It might be useful to distinguish between a conflict of interest and an adverse interest. For example, IAOC members are routinely going to have conflicting duties of confidentiality. If someone claims to have a patent on HTTP and I am acting as a forensic expert engaged by the defense, I am going to have certain conflicts and there are going to be discussions I cannot participate in. But that would be a rather different case than being engaged by the plaintiff which would be a rather adverse interest. On Sat, May 29, 2010 at 11:08 AM, Dave CROCKER <dhc2@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > > > >>> 9. Members shall at all times act in a disinterested manner and >>> consider only the benefit to the IETF standards process and community as >>> a >>> whole in discussions and decisions. The Members shall promptly disclose >>> any >>> material conflict of interest and recuse themselves from related >>> decisions. >> >> While I grok what you mean by "act in a disinterested manner" it sounds a >> bit if you'd like them to cultivate ennui. Perhaps "In the discharge of >> their duties, member shall at all times act only in the interests of the >> IETF community. Members shall promptly disclose any material conflict of >> interest, and they will recuse themselves from decisions where such >> conflict >> is present." > > > Kudos to the IAOC for developing this draft. > > There are two different issues this segment of text ought to cover: > > * independence > * confidentiality > > "Conflict of interest" might be taken to cover both, but probably is assumed > by > most folk to cover only the first. Worse, the term is quite generic and an > average person will not have the background to treat it as a formal term of > art. > That is, they will not know how to apply it to the actual details of their > work. It's simply not a behaviorally precise term for most people. > > That said, it's a familiar term. So I suggest keeping the term, but > explicitly > listing both independence and confidentiality as issues, and also listing > the > typical groups that are meant to be excluded from influence and information. > These are: employers, colleagues, friends and family. Feel free to expand > the list... > > d/ > -- > > Dave Crocker > Brandenburg InternetWorking > bbiw.net > _______________________________________________ > Ietf mailing list > Ietf@xxxxxxxx > https://www.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/ietf > -- Website: http://hallambaker.com/ _______________________________________________ Ietf mailing list Ietf@xxxxxxxx https://www.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/ietf