - That there was "the appearance that there may have been an > >> attempt to manipulate IETF process to hold and predetermine the > >> outcome of consensus calls" on the part of the Area Directors. > >> > >> In the first place, the Area Directors take these concerns, and > >> grave allegations, very seriously. Area Directors who manipulate > >> schedules and agendas in order to predetermine the outcome of > >> consensus calls should, in our opinion, be summarily recalled, and > >> if the GEOPRIV working group chairs believe this transpired in > >> IETF 68, we urge them to pursue such a recourse. > > > > I urge them not to. Let's try to work this out without creaking > > into effect a never-used > > aspect of our process. Pushing it to that extreme looks contrary > > to our usual effort > > to achieve consensus; let's continue talking to each other > > instead. If either the > > Area Directors or chairs is no longer willing to talk about the > > problems and resolve > > them, I think we're in a sorry state. If we've gotten there, let's > > try and back away. > > > > > >> While we speak to the particulars in detail below, in short we > >> believe that our efforts before, during and after the GEOPRIV > >> meeting at IETF 68 were limited to encouraging a set of > >> participants to arrive at a consensus which was long overdue, and > >> did not extend to steering said consensus in any particular > >> direction. In this regard we do not believe we overstepped our > >> bounds, either in the letter or the spirit of the process. > >> > >> As indicated in my message of March 25, we agree with the GEOPRIV > >> chairs that the hums taken in prague need to be confirmed on the > >> mailing list. As we all know, the contents of a room in Prague are > >> not equivalent to an IETF working group; only formal decisions of > >> this mailing list are definitive for the working group. Too often > >> working group minutes are published and completely ignored, which > >> only leads to further discord down the road when participants > >> resist that to which they are presumed to have assented. This is > >> particularly important in this case because opinion in the room > >> was so closely divided. So in the interests of making progress, > >> please do review the results of Prague carefully! > >> > >> To the particular concerns of the GEOPRIV chairs: > >> > >> <> Agenda: The Area Directors did meet privately with members of > >> the GEOPRIV working group prior to the meeting at IETF 68. Indeed, > >> we met with as many stakeholders as possible, specifically to > >> ascertain how the group could move forward on a set of contentious > >> issues which had been unresolved for some time. > > > > As a participant, I volunteered to meet with James Winterbottom to > > discuss some > > of his concerns and to understand better how some aspects of his > > proposal helped > > advance the work of the group. Looking back over the email > > exchange leading > > up to that, I realize now that it would have better for me to add my > > willingness to talk to other folks with other points of view, as > > some other > > folks might have misconstrued my message as singling James out. > > Because I was serving on the IESG at the time, some folks might > > have misunderstood which hat I was wearing when I made that offer. > > I apologize for that, especially if > > that contributed to any of the feeling that one position was being > > favored. > > > > I think the same could be said for Jon and Cullen. Once they > > started meeting > > privately with folks from GEOPRIV to discuss how to move forward, a > > note > > to the group that they were looking for input on that would have been > > useful. In particular, it might have identified folks that Jon and > > Cullen > > didn't immediately recognize as "stakeholders", and it would have > > given > > those not at the physical meeting time to send email or otherwise > > contact > > them as ADs. I don't think that would have had a huge impact on the > > outcome, honestly, but it would have increased the transparency of > > what > > was going on. That goes to the point the chairs have made. In the > > middle > > of an IETF, jet-lagged and hyper-busy, I think we have to agree > > that this is an easy > > mistake to make. But I hope we can agree that an open call for > > input would > > be a good thing to be sure of in the future. > > > >> In the course of these meetings we solicited input on how progress > >> could be made at the meeting, and strongly encouraged working > >> group members to find a path to consensus. We came to believe that > >> focusing on core issues that were impeding progress, such as the > >> longstanding disagreement on an HTTP-based Layer 7 Location > >> Configuration Protocol (henceforth L7LCP) rather than ancillary > >> issues like location signing, would be the best use of working > >> group facetime. > > > > I'm not sure everyone sees location signing as ancillary; it's just > > momentarily > > less contentious. > > > > The reality is that the group was deadlocked on whether to do an L7LCP > > and remained so for a long time after the idea was first > > introduced. This > > was later exacerbated by a choice in which document to use as a > > baseline if > > the working group did take it up. This latter choice was bitterly > > contentious > > and had been so for some time. I agree with the choice to make > > resolving > > it a priority, but I also see the problem raised by the chairs: it > > was not the > > focus of the original agenda and some, but not all, of the folks > > going into the > > meeting knew that there would be a