Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) L. Eggert
Request for Comments: 9245 NetApp
BCP: 45 S. Harris
Obsoletes: 3005 June 2022
Updates: 3683
Category: Best Current Practice
ISSN: 2070-1721
IETF Discussion List Charter
Abstract
The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) discussion mailing list
furthers the development and specification of Internet technology
through the general discussion of technical, procedural, operational,
and other topics for which no dedicated mailing lists exist. As this
is the most general IETF mailing list, considerable latitude in terms
of topics is allowed, but there are posts and topics that are
unsuitable for this mailing list. This document defines the charter
for the IETF discussion list and explains its scope.
This document obsoletes RFC 3005 and updates RFC 3683.
Status of This Memo
This memo documents an Internet Best Current Practice.
This document is a product of the Internet Engineering Task Force
(IETF). It represents the consensus of the IETF community. It has
received public review and has been approved for publication by the
Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG). Further information on
BCPs is available in Section 2 of RFC 7841.
Information about the current status of this document, any errata,
and how to provide feedback on it may be obtained at
https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc9245.
Copyright Notice
Copyright (c) 2022 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the
document authors. All rights reserved.
This document is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal
Provisions Relating to IETF Documents
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This document may contain material from IETF Documents or IETF
Contributions published or made publicly available before November
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material may not have granted the IETF Trust the right to allow
modifications of such material outside the IETF Standards Process.
Without obtaining an adequate license from the person(s) controlling
the copyright in such materials, this document may not be modified
outside the IETF Standards Process, and derivative works of it may
not be created outside the IETF Standards Process, except to format
it for publication as an RFC or to translate it into languages other
than English.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Charter for the IETF Discussion List
3. Moderation
4. Security Considerations
5. IANA Considerations
6. References
6.1. Normative References
6.2. Informative References
Acknowledgements
Authors' Addresses
1. Introduction
The IETF discussion list [IETF-DISCUSS] furthers the development and
specification of Internet technology through the general discussion
of technical, procedural, operational, and other topics for which no
dedicated mailing lists exist. As this is the most general IETF
mailing list, considerable latitude in terms of topics is allowed.
However, there are posts and topics that are unsuitable for this
mailing list. This document defines the charter for the IETF
discussion list and explains its scope.
The IETF Note Well [NOTE-WELL] applies to discussions on the IETF
discussion list and all other IETF mailing lists, and requires
conformance with the IETF Guidelines for Conduct [RFC7154] and the
Anti-Harassment Policy [RFC7776], among others.
This document obsoletes [RFC3005], as it documents the use of other
mailing lists for discussions that were previously in scope for the
IETF discussion list, refers to applicable policies such as the
Guidelines for Conduct [RFC7154] and the Anti-Harassment Policy
[RFC7776], and clarifies moderation procedures. It also updates part
of Section 1 of [RFC3683], which copies the list of "inappropriate
postings" from [RFC3005]. The list in [RFC3683] is hence updated by
the new list in Section 2.
2. Charter for the IETF Discussion List
The IETF discussion list is meant for discussions for which a more
appropriate list does not exist, such as discussions that do not fall
within the scope of any working group, area, or other established
list. When there is an existing venue for discussion, this should be
noted and discussion should be moved there.
When no dedicated mailing list exists for a topic, it may be
preferable to request that one be created [NON-WG-LISTS] rather than
discuss it on the IETF discussion list. Availability of the new list
may be announced on the IETF discussion list and on other related
lists, such as area lists.
Appropriate postings to the IETF discussion list include:
* Initial discussion of technical issues that are candidates for
IETF work, but appropriate mailing lists have not yet been
identified.
* Questions and clarifications concerning practical aspects of IETF
meetings, although most of these topics are better brought up on
the discussion list for IETF LLC administrative issues
[ADMIN-DISCUSS] or the attendee discussion list for a given IETF
meeting.
* Announcements of conferences, events, or activities that are
sponsored or endorsed by the IETF, IRTF, IAB or the Internet
Society, although the IETF announcement list [IETF-ANNOUNCE] is
the preferred list for these.
* Discussions of IETF direction, policy, and the standards process
in general, when a more suitable list (such as the discussion list
for IETF LLC administrative issues [ADMIN-DISCUSS], the IAB
discussion list for architectural issues [ARCH-DISCUSS], a meeting
attendees list, a process-oriented WG list, etc.) cannot be
identified.
These topics used to be in scope for the IETF discussion list, but
have since moved to dedicated lists:
* Last Call discussions of documents now take place on the IETF Last
Calls mailing list [LAST-CALLS].
* Discussion of IETF administrative policies now takes place on the
discussion list for IETF LLC administrative issues
[ADMIN-DISCUSS].
Inappropriate postings include:
* Advertising and other unsolicited bulk e-mail
* Discussion of subjects unrelated to IETF policy, meetings,
activities, or technical topics
* Uncivil commentary, regardless of the general subject, per the
IETF Note Well [NOTE-WELL]
* Announcements of conferences, events, or activities that are not
sponsored or endorsed by the IETF, IRTF, IAB, or the Internet
Society.
3. Moderation
The IETF Chair appoints _Moderators_ (previously known as the
"sergeant-at-arms") for the IETF discussion list that are empowered
to restrict posting by a person, or to an email thread, when the
content is inappropriate and represents a pattern of abuse. They are
encouraged to take into account the overall nature of the postings by
an individual and whether particular postings are typical or an
aberration.
