IETF Administrative Support Activity 2.0: Consolidated Updates to IETF Administrative Terminology
RFC 8717
BCP 101
John C Klensin, Ed.
1770 Massachusetts Ave, Ste 322
Cambridge
MA
02140
USA
+1 617 245 1457
john-ietf@jck.com
February 2020
General
IASA2
IASA
In 2018, the IETF began the transition to a new administrative structure and updated its IETF Administrative Support Activity (IASA) to a new "IASA 2.0" structure. In addition to more substantive changes that are described in other documents, the transition to the 2018 IETF Administrative Support structure changes several position titles and organizational relationships that are referenced elsewhere. Rather than reissue those referencing documents individually, this specification provides updates to them and deprecates some now-obsolete documents to ensure that there is no confusion due to these changes.
Introduction
In 2018, the IETF began the transition to a new administrative structure, and updated its IETF Administrative Support Activity (IASA) to a new "IASA 2.0" structure [RFC8711]. Key IASA 2.0 changes have been specified in a series of documents, including changes to the IETF Trust [RFC8714], the rationale for it [RFC8715], a new defining document for the IETF Administration LLC [LLC-Agreement] (informally called the "IETF LLC" or just "the LLC" in places in this document and elsewhere), and adjustments to the procedures for nominations and selections for relevant positions [RFC8713].
In addition to more substantive changes that are described in those and other documents, the IASA 2.0 structure changes several position titles and organizational relationships that are referenced in other documents. Rather than reissue those documents individually, this document provides a unified update to them.
This document updates RFCs 2028, 2418, 3005, 3710, 3929, 4633, and 6702 (citations in context below) to make those terminology and related changes. In addition, with the authorization of the IAB, it requests that the Informational RFC 3716 be made Historic (see Section 4). The sections that follow identify the details of the relevant documents and the required changes.
Where Appropriate, Replacement of the IETF Executive Director Position with the Managing Director, IETF Secretariat
Under the IASA 2.0 structure, most of the responsibilities of the former position of IETF Executive Director have been assigned to a new position (or at least title) of Managing Director, IETF Secretariat. An "Executive Director" title is now associated with different, and largely new, responsibilities as an officer of the IETF Administration LLC. These changes are covered in the description of the new structural arrangements [RFC8711].
This document applies that change to the following:
- RFC 2028, "The Organizations Involved in the IETF Standards Process", [RFC2028], Section 3.3.
- RFC 2418, "IETF Working Group Guidelines and Procedures", [RFC2418], Section 1.
- RFC 3710, "An IESG Charter", [RFC3710], Section 2.
- RFC 3929, "Alternative Decision Making Processes for Consensus-Blocked Decisions in the IETF", [RFC3929], Sections 4.1.1 and 4.3 (twice).
- RFC 4633, "Experiment in Long-Term Suspensions From Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) Mailing Lists", [RFC4633], Section 1.
- RFC 6702, "Promoting Compliance with Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Disclosure Rules", [RFC6702], Section 5.
Note that the current description of the Internet Standards Process [RFC2026] does not require an update by this document for this purpose because the reference to the IETF Executive Director in RFC 2026 was replaced by a document [RFC3979] that precedes the current effort, and that document was, in turn, obsoleted by RFC 8179.
Removal of the IETF Executive Director as an Option
In a few cases, it is no longer appropriate for either the Managing Director, IETF Secretariat (former IETF Executive Director position) or the new IETF Executive Director (for the LLC) to perform a particular historical function. The relevant documents are updated to remove the IETF Executive Director from the list of people with specific responsibilities or authority. Those documents will not be updated to use "Managing Director, IETF Secretariat" but, instead, the mention of the position will simply be dropped.
This document applies that change to the following:
- RFC 3005, "IETF Discussion List Charter" [RFC3005], section titled "Charter for the IETF Discussion List". This document is modified to remove the authorization for the IETF Executive Director to restrict people from posting, etc.
Deprecated Documents
Documents Whose Context Is Changed by This Specification
Both of the documents that follow were obsoleted in 2017 by RFC 8179, which changed mentions of the IETF Executive Director to point to the IETF Secretariat more generally.
- RFC 3979
- RFC 4879
General Description of the IETF Administrative Model
RFC 3716 was a report of an IAB Advisory Committee that served as a starting point for the work that led to the original IASA structure. That report was an IAB document rather than an IETF one. The IAB approved a proposal to move RFC 3716 to Historic on March 6, 2019 [IAB-3716-Historic].
Security Considerations
The changes specified in this document are matters of terminology and organizational structure derived from documents it references. It should have no effect on Internet security.
References
Normative References
[RFC8711]

Structure of the IETF Administrative Support Activity, Version 2.0
B. Haberman
J. Hall
J. Livingood
February 2020
BCP 101
RFC 8711
DOI 10.17487/RFC8711
[RFC8714]

Update to the Process for Selection of Trustees for the IETF Trust
J. Arkko
T. Hardie
February 2020
BCP 101
RFC 8714
DOI 10.17487/RFC8714
[RFC8715]

IETF Administrative Support Activity 2.0: Update to the Process for Selection of Trustees for the IETF Trust
J. Arkko
February 2020
RFC 8715
DOI 10.17487/RFC8715
[LLC-Agreement]

Limited Liability Company Agreement of IETF Administration LLC
IETF Administration LLC
28 August 2018
[RFC8713]

IAB, IESG, IETF Trust, and IETF LLC Selection, Confirmation, and Recall Process: Operation of the IETF Nominating and Recall Committees
M. Kucherawy, Ed.
R. Hinden, Ed.
J. Livingood, Ed.
February 2020
BCP 10
RFC 8713
DOI 10.17487/RFC8713
Informative References
[IAB-3716-Historic]

IAB Minutes 2019-03-06
Internet Architecture Board
6 March 2019
[RFC2028]
[RFC2418]
[RFC3710]
[RFC3929]
[RFC4633]
[RFC6702]
[RFC2026]
[RFC3979]
[RFC3005]
Acknowledgments
Brian Carpenter's careful checking and identification of documents that did, and did not, require consideration was essential to the document in its current form. He also made several other significant contributions. Bob Hinden also gave the document a careful reading and made useful suggestions. In additional to the above, Alissa Cooper, Eliot Lear, Heather Flanagan (the RFC Series Editor), and the current membership to the IAB helped sort out the handing of RFC 3716.
Contributors
Jason Livingood did the hard work of identifying the documents that required updating and supplied considerable text used in this document.