RFC 8714 Update to the Process for Selection of Trustees for the IETF Trust

Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF)                          J. Arkko
Request for Comments: 8714                                      Ericsson
BCP: 101                                                       T. Hardie
Obsoletes: 4371                                            February 2020
Category: Best Current Practice
ISSN: 2070-1721


   Update to the Process for Selection of Trustees for the IETF Trust

Abstract

   This memo updates the process for selection of Trustees for the IETF
   Trust.  Previously, the IETF Administrative Oversight Committee
   (IAOC) members also acted as Trustees, but the IAOC has been
   eliminated as part of an update to the structure of the IETF
   Administrative Support Activity (IASA).  This memo specifies that the
   Trustees shall be selected separately.

   This memo obsoletes RFC 4371.  The changes relate only to the
   selection of Trustees.  All other aspects of the IETF Trust remain as
   they are today.

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/rfc8714.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (c) 2020 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
   (https://trustee.ietf.org/license-info) in effect on the date of
   publication of this document.  Please review these documents
   carefully, as they describe your rights and restrictions with respect
   to this document.  Code Components extracted from this document must
   include Simplified BSD License text as described in Section 4.e of
   the Trust Legal Provisions and are provided without warranty as
   described in the Simplified BSD License.

Table of Contents

   1.  Introduction
   2.  IETF Trust
   3.  Selection of Trustees
   4.  Security Considerations
   5.  IANA Considerations
   6.  References
     6.1.  Normative References
     6.2.  Informative References
   Acknowledgements
   Authors' Addresses

.  Introduction

   This memo updates the process for selection of Trustees for the IETF
   Trust.  Previously, the IETF Administrative Oversight Committee
   (IAOC) members also acted as Trustees, but the IAOC has been
   eliminated as part of an update to the structure of the IETF
   Administrative Support Activity (IASA).  This memo specifies that the
   Trustees shall be selected separately.  See Section 3.

   This memo obsoletes [RFC4371].  The changes relate only to the
   selection of Trustees.  All other aspects of the IETF Trust remain as
   they are today.  Section 2 copies the definition as it was in
   [RFC4371], only leaving out the part about Trustee selection and
   adding a reference to the IETF Trust website.

   For a discussion of why this change is needed and a rationale for
   these specific changes, see [RFC8715].

.  IETF Trust

   A Trust ("the IETF Trust") has been formed for the purpose of
   acquiring, holding, maintaining, and licensing certain existing and
   future intellectual property and other property used in connection
   with the administration of the IETF.  The Trust was formed by the
   signatures of its Settlors and initial Trustees.  The Settlors, who
   contributed initial intellectual property to the Trust, were ISOC and
   the Corporation for National Research Initiatives.  The Beneficiary
   of the IETF Trust is the IETF as a whole.

   Further details of the IETF Trust may be found at the IETF Trust's
   website, <https://trustee.ietf.org/>.

.  Selection of Trustees

   This document revises the original Trustee selection procedures
   defined in [RFC4071] and [RFC4371] to eliminate the requirement that
   Trustees be drawn from the members of the IAOC.

   In this newly revised IETF Trust structure, there will be five
   Trustees.  Three shall be appointed by the IETF Nominating Committee
   (NomCom) and confirmed by the Internet Engineering Steering Group
   (IESG), one shall be appointed by the IESG, and one shall be
   appointed by the Internet Society (ISOC) Board of Trustees.  The
   appointments by the IESG and the ISOC Board of Trustees do not
   require confirmation.

   The IETF Trust Chair informs the nominating committee of the Trustee
   positions to be reviewed.  The IETF Trust will provide a summary of
   the expertise desired of the Trustee candidates to each appointing
   body.

   A change to the Trust Agreement is required to put this change into
   effect, and this document requests that the current Trustees make
   this change at the earliest convenient time and no later than the end
   of the 104th IETF meeting in March 2019.

   The terms of the appointed Trustees from the IETF NomCom shall be
   three years.  The initial selection shall be one, two, and three year
   terms in order to initially stagger the terms.  The other
   appointments by the IESG and the ISOC Board of Trustees shall be two
   year terms, with the initial terms being one and two years,
   respectively.  The goal of the staggered initial terms is to minimize
   potential Trustee turnover in any single year.  To maintain the
   staggered terms, each appointing body may, at its discretion, appoint
   Trustees for shorter terms as needed in exceptional situations, e.g.,
   for mid-term vacancies or when an appointment is not ready by the
   time of the first IETF meeting of the year.

   Once the initial Trustee selections according to the procedures in
   this document are complete, and at each subsequent annual meeting of
   the IETF Trust (once new Trustees are seated), the Trustees shall
   elect one Trustee to serve as IETF Trust Chair by a majority vote of
   the IETF Trust.

   Trustees appointed by the IETF NomCom may be recalled according to
   the recall process described in [BCP10].  Trustees appointed by the
   IESG or by the ISOC Board of Directors may be recalled by the
   appointing body.  For appointments made by the IESG, the IESG is
   expected to run an open selection process and to consider the
   necessary skill set and conflicts of interest as part of that
   process.

.  Security Considerations

   This memo has no security implications for the Internet.

.  IANA Considerations

   This document has no IANA actions.

.  References

6.1.  Normative References

   [BCP10]    Kucherawy, M., Ed., Hinden, R., Ed., and J. Livingood,
              Ed., "IAB, IESG, IETF Trust, and IETF LLC Selection,
              Confirmation, and Recall Process: Operation of the IETF
              Nominating and Recall Committees", BCP 10, RFC 8713,
              February 2020, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/bcp10>.

   [RFC4071]  Austein, R., Ed. and B. Wijnen, Ed., "Structure of the
              IETF Administrative Support Activity (IASA)", BCP 101,
              RFC 4071, DOI 10.17487/RFC4071, April 2005,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc4071>.

   [RFC4371]  Carpenter, B., Ed. and L. Lynch, Ed., "BCP 101 Update for
              IPR Trust", BCP 101, RFC 4371, DOI 10.17487/RFC4371,
              January 2006, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc4371>.

6.2.  Informative References

   [RFC8715]  Arkko, J., "IETF Administrative Support Activity 2.0:
              Update to the Process for Selection of Trustees for the
              IETF Trust", RFC 8715, DOI 10.17487/RFC8715, February
              2020, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc8715>.

Acknowledgements

   The authors would like to thank members of the earlier IASA 2.0
   design team: Brian Haberman, Eric Rescorla, Jari Arkko, Jason
   Livingood, Joe Hall, and Leslie Daigle.  The authors would also like
   to thank Alissa Cooper, Andrew Sullivan, Brian Carpenter, Lucy Lynch,
   and John Levine for interesting discussions in this problem space.
   The authors would also like to thank Russ Housley, Bob Hinden, Scott
   Mansfield, Alexey Melnikov, Suresh Krishnan, Mirja Kühlewind, Ben
   Campbell, Spencer Dawkins, Martin Vigoreux, Benjamin Kaduk, and
   Adrian Farrel for careful review.  Finally, the authors would like to
   thank the authors of [RFC4371], as the text from that RFC remains in
   this document.

Authors' Addresses

   Jari Arkko
   Ericsson
   FI-02700 Kauniainen
   Finland

   Email: jari.arkko@piuha.net


   Ted Hardie

   Email: ted.ietf@gmail.com