Internet DRAFT - draft-duke-shmoo-remote-meetings

draft-duke-shmoo-remote-meetings







shmoo                                                            M. Duke
Internet-Draft                                         F5 Networks, Inc.
Intended status: Best Current Practice                      28 July 2020
Expires: 29 January 2021


        Considerations for Cancellation of IETF Remote Meetings
                  draft-duke-shmoo-remote-meetings-00

Abstract

   The IETF firmly believes in the value of in-person meetings to reach
   consensus on documents.  However, various emergencies can make a
   planned in-person meeting impossible.  This document provides
   criteria for making this judgment.

Status of This Memo

   This Internet-Draft is submitted in full conformance with the
   provisions of BCP 78 and BCP 79.

   Internet-Drafts are working documents of the Internet Engineering
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   This Internet-Draft will expire on 29 January 2021.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (c) 2020 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the
   document authors.  All rights reserved.

   This document is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal
   Provisions Relating to IETF Documents (https://trustee.ietf.org/
   license-info) in effect on the date of publication of this document.
   Please review these documents carefully, as they describe your rights
   and restrictions with respect to this document.  Code Components
   extracted from this document must include Simplified BSD License text
   as described in Section 4.e of the Trust Legal Provisions and are
   provided without warranty as described in the Simplified BSD License.





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Table of Contents

   1.  Introduction  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   2
   2.  Conventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
   3.  Decision Criteria and Roles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
     3.1.  IETF LLC  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
     3.2.  IESG  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
   4.  Remedies  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
     4.1.  Relocation  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
     4.2.  Postponement  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
     4.3.  Virtualization  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
     4.4.  Cancellation  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
   5.  Refunds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
   6.  Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
   7.  IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
   8.  Informative References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   6
   Appendix A.  Acknowledgments  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   6
   Appendix B.  Change Log . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   6
   Author's Address  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   6

1.  Introduction

   One highlight of the IETF calendar is in-person general meetings,
   which happen three times a year at various locations around the
   world.

   Various events could make a scheduled IETF meeting impossible, in
   that a particular time or place can be largely closed to travel or
   assembly.  These conditions do not always have obvious thresholds.
   For example:

   *  The meeting venue itself may close unexpectedly due to a health
      issue, legal violation, or other localized problem.

   *  A natural disaster could degrade the travel and event
      infrastructure in a planned location and make it unethical to
      further burden that infrastructure with a meeting.

   *  War or civil unrest could make a meeting unsafe.

   *  A political, economic, or public health crisis could result in
      widespread national or corporate travel bans.

   This document provides procedures for the IETF to decide to postpone,
   move, or cancel an in-person IETF meeting.






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2.  Conventions

   The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT",
   "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this
   document are to be interpreted as described in RFC 2119 [RFC2119].

3.  Decision Criteria and Roles

3.1.  IETF LLC

   The LLC is responsible for assessing if it is safe to hold the
   meeting given the following criteria.  This assessment SHOULD occur
   eight weeks prior to the first day of the meeting, though events may
   require reevaluation as late as during the meeting itself.

   The criteria in Section 3.1 of [RFC8718] apply to venues that have
   changed status.  Specifically:

   *  Local safety guidelines allow the venue and hotels to host a
      meeting with the expected number of participants and staff.

   *  It MUST be possible to provision Internet Access to the Facility
      and IETF Hotels that allows those attending in person to utilize
      the Internet for all their IETF, business, and day-to-day needs;
      in addition, there must be sufficient bandwidth and access for
      remote attendees.  Provisions include, but are not limited to,
      native and unmodified IPv4 and IPv6 connectivity, and global
      reachability; there may be no additional limitation that would
      materially impact their Internet use.  To ensure availability, it
      MUST be possible to provision redundant paths to the Internet.

   *  A reasonable number of food and drink establishments are open and
      available within walking distance to provide for the full number
      of participants and staff.

   Additionally, there should not be any US [USSTATE] or UK [UKFO]
   travel advisories for the location of the meeting.  These sources are
   chosen to be easily accessible in English.  This should not be
   interpreted as requiring cancellation due to a warning about a
   different region in the host nation, or in the rural area surrounding
   a host city provided transportation to the airport is secure.

