IAOC Call 9-24-09 IAOC Special Call at 10:00 AM EST, Thursday, 24 September 2009 Participants: Lynn St. Amour [NOT PRESENT] Fred Baker [NOT PRESENT] Marshall Eubanks [PRESENT, Acting Chair] Bob Hinden [PRESENT] Russ Housley [PRESENT] Ole Jacobsen [PRESENT] Olaf Kolkman [PRESENT] Ray Pelletier [PRESENT] Henk Uijterwaal [PRESENT] Karen O'Donoghue [SCRIBE] Marshall called the special meeting to order at 10:01 am. Bob Hinden had just returned from vacation and deferred to Marshall as chair. Marshall provided a summary of the issue with the potential meeting in Beijing. The last minute issue was an addition to the hotel's contract language that allows the hotel to cancel a meeting if there are activities that are deemed disrespectful of Chinese culture. This is in addition to several other potential issues already under discussion. The consensus of the IAOC (from the 17 September 2009 meeting) had been that the IAOC needed to consult the community for guidance on the Beijing venue. At the last IAOC meeting, it was decided to solicit feedback in two ways: 1) through a survey, and 2) through a direct post to the IETF mail list. Survey results seem to indicate that people who have been to China are supportive and those who have not been to meetings in China are more split. The discussion seems to focus on two basic questions: 1) What is the status of the internet connectivity in China; and 2) Does this mean that we have to get prior approval for meeting materials? The answer to both these questions has to be no in order to host a meeting in China. The purpose of today's IAOC meeting is to decide how to respond to the responses received to date. The two basic questions being posed were discussed at length by the IAOC. The key question for the IAOC at this point is: can the IETF conduct a successful meeting in China? An overriding question is are we going to have critical mass for the meeting? Are enough of our key contributors going to be in attendance? Preliminary results indicate that we may lose 25% - 35% of the people. There will be additional attendance from China, but critical mass by definition includes Area Directors, Working Group chairs, document editors, and key contributors. Russ Housley pointed out the question raised in the Security area about discussions related to encryption technology. It was again pointed out that the IETF working groups were to discuss the topics they would ordinarily talk about. The fact that we are meeting in China would not change this. Is there wording that can be put into the contract that in the event something happens the host will try to facilitate a solution? There is already an agreement between ISOC and the host about food and beverage and other details. It seems to be reasonable that we could add a clause that the host would intervene on our behalf should anything arise. Ray agreed to work with the host on language to this effect. With regards to the network connectivity issue, Marshall moved and Ole seconded the following statement to be issued by the IAOC: The IAOC is conducting its usual due diligence before the China meeting, as it does before any meeting. The potential host has signed an MoU which includes meeting the "IETF Meeting Network Requirements," as described in http://iaoc.ietf.org/network_requirements.html. The IAOC therefore expects to get the usual IETF meeting connectivity. This statement was adopted by unanimous consent. After several iterations, it was agreed to send the following text to the potential host for consideration: agreement to cooperate with the IETF and intercede with the Hotel and PRC on behalf of the IETF when the IETF and its participants are conducting its standards development work in its customary, unfettered manner if the Hotel or PRC attempts to interfere with the normal process of the meeting. After extensive discussion, the decision was to hold off on an immediate pronouncement. A Task Force including Ole, Ray, and Henk will prepare a draft document addressing the key topics raised. The meeting adjourned.