The IETF can defer to other standards bodies if it so chooses, but I believe
the Application Area will eventually become irrelevent in the web arena and
the W3C will take over all of that protocol work. (A current example: where
do we do cache invalidation protocol work and how scalable is the solution?)
See draft-day-cdnp-model-06.txt for some of the work going on; though
the CDNI work has not yet resulted in a working group, Mark Day et al
certainly seem to be doing their work with a view to the IETF process
(open publication of documents and input from as broad a community as
possible).
If people have specific suggestions for improving the charter, I personally
welcome them. If not, I'd like the IETF leadership to make the decision
about whether we're in the business of doing web application protocol work
or not and then decide what to do with the OPES charter request.
Having a Norwegian Chair does not mean we like red herrings. The IESG needs
to decide whether or not the work specified in the OPES charter belongs as
a working group effort within the IETF; that does not imply a decision on
whether we're in the business of doing web application protocol work.
regards,
Ted Hardie