proposal to change the focus of > > the meeting. > > Since that level of agenda bash is unusual, you can see that as > > adding to a > > concern about transparency. > > > > There is always concern that decisions made in situations like that > > may be > > influenced by partisans packing the room with folks who are not > > typical > > participants. Whether that happened in this case or not, or on > > which side, > > is not really that important. The reality is that our processes > > have a way of > > handling that, by making sure that the mailing list is always used > > as the final > > decision-making venue for the working group. For less contentious > > issues, that can > > be a simple "Anyone disagree with the consensus of the room?". I > > believe > > that for contentious issues, more care may be required to state > > carefully > > what the proposal is and how consensus will be determined. > > > > I don't think the chairs' proposal for how to move forward requires > > more than > > that, and I don't see any issues inside the WG with that as part of > > the plan > > on how to move forward. > > > > > >> While it is certainly true that the Area Directors knew they > >> wanted to use the agenda time in GEOPRIV to make progress on core > >> issues, if necessary at the expense of existing agenda items, > >> there was no concrete agenda to that effect privately circulated > >> prior to the meeting, verbally or in writing, to our knowledge. In > >> fact, the agenda was bashed at the start of the GEOPRIV meeting by > >> a participant, albeit one whose counsel on making progress the > >> Area Directors had sought prior to the meeting. Critically, that > >> agenda bash was vetted by the room, as any other agenda bash would > >> be - this was not a change made by fiat of the Area Directors. We > >> strongly believe that there was a will in the room to prioritize > >> and resolve the issues which were bashed onto the agenda. We > >> furthermore took specific hums about the preparedness of the group > >> to make decisions about these issues, which under the > >> circumstances were required to proceed. > >> > >> <> Scheduling: There certainly were irregularities with the > >> scheduling of the GEOPRIV meeting at IETF 68. That much said, > >> scheduling the meeting track for the RAI Area is infamous, and > >> last minute changes in timeslot are hardly unheard of (we had a > >> similar one at the previous IETF). In this instance, the > >> scheduling problem was ultimately caused by the unavailability of > >> working group chairs. Two of the three GEOPRIV chairs, and one of > >> the two SPEERMINT chairs, were unable to attend IETF 68 at all. It > >> transpired that the SPEERMINT chair who could attend was unable to > >> make the SPEERMINT timeslot due to a family obligation elsewhere > >> in the world. As the GEOPRIV chairs note below, Henning > >> Schulzrinne had previously been identified as a stand-in co-chair > >> for GEOPRIV. We were thus left with the prospect of seeing > >> SPEERMINT go forward with no available chairs, versus GEOPRIV > >> going forward with at least one previously identified stand-in > >> chair. We thus made a last minute decision to! > > find the lesser of two evils by swapping the timeslots of the > > groups. This was a decision made at the last minute to find the > > lesser of two evils. We certainly didn't anticipate all of the > > ramifications this change would have in terms of attendance, and in > > retrospect, we may not have made the most best choice. The choice > > was not, however, motivated by a desire to prevent participants > > from attending either meeting. > > > > Thanks for your clear description. I'm sure that Andy didn't > > anticipate his arm getting > > broken prior to IETF 68, and we all recognize that these things > > happen. The concern > > that might be raised would be that Henning is strongly identified > > with one of the > > proposals that was being considered in the revised agenda, and he > > had never before > > been part of calling consensus in a GEOPRIV meeting. As has > > already been noted, > > Henning stepped away from that duty when his own topic was under > > discussion. > > Having been in the room, I can say that I did not see it as a > > problem at the time. > > I believe, though, that the chairs are telling us, at least in > > part, how it appeared > > to those who were not in the room. I think the right thing to do > > is acknowledge > > that is a potential perception, and let it guide us in how we > > implement the > > consensus call on the mailing list. > > > > > >> <> Consensus calls: There were indeed quite a few hums taken in > >> the GEOPRIV room in Prague. In fact, the manner in which the > >> meeting was run with regard to hums was not typical for this group > >> - hums were used liberally to hone in on areas where there was, > >> and was not, consensus. That much said, not all of the hums were > >> consensus calls on working group issues; quite a few hums were > >> also taken on how we should proceed, for example (taken from the > >> minutes): > >> - HUM : Are you informed enough to make this choice > >> - HUM: Is it important to solve that today > >> - HUM: Will the group accept a plurality for the decision? > >> > >> This last hum in particular represented an unusual step, as the > >> GEOPRIV chairs note. It was a step recommended by the author of > >> RFC3929 (a document on "alternative decision making processes for > >> consensus-blocked decisions") when we asked him how we might > >> proceed. We resorted to this step because the room felt (based on > >> a previous hum) that it was important