Session Date/Time: 23 Mar 2022 16:00

Plenary

Summary

The IETF Plenary session for IETF 113 focused on welcoming participants to the first hybrid meeting, acknowledging the challenges of global events, and providing updates from various IETF entities. Key discussions included the ongoing evolution of meeting formats, significant tooling infrastructure changes (GitHub migration for IETF tools), updates on the RFC Editor Model, and a critical discussion regarding the IETF Trust's structure due to insurance and liability concerns. The session also recognized outgoing leadership and paid tribute to a significant community member.

Key Discussion Points

Welcome and Meeting Logistics:
- Liz Eckert welcomed participants to the first hybrid IETF 113 meeting in Vienna, emphasizing the importance of in-person interactions while continuing to support remote participation.
- Acknowledged global challenges, including the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine, expressing concern for affected colleagues.
- Reviewed "Note Well" and participation guidelines for the hybrid format, encouraging video sharing and headset use for remote attendees.
- Expressed gratitude to Huawei as the meeting host, along with the Secretariat, MeetEcho, NOC, and Tools Team for facilitating the complex relocation from Bangkok to Vienna and managing hybrid logistics.
Chair's Report (Lars Eggert):
- Participant Statistics: Total just under 1400 participants (300+ onsite, 1100 remote), an uptick to normal European meeting numbers. 250 fee waivers granted. 231 Hackathon registrations (134 online). Onsite/remote participant breakdown by region showed similar distributions.
- Future Meetings & Support: Introduced support@ietf.org as a unified support channel and tools-discuss@ietf.org for specific tools issues. Announced upcoming post-113 survey for hybrid meeting feedback. Referenced SHMU working group for meeting-related discussions.
- Experiments & Planned Actions: Ongoing comment period for archiving author/RPC discussions during RFC 48 (until tomorrow). Tweaking BOF review process, scheduling more virtual/interim BOFs. Planning a low-volume "Important News Announcement" list for all DataTracker account holders.
- ISG Updates: Zero appeals since last IETF. Provided guidance on interpreting ISG ballot position emails to authors.
Tools Team Report (Robert Sparks):
- GitHub Migration: Announced completion of moving major IETF tool repositories (DataTracker, ID-Nits, tools.ietf.org, XML2RFC) to the IETF Tools GitHub organization. Encouraged community use for bug reports, feature requests (issues/discussions), and code contributions.
- Contributing: Directed users to CONTRIBUTING.md for engagement guidelines and mentioned code sprints.
- New Resources: Highlighted authors.ietf.org for authoring formats and rendering tools, with a bibxml service coming soon.
- DataTracker UI Update: Invited community feedback on the upcoming major update to the DataTracker's look and feel.
IAB Report (Mirja Kühlewind):
- New Independent Submission Editor: Announced Elliot Lear's appointment, thanking outgoing editor Adrian Farrel.
- RFC Editor Model: The program designing the new RFC Editor Model has effectively concluded its work. After a four-week community feedback call and IAB review, the document was approved, with minor editorial changes. Awaiting three small updates to existing process documents going through the IETF stream (one requires another IETF last call).
- Open Calls: Two open calls for volunteers:
  - ICANN Root Server Systems Government Working Group (1-2 year commitment).
  - Co-chairs for the new RFC Series Working Group (outcome of the RFC Editor Model program).
- Reappointment of Peter Van Roste to ICANN Technical Esau Group.
IRTF Report (Colin Perkins):
- Applied Networking Research Prize (ANRP): Two awards made for recent results in applied networking research:
  - Sangeeta Abdu Jyoti for work on internet infrastructure resilience to solar superstorms.
  - Bruce Spang for work on bias in network A/B testing algorithms due to congestion.
- Applied Networking Research Workshop (ANRW): The 2022 workshop will co-locate with the July IETF meeting. Call for Papers issued, deadline end of April.
IETF LLC Report (Jay Daley & Jason Livingood):
- Sponsorship & Volunteers: Thanked global hosts, meeting hosts (Huawei), equipment sponsors (Cisco, Juniper, Webex), diversity & inclusivity sponsors (Akamai, Cisco, Huawei, Verisign, CNNIC), and local network provider (Next Layer). Appreciated volunteers for Code Sprint and NOC.
- Meetings & Funding: Upcoming meetings confirmed: Philadelphia (IETF 114), London (IETF 115). Working on Asia for IETF 116. Long-term funding comes from global hosts and supporters (Cisco, Comcast, Ericsson, Huawei, Juniper, NBCUniversal, Nokia).
- IETF Endowment: Goal of raising $50 million USD by 2027. Internet Society offers match funding (2:1 for first $12M, 1:1 for subsequent $6M). 2021 donations totaled $239k USD, resulting in $718k with match. Encouraged individual and corporate donations.
- LLC Board Activities (Jason Livingood): Regular open monthly meetings. Recent work includes changes to investment policy, hybrid meeting assessment, antitrust policy review, ED relocation to London, and strategic planning for the annual retreat. Noted fiscal year operating budget variances due to one-time ISOC accounting issue.
IETF Trust Report (Glenn Dean):
- Purpose: Holds IETF IP assets (copyrights, trademarks, domains, software licenses) on behalf of IETF, IANA, ICANN, and other internet-related activities.
- Structural Problem: Current trust structure in Virginia faces challenges with obtaining adequate Directors & Officers (D&O) insurance for trustees, whose personal liability is intertwined with the trust. This limits the pool of potential trustees.
- Proposed Solution: Exploring restructuring the IETF Trust into a non-profit corporation (likely in Delaware), demoting trustees to directors to mitigate personal liability and improve insurance market access.
- Impact Assessment: Confirmed minimal change to the Trust's role, service, asset transfer, licenses, and 501(c)(3) non-profit status. Selection process for directors would remain the same. Stressed the Trust's necessary independence from the IETF LLC/ISOC due to founding agreements and IANA transition requirements.
- Community Consultation: Announced a consultation with affected communities (IETF, ICANN, IAR-RARS) via the trust-interest@ietf.org mailing list and a multi-hour webinar in April.
Recognition of Outgoing Leadership:
- IAB: Jari Arkko and Ben Campbell (both served two virtual years).
- ISG: Benjamin Kaduk (Security Area) and Marta Piekarska-Jourdain (Routing Area).
In Memoriam: John Klensin spoke in memory of Susan R. Harris (March 6, 2022), recognizing her contributions as a writer, "nerd whisperer," early NANOG contributor, and author of notable RFCs like "The Tao of IETF."
Open Mic:
- LLC: Barry Leiba encouraged participants to use the registration page option to donate to the IETF Endowment, noting these donations are match-funded by ISOC.
- ISG: Incoming ADs Paul Wouters (Security) and Andrew Alston (Routing) were introduced.
- IAB: Lars C.L. Nielsen volunteered for the ICANN Root Server Systems Government Working Group, offering to share information.

