Among the most significant tasks the IAOC has been undertaking recently are negotiating terms of the IETF Trust, establishing contracts with service organisations and developing a budget for the following years.
Substantial agreement has been reached with both CNRI and ISOC on the founding document for an IETF Trust. The IETF Trust is a private legal construct (in this case established under the laws of Virginia, USA) allowing assets (in this case, intellectual property rights and other property) to be held and administered for the benefit of the IETF and hence the Internet Standards process.
Upon signing, procedures which will bind the Trustees to the same conditions for Review and Appeal as those applied to the IAOC in BCP 101 will be enacted. Both, CNRI and ISOC will put any currently held IETF related IPR into the IETF Trust at initial signing.
The IASA will license IPR as needed to various service contractors in the future. Any IPR created by those contractors as part of the terms of such a contract will then be assigned back to the IETF Trust. It is not the intention of the settlors to modify the IETF-community approved policies and procedures regarding intellectual property rights in IETF standards documents and other contributions to the standards process.
The IETF Trust may accept additional donations if the Trustees determine that it is in the interests of the IETF and in line with BCP 101. The members of the IAOC will act as Trustees.
The IAOC believes that the IETF Trust will allow the IASA to engage in contracts that require the use of IETF assets and to license those assets as needed. The IAOC chair has issued a consensus call to the IETF community mailing lists asking the IETF community for affirmation of the IETF Trust document. The IETF Trust, a model License agreement and an FAQ are available on the IAOC web site.
NeuStar has completed a Sale and Purchase Agreement with CNRI for Foretec Inc. The IASA is engaged in talks with NeuStar regarding the provisioning of IETF support services. An initial two year service agreement will be followed by an open RFP for: – network infrastructure – meeting services – the clerk’s office – mail and archive support
A number of draft contract documents for secretariat functions have been discussed with Neustar: service contract, statement of work, service level agreeement and operating budget.
Finally, the IAD together with the IAOC is developing a budget based on IASA controlled meeting revenues and IASA administered contracts.
The IAD will integrate existing tools created by the tools team into the IETF web site as well as develop new tools.
In the next few months the IAOC will focus on:
- signing off on the IETF Trust
- completing the initial service agreement with NeuStar
- developing full RFPs for all major service contracts
- publishing regular contract performance and budget reports
That means, the management of operations and expenses is the top priority.
More information, including supporting documents for the IETF Trust, the Statement of Work documents with NeuStar and a list of IAOC members can be found on http://koi.uoregon.edu/~iaoc/
The Structure of the IETF Administrative Support Activity (IASA)
The IAOC’s mission is not to be enganged in the day-to-day administrative work of IASA, but rather to provide appropriate direction, oversight and approval. The IASA structure is designed to ensure accountability and transparency of the IETF administrative and fiscal activities to the IETF community.
The IAD is responsible for negotiating and maintaining contracts or equivalent instruments with outside organisations as well as providing any coordination necessary to make sure the IETF administrative support functions are covered properly.
All functions whether contracted to outside organisations