On 10/10/2012 8:41 PM, IETF Chair wrote:
The IETF does not have a formal antitrust policy. In fact, the ANTITRUST BOF concluded that a formal policy was not needed. However, educational material is needed so that all IETF participants are aware of the the law. The first draft of a FAQ to fill this need has been developed. Please review the FAQ, and if you discover any issues raise them in response to this message. http://www.ietf.org/playground/antitrust-faq.html
In its current form, the plain language:
6) In order to avoid antitrust issues, what topics should not be discussed at IETF meeting? IETF participants should avoid any of the topics listed in questions 2 and 3, above.
directs two people who are at an IETF meeting to refrain from one having a sales discussion with the other in private.
Since this sort of discussion is probably quite common and entirely acceptable, it would help to have the stricture defined in terms of more specifically unacceptable context.
The current language merely specifies presence at an IETF meeting as the sole criterion. The FAQ is necessarily quite basic, but since it is cast in a manner that assumes no prior knowledge of the topic by the reader, it's important to be a bit more detailed in specifying the relevant conditions under which the problematic exchanges should not occur.
d/ -- Dave Crocker Brandenburg InternetWorking bbiw.net