Decisions and Action Items

Decisions:

The fee waiver program for remote participation will continue indefinitely.
The IESG decided to pursue running more virtual and interim BOFs.
The IESG decided to create an "Important News Announcement" list that will reach all DataTracker account holders.
The IAB formally approved the new RFC Editor Model document.
The IAB appointed Elliot Lear as the new Independent Submission Editor.

Action Items:

Community: Review the "Note Well" slides.
Participants: Use support@ietf.org for general IETF queries and tools-discuss@ietf.org for IETF tools-specific issues.
Jay Daley (Executive Director): Send out the post-IETF 113 survey to gather feedback on the first hybrid meeting.
Community: Provide comments on the proposal to archive discussions between document authors and the RFC Production Center (RPC) during RFC 48 review (deadline: tomorrow).
IETF Tools Users: Utilize GitHub for bug reports and feature requests for IETF tools; read the CONTRIBUTING.md document for deeper engagement.
Interested Parties: Attend the IAB open session tomorrow for further discussion on centralization.
Researchers: Consider submitting papers to the Applied Networking Research Workshop (ANRW) 2022 (Call for Papers deadline: end of April).
Community/Companies: Consider donating to the IETF Endowment, leveraging the Internet Society's match-funding program.
Community: Join upcoming IETF LLC open meetings or send questions/comments.
Community: Participate in the IETF Trust's consultation on its proposed restructuring, via the trust-interest@ietf.org mailing list and the multi-hour webinar in April.
Volunteers: Email the IAB (or propose candidates) for the open calls for the ICANN Root Server Systems Government Working Group and co-chairs for the new RFC Series Working Group, and other IAB-appointed positions.
Participants: Send messages of thanks to the outgoing IAB and ISG members.

Next Steps

IETF 114 will be held in Philadelphia.
IETF 115 will be held in London in November.
Planning is ongoing for IETF 116 in Asia.
The IAB Open Session will be held tomorrow.
The Applied Networking Research Workshop (ANRW) 2022 will co-locate with the July IETF meeting; Call for Papers deadline is the end of April.
The IETF Trust will hold a multi-hour webinar in April for community consultation on its proposed restructuring.
The IETF LLC will soon announce dates for its annual strategic planning retreat.
The post-IETF 113 survey will be distributed to gather feedback on the hybrid meeting experience.