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Re: allowable questions (was Re www...)

2001-04-08 19:20:02
At 14:00 -0700 4/8/01, James P. Salsman wrote:
Patrik,

If you or Ned are not already aware from the context of my disputed
question and my previous posts, I tried private emails and phone calls,
prior to my working group question, which was only a footnote to a longer
list of requested solutions which still seem like entirely constructive
critisism to me.  As I stated, they were only met with evasions and
invitations to expensive marketing events.

Is there any way to resolve this situation other than asking IESG
participants to state their own NDA restrictions up front?

You are perfectly free to ask any question you wish. However, that does not mean that you required to receive an answer.

I do not know about other countries, but I do know that the US government has taken action against companies for announcing products and then deciding later to not offer those products. Hence, most people do not talk about possible future product offerings until they are duly approved and ready to be offered to customers.

You can ask anyone, WG chair or not, about their product plans and they would be very foolish to answer with anything other than a qualified (evasive, if you will) manner. You can not and probably should not get a definitive answer unless the capability is nearly ready for release. This is all part of doing business. No company will ever commit (nor should they) to implementing a standard before it is completed. Many things can happen between the time a standard is developed and the time it is ready for implementation that can effect a company's decision.

Unfortunately, uncertainty in business is something we all have to learn to live with.

Take care,
John