I agree completely with Andrew's position. I only wish I'd been the one to write this. A few additional comments below. Andrew Sullivan wrote: > On Tue, Nov 19, 2019 at 02:42:04PM +0800, Barry Leiba wrote: > > 1. By being signed by four IAB members who are identified primarily as > > IAB members, the letter *appears* to be from the IAB. I have passed > > this by three non-IETF friends, asking them who they think the letter > > is from, and all three said, “The Internet Architecture Board.” > I am entirely unwilling to speculate about worldwide interpretation > trends of texts based on the sample, "Three friends of Barry Leiba > under uncontrolled questioning." Please don't stand on that kind of > sample as anything other than the worst kind of anecdata. FWIW, I asked a couple, and they both said "Ted Hardie", and looked at me like I was nuts for asking. > > 2. By using “Member, Internet Architecture Board” this way, those > > signing the letter are effectively (whether by intent or not) using > > their IAB positions to gain credibility for their personal opinions. > Or else they are presenting evidence that a community that the audiece > might otherwise respect decided that these were people who had a thing > or two to say about how the Internet works. That seems to me > important because … Exactly. To the extent anyone actually knows what the IAB is and what it means to be appointed to it, it's help to know that something was said by someone on it. > > I think this is wildly inappropriate. > … I think it is wildly appropriate. The _very point_ of the IAB is > that it is not subject to consensus rules that the IETF is. I think > it would indeed be inappropriate for people to use their affiliation > with the IESG this way: the IESG _does_ speak for the IETF. But the > IAB does not, and that not-speaking-for role is in fact part of the > _point_ of having the IAB at all. > If IAB members cannot tell people, "I have this view and, by the way, > my community appointed me to this August Body precisely so that I > would have views and say them," then I am mystified what we want the > IAB for except simple constitutional duties. If the IAB exists to be > the Governor General[1] of the IETF, then we should change its > charter. But I don't think that's the IAB job today, and I think its > members need to be able to be clear under what title they have an > opinion. What we as individuals might want the IAB to be is of no relevance here, the issue is what the IAB *is*. Ned > Best regards, > A > [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Governor_General_of_Canada > -- > Andrew Sullivan > ajs@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