   Finally, the LLC should assess the impact of various travel
   restrictions, legal and corporate, on the ability of critical support
   staff and contractors to enter the host nation.  The LLC can cancel
   the event if it concludes it cannot adequately support it.





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3.2.  IESG

   The IESG assesses if projected attendance is high enough to capture
   the benefit of an in-person meeting.  In some cases, corporate travel
   restrictions may lower attendance in the absence of any formal
   guidance from authorities.  If it concludes that attendance is too
   low, it can cancel the meeting regardless of the LLC's safety
   assessment.

   The IESG is discouraged from relying on a simple count of expected
   event attendance.  Even dramatically smaller events with large remote
   participation may be successful.  The IESG might consider:

   *  Are many working groups largely unaffected by the restrictions, so
      that they can operate effectively?

   *  Is there a critical mass of key personnel at most working group
      meetings to leverage the advantages of in-person meetings, even if
      many participants are remote?

4.  Remedies

   In the event cannot be held at the scheduled time and place, the IETF
   has several options.

4.1.  Relocation

   For attendees, the least disruptive response is to retain the meeting
   week but move it to a more accessible venue.  To the maximum extent
   possible, this will be geographically close to the original venue.
   In particular, the IETF should strive to meet the criteria in
   [RFC8718] and [RFC8719].

4.2.  Postponement

   Although it is more disruptive to the schedules of participants, the
   next best option is to delay the meeting until specific date at which
   conditions are expected to improve.  The new end date of the meeting
   must be at least 30 days before the beginning of the following IETF
   meeting.

   Note that due to scheduling constraints at the venue, this will
   usually not be feasible.








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4.3.  Virtualization

   The final option is to make the meeting fully remote.  This requires
   different IETF processes and logistical operations that are outside
   the scope of this document.

4.4.  Cancellation

   As a last resort, IETF may cancel the meeting totally.  This is a
   last resort in the event that worldwide conditions make it difficult
   for attendees to even attend remotely.  Not holding a meeting at all
   has wide implications for the rhythm of IETF personnel policies, such
   as the nomination process and seating of new officers.

5.  Refunds

   The IETF SHOULD NOT reimburse registered attendees for unrecoverable
   travel expenses (airfare, hotel deposits, etc).

   However, there are several cases where full or partial refund of
   registration fees is appropriate:

   *  Cancellation SHOULD result in a full refund to all participants.
      It MAY be prorated if some portion of the sessions completed
      without incident.

   *  Upon postponement, the LLC SHOULD offer refunds to registered
      attendees who claim they cannot attend at the newly scheduled
      time.

   *  When the meeting becomes remote, the LLC SHOULD attempt to recover
      whatever venue-related payments, past or future, it can and rebate
      this to registered attendees, up to a maximum of their total cost
      of registration.

   These provisions intend to maintain trust between the IETF and its
   participants.  However, under extraordinary threats to the solvency
   of the organization, the LLC may suspend them.

6.  Security Considerations

   This document introduces no new concerns for the security of internet
   protocols.

7.  IANA Considerations

   There are no IANA requirements.




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8.  Informative References

   [RFC2119]  Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate
              Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC2119, March 1997,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc2119>.

   [RFC8718]  Lear, E., Ed., "IETF Plenary Meeting Venue Selection
              Process", BCP 226, RFC 8718, DOI 10.17487/RFC8718,
              February 2020, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc8718>.

   [RFC8719]  Krishnan, S., "High-Level Guidance for the Meeting Policy
              of the IETF", BCP 226, RFC 8719, DOI 10.17487/RFC8719,
              February 2020, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc8719>.

   [UKFO]     Office, U.F., "Foreign Travel Advice", n.d.,
              <https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice>.

   [USSTATE]  State, U.D.o., "International Travel", n.d.,
              <https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-
              travel.html>.

Appendix A.  Acknowledgments

Appendix B.  Change Log

Author's Address

   Martin Duke
   F5 Networks, Inc.

   Email: martin.h.duke@gmail.com



















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