Moderation of the IETF discussion list, including the handling of any
appeals, is guided by the IETF discussion list charter specified in
Section 2, and the related guidance from Section 1 that applies to
all mailing lists. The moderators are selected from within the
community to moderate the community. Because the IESG and IAB are in
the appeals chain for moderator decisions (see below), the IETF Chair
therefore should not appoint a moderator who is serving in such a
role. If a moderator is selected for the IESG or IAB, they will step
down from the moderator team.
Apart from appointing moderators, the IETF Chair should refrain from
the day-to-day operation and management of the moderator team. The
moderator team will independently define, publish, and execute their
role; see the current set of operating procedures [MOD-SOP] and abuse
patterns [MOD-UPC]. The moderator team should reach out to the IETF
Chair for any conflict resolution in a timely manner.
Because a moderator serves at the discretion of the IETF Chair --
even if the IETF Chair is not otherwise involved in the operation of
the moderator team -- any moderator decision can be appealed to the
IETF Chair, per [RFC2026]. Decisions by the IETF Chair can be
appealed to the IESG as whole, again per [RFC2026].
4. Security Considerations
The usual security considerations [RFC3552] do not apply to this
document.
Potential abuse of the moderation process for the suppression of
undesired opinions is counteracted by the availability of an appeals
process, per Section 3.
5. IANA Considerations
This document does not request any IANA actions.
6. References
6.1. Normative References
[RFC2026] Bradner, S., "The Internet Standards Process -- Revision
3", BCP 9, RFC 2026, DOI 10.17487/RFC2026, October 1996,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc2026>.
6.2. Informative References
[ADMIN-DISCUSS]
IETF, "admin-discuss -- Discussion list for IETF LLC
administrative issues",
<https://ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/admin-discuss>.
[ARCH-DISCUSS]
IAB, "Architecture-discuss -- open discussion forum for
long/wide-range architectural issues",
<https://ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/architecture-discuss>.
[IETF-ANNOUNCE]
IETF, "IETF-Announce -- IETF announcement list. No
discussions.",
<https://ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/ietf-announce>.
[IETF-DISCUSS]
IETF, "ietf -- IETF-Discussion",
<https://ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/ietf>.
[LAST-CALLS]
IETF, "last-call -- IETF Last Calls",
<https://ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/last-call>.
[MOD-SOP] IETF, "Sergeant-at-Arms Standard Operating Procedures",
commit c1abcb0 , 9 October 2019,
<https://github.com/ietf/saa/blob/main/sop.md>.
[MOD-UPC] IETF, "Unprofessional commentary", commit e120305 , 8
October 2019, <https://github.com/ietf/saa/blob/main/
unprofessional-commentary.md>.
[NON-WG-LISTS]
IETF, "Non-Working Group Email List Guidelines",
<https://ietf.org/how/lists/nonwglist-guidelines/>.
[NOTE-WELL]
IETF, "Note Well", <https://ietf.org/about/note-well/>.
[RFC3005] Harris, S., "IETF Discussion List Charter", BCP 45,
RFC 3005, DOI 10.17487/RFC3005, November 2000,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc3005>.
[RFC3160] Harris, S., "The Tao of IETF - A Novice's Guide to the
Internet Engineering Task Force", RFC 3160,
DOI 10.17487/RFC3160, August 2001,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc3160>.
[RFC3184] Harris, S., "IETF Guidelines for Conduct", RFC 3184,
DOI 10.17487/RFC3184, October 2001,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc3184>.
[RFC3552] Rescorla, E. and B. Korver, "Guidelines for Writing RFC
Text on Security Considerations", BCP 72, RFC 3552,
DOI 10.17487/RFC3552, July 2003,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc3552>.
[RFC3683] Rose, M., "A Practice for Revoking Posting Rights to IETF
Mailing Lists", BCP 83, RFC 3683, DOI 10.17487/RFC3683,
March 2004, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc3683>.
[RFC7154] Moonesamy, S., Ed., "IETF Guidelines for Conduct", BCP 54,
RFC 7154, DOI 10.17487/RFC7154, March 2014,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc7154>.
[RFC7776] Resnick, P. and A. Farrel, "IETF Anti-Harassment
Procedures", BCP 25, RFC 7776, DOI 10.17487/RFC7776, March
2016, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc7776>.
Acknowledgements
Susan R. Harris authored [RFC3005], which this document replaces. In
addition to many technical contributions to the IETF, Susan authored
a number of other foundational documents, such as the original "IETF
Guidelines for Conduct" [RFC3184] and the original "Tao of the IETF"
[RFC3160]. Susan R. Harris passed away in early 2022. This
document is dedicated to her memory, as a small token of appreciation
of her many contributions.
The following people have made other contributions to this document:
* Adrian Farrel
* Barry Leiba
* Ben Kaduk
* Brian Carpenter
* Carsten Bormann
* Christian Huitema
* Dhruv Dhody
* Eric Rescorla
* Eric Vyncke
* Francesca Palombini
* John Scudder
* Lloyd Wood
* Martin Thomson
* Robert Wilton
* Subramanian Moonesamy
* Stephen Farrell
Authors' Addresses
Lars Eggert
NetApp
Stenbergintie 12 B
FI-02700 Kauniainen
Finland
Email: lars@eggert.org
URI: https://eggert.org/
Susan Harris