to walk away from the > >> meeting with a resolution. > > > > I am the author of RFC 3929, and I did say that this was one way > > forward. This > > is not, however, exactly what RFC 3929 says. That sets out > > preconditions > > before alternative methods can be used: > > > > 3.1. There is a clear decision to be reached > > > > 3.2. Proposals are available in Draft form > > > > 3.3. The working group has discussed the issue without reaching > > resolution > > > > 3.4. There is an explicit working group last call to use an alternate > > method > > > > The hums in the room were not after an explicit working group last > > call to use > > an alternate method; they were after a hum in the room to use > > plurality > > rather consensus in order to make forward progress. I believe that > > the > > method used is within the spirit of 3929; more importantly, though, > > I think > > they are well within what a working group can use to drive consensus. > > All consensus requires compromise. The call in the room could be > > rephrased > > as: "Are you willing to compromise by adopting the other solution if > > it is the majority preference?" I think that was the spirit in > > which it > > was being asked, and I hope we can retain that spirit of compromise as > > we ask for confirmation on the list. > > > >> To one particular point: > >>> Cullen Jennings both called the consensus > >>> and cast the last and tie-breaking vote in the room. > >>> > >> > >> We feel it is important to clarify that Cullen Jennings did not > >> call the consensus in the room. Rather, both Cullen and Ted Hardie > >> were independently counting the tallies for the plurality in the > >> room (two counters were used for redundancy, with the side effect > >> that presumably we eliminated any chance of partiality); it was in > >> fact Jon Peterson as chair who called the consensus, on the basis > >> of those reported tallies. Furthermore, although Cullen Jennings > >> did cast a vote when the count in the room was completed and > >> discovered to result in a tie, this was not the tie-breaking vote > >> for the purposes of determining consensus. > > > > I note that I did not vote in any of the questions where I was > > tallying the answers. In > > the case where a tie was produced in the room I did say "Oh sh*t" > > loudly enough > > to elicit some nearby laughter, and it was after that that Cullen > > raised his hand. > > Having seen his face, I can thoroughly believe that it was > > frustration at the level > > of deadlock, and I was happy that counting the jabber room > > participants' positions > > resolved the question such that we could remove his vote from the > > tally. > > > >> In fact, votes from the Jabber room determined the plurality, and > >> the resulting tally did not favor the option for which Cullen had > >> voted. To the charge that > >> > >>> one of the hums was called on a question not described > >>> in an existing Internet-Draft. > >>> > >> > >> That can be said of all of the process listed hums above. We > >> aren't aware that process constrains us to make hums solely > >> related to questions within existing Internet-Drafts. > > > > I personally, don't think they do. But the number of hums, the > > fact that we were > > working from audible (rather than written) questions, and the pace > > of the meeting > > all contribute to the issue of whether everyone understood the full > > impact > > of all the questions being asked (especially those folks > > contributing remotely, > > since this is always a difficult task). This doesn't mean anything > > was done with > > ill-intent; it just highlights the need to follow up with well- > > worded consensus calls > > on the mailing list. > > > > As I said before, I am personally happy with the outcome of the > > calls, as they > > move us forward; I would have been equally happy, in many cases, > > with the > > other choices, as they would do the same. But I was at the meeting > > and could > > get a sense of the room. If the combination of unusual features > > related to > > the meeting has raised questions in the community, then I believe > > the chairs > > are right to respond to them and to ensure that we all recognize to be > > careful in our followup. That's not about blame, or an > > allegation. I's a > > practical statement of what it will take to keep all of the > > participants > > committed to finishing the work. > > > > I hope the chairs and ADs can come to a rapid and amicable > > agreement on > > that, and that we can all move forward quickly. > > regards, > > Ted > > > > > > > > > >> Cullen Jennings > >> Jon Peterson > >> RAI Area Directors > >> > >> > >> > >> On Apr 17, 2007, at 8:06 PM, Randall Gellens wrote: > >> > >>> All, > >>> > >>> We, the co-chairs of the GEOPRIV working group, have received > >>> private > >>> messages of concern regarding the GEOPRIV meeting held at IETF 68 > >>> and > >>> the outcome of that meeting. Upon initial investigation, we believe > >>> there were irregularities with the scheduling and agenda of the > >>> meeting that rise above the normal course of business within the > >>> IETF. It is our opinion that at this time, it is best to bring > >>> notice of these irregularities to the working group in the interest > >>> of transparency and for the integrity of the IETF. > >>> > >>> > >>> AGENDA CHANGE > >>> > >>> The IETF process allows for agenda changes during meetings. At the > >>> outset of the meeting, the agenda was changed substantially from the > >>> published agenda. This change included removing the discussion of > >>> location signing and integrity and replacing it