RE: Request for community guidance on issue concerning a future meetingof the IETF

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Marshall,

I think going to China would be a great opportunity and that we should
go for it and play by their rules. I agree with Bernard, attendees
should be responsible for their own actions no matter where in the world
we meet. 

mike

> -----Original Message-----
> From: wgchairs-bounces@xxxxxxxx [mailto:wgchairs-bounces@xxxxxxxx] On
> Behalf Of Marshall Eubanks
> Sent: Friday, September 18, 2009 8:42 AM
> To: IETF Announcement list; IETF-Discussion list; Working Group Chairs
> Cc: IAOC Jabberr; irtf-chair@xxxxxxxx
> Subject: Request for community guidance on issue concerning a future
> meetingof the IETF
> 
> Greetings;
> 
> We have received numerous suggestions and requests for an IETF meeting
> in China and the IAOC has been working on a potential China meeting
for
> several years. We are now close to making a decision on a potential
> upcoming  meeting in China. However, the following issue has arisen
> and we would appreciate your feedback.
> 
> The Chinese government has imposed a rule on all conferences held
> since 2008 regarding political speech. A fundamental law in China
> requires that one not criticize the government. Practically, this
> has reference to public political statements or protest marches, which
> are not the IETF's custom. The government, which is a party to the
> issue,
> requires that people who attend conferences in China (the IETF being
> but one example) not engage in political speech during their tour
> in China. We consider this to be acceptable, on the basis that the
> IETF intends to abide by the laws of whatever nations it visits and
> we don't believe that this impacts our ability to do technical work.
> 
> The rule is implemented in the Hotel agreement and reads (note that
> the "Client" would be the Host, and the "Group" would be the IETF) :
> 
>     "Should the contents of the Group's activities, visual or audio
>     presentations at the conference,or printed materials used at the
>     conference (which are within the control of the Client) contain
>     any defamation against the Government of the People's Republic
>     of China, or show any disrespect to the Chinese culture, or
>     violates any laws of the People's Republic of China or feature
>     any topics regarding human rights or religion without prior
>     approval from the Government of the People's Republic of China,
>     the Hotel reserves the right to terminate the event on the spot
>     and/or ask the person(s) who initiates or participates in any or
>     all of the above action to leave the hotel premises immediately.
> 
>     The Client will support and assist the Hotel with the necessary
>     actions to handle such situations. Should there be any financial
>     loss incurred to the Hotel or damage caused to the Hotel's
>     reputation as a result of any or all of the above acts, the Hotel
>     will claim compensation from the Client."
> 
> What does this condition mean ? The hotel staff would have, in theory,
> the legal right to shut down the meeting and ask the offending
> participants to leave the property immediately. While we do not
> foresee a situation where such action would take place, we feel that
> it is proper to disclose these conditions to the community.
> 
> The members of the IAOC, speaking as individuals, do not like this
> condition as a matter of principle. The IAOC does believe that this
> condition would not prevent the IETF from conducting its business.
> 
> We note that the Vancouver/Quebec survey conducted earlier this year
> asked for people to suggest venues in Asia; an overwhelming majority
> (94%) of those who mentioned China were in favor of having a meeting
> there.
> 
> We are therefore asking for input from the community by two means - by
> commenting on the IETF discussion list, and also by completing a very
> short survey on people's intentions to travel to China, or not,
> subject to these conditions. This survey can be found here :
> 
> https://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=h4DUkRUOdG_2bVLqioPcYYHw_3d_3d
> 
> All responses received by October 1, 2009 at  9:00 AM EDT  (1300 UTC)
> will be considered by the IAOC in making its decision. We appreciate
> the assistance of the community in providing us with data that will
> help us to make an informed decision.
> 
> Regards
> Marshall Eubanks
> (acting for the IAOC)

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