On 9/8/2012 1:14 AM, Brian E Carpenter wrote:
...
The factual reality is that I-D's have always been more or less perpetual,
given that anonymous FTP has existed longer than any I-D.
It has always been the case that some sites have violated the copyright
and explicit instructions of IDs.
The difference today is that we are sort-of admitting officially that
obsolete drafts can be found, and that this is useful.
Admitting that there is piracy is not the same as the IETF posting them
publicly on their site.
The word "expired" is perhaps not ideal; "obsolete" or "out of date" would
perhaps be more precise, but it's probably too late to change it now.
Nothing about an ID is inherently obsolete or out of date after 6 months
except its being publicly available on authorized sites (up until now).
If we remove that rule, then the notion of expiration is outdated.
If it's not too late to change the "they are removed from the IESG site"
rule, it's absolutely not too late to remove the "Expires:" indication
on all IDs published as we go forward.
Note - I don't agree that past IDs should be posted after expiration
without the author's consent. They were submitted with that
understanding, and post-facto changing it by the IETF is not appropriate.
Joe