with an L7-LCP > >>> protocol consensus call. However, evidence has arisen that the > >>> the Area Directors, Cullen Jennings and Jon Peterson, met > >>> privately with > >>> some participants of the GEOPRIV working group to inform them > >>> of this agenda change. Cullen Jennings is the Area Advisor to > >>> GEOPRIV. > >>> > >>> If such meetings did occur, we believe them to be improper and to > >>> have potentially harmed the integrity and transparency of GEOPRIV > >>> and > >>> the IETF. It is not proper for officiates of a working group to > >>> plan > >>> working group agenda changes and privately inform only select group > >>> participants. Doing so disadvantages participants of the working > >>> group who have not been advised of this change. This is especially > >>> true for this particular meeting as the agenda change > >>> precipitated 15 > >>> hums during the meeting. > >>> > >>> > >>> SCHEDULE CHANGE > >>> > >>> As noted ahead of time, two of the three co-chairs, Andy and > >>> Allison, > >>> were unable to attend IETF 68. The working group co-chairs planned > >>> for this in advance by finding a substitute acting chair, Henning > >>> Schulzrinne, to aid the one co-chair, Randy, who was able to > >>> attend. This change was publicly announced on the mailing list > >>> before IETF 68. However, the RAI Area Directors announced a last > >>> minute (Sunday) schedule change which created an unresolvable > >>> conflict > >>> for Randy. The Area Directors executed this schedule change over > >>> the > >>> objections of the GEOPRIV co-chairs and in full knowledge of the > >>> conflict it created. Additionally, the reason given was so that a > >>> working group co-chair for another working group could attend his > >>> meeting. > >>> > >>> As a result of the schedule change, the meeting was co-chaired by > >>> Jon > >>> Peterson, the other RAI Area Director. Consequent to the agenda > >>> change regarding L7-LCP, Henning recused himself during the latter > >>> half the meeting, leaving Jon Peterson to solely run the meeting. > >>> During the meeting, a few participants expressed concerns regarding > >>> the agenda and schedule changes. These concerns were dismissed > >>> by Jon. > >>> > >>> > >>> CONSENSUS CALLS > >>> > >>> As noted above, the meeting resulted in an unusually high (15) > >>> number > >>> of consensus calls for GEOPRIV. This includes the unusual > >>> decision to > >>> use an alternate consensus method of a plurality vote to choose > >>> between > >>> two protocol proposals. As noted in the raw minutes and the > >>> audio recording of the meeting, for the call that used the > >>> plurality voting method, Cullen Jennings both called the consensus > >>> and cast the last and tie-breaking vote in the room. It should also > >>> be noted that one of the hums was called on a question not described > >>> in an existing Internet-Draft. > >>> > >>> The schedule change, the agenda change made known to a few select > >>> participants in advance, and the unusual sense-of-the-room hums, > >>> together > >>> create at least the appearance that there may have been an > >>> attempt to > >>> manipulate the IETF process to hold and predetermine the outcome of > >>> consensus calls. Even the appearance of such manipulation, > >>> regardless of > >>> how well-intentioned the actions may have been, threatens the > >>> integrity > >>> and openness of the IETF. > >>> > >>> The IETF relies on not just open, fare processes, but also > >>> transparency that good procedures are followed. The irregularities > >>> are now on the record of the group, hopefully never to be repeated. > >>> > >>> In order to follow IETF process, all resolutions put forward during > >>> a working group meeting must be ratified on the working group's > >>> mailing list. The chairs will shortly be sending messages to > >>> formally > >>> initiate consensus calls on the sense-of-the-room hums that were > >>> taken > >>> in Prague. Since so many hums were put forth during the IETF 68 > >>> meeting, we plan to send multiple messages to the working group > >>> mailing list seeking ratification of the proposals. > >>> > >>> Because of what happened in Prague, the chairs want to make very > >>> sure that the subsequent consensus calls are very open and > >>> non-coercive. We ask all working group participants to please pay > >>> close attention to these calls and respond appropriately. > >>> > >>> The first of these messages will be sent shortly. > >>> > >>> Sincerely, > >>> > >>> The geopriv co-chairs: > >>> - Andy > >>> - Allison > >>> - Randy > >>> > >>> > >>> _______________________________________________ > >>> Geopriv mailing list > >>> [email protected] > >>> https://www1.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/geopriv > >> > >> _______________________________________________ > >> Ietf mailing list > >> [email protected] > >> https://www1.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/ietf > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Geopriv mailing list > > [email protected] > > https://www1.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/geopriv > >_______________________________________________ >Geopriv mailing list >[email protected] >https://www1.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/geopriv > >------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ >This message is for the designated recipient only and may >contain privileged, proprietary, or otherwise private information. >If you have received it in error, please notify the sender >immediately and delete the original. 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