Pete,
I can see this being a sticky point. As you point out it is the individual
who is "contributing" to the work of IETF. Having said that, the individual
is typically paid by "some" company....which implies that the individual
is commited to this company (and whatever the work this company is doing).
In most cases I would think that the interest of the individual (IETF rep.)
and the company is alligned - and there is no conflict. But I can see
situations
where this is not true. I haven't been there myself, but I can see "a most
frustrating situation" where one (as a person) has a conflicting view than your
employer (with respect to IETF work).
...no solutions, just some of my thoughts...
/jarle
-----Original Message-----
From: pete(_at_)loshin(_dot_)com [mailto:pete(_at_)loshin(_dot_)com]
Sent: Wednesday, May 30, 2001 8:20 AM
To: ietf(_at_)ietf(_dot_)org
Subject: Can employers forbid you from talking about IETF activities?
I write about IETF-related topics for a number of
publications and websites.
Most IETF participants are incredibly helpful and responsive
when I ask them
questions about the work they are doing, particularly authors
of RFCs and I-Ds.
However, there are (infrequent) exceptions, usually employees
of large
companies who believe that their contracts forbid them from
speaking to the
press, under any circumstances. These folks usually say
something like, "My
company won't allow me to say anything about the RFC I wrote"
and refer me to
their public relations staff.
RFC 2418, "IETF Working Group Guidelines and Procedures", states:
Participation is by individual technical contributors,
rather than by
formal representatives of organizations.
I take that to mean that IETF activities are separate from employment
activities.
Further, as an open organization, IETF activities are not
supposed to come
under non-disclosure agreements or receive intellectual
property protections.
So there should be no reason why an individual could not talk
about what he or
she does within the IETF.
As IETF standards track specifications continue to gain
importance to the
world at large, IETF participants need to understand their
obligations and
rights to discuss these activities with outsiders--whether
from the business
world, the academic world, or "the media".
The alternative, IMO, is to have IETF participants who are
employed by
industry companies such as Cisco and Microsoft viewed as official
representatives of their companies rather than as individual
(and independent)
participants.
Please discuss.
-pl
--
+-------------------------------------------------------------+
| Pete Loshin http://www.loshin.com |
| pete(_at_)loshin(_dot_)com +1 781/646-6318 |
| |
| Senior Editor-at-Large Information Security Magazine |
| http://www.infosecuritymag.com |
+-------------------------------------------------------------+