IETF Discussion List Charter

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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   publication of this document.  Please review these documents
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   to this document.  Code Components extracted from this document must
   include Revised BSD License text as described in Section 4.e of the
   Trust Legal Provisions and are provided without warranty as described
   in the Revised BSD License.

   This document may contain material from IETF Documents or IETF
   Contributions published or made publicly available before November
   10, 2008.  The person(s) controlling the copyright in some of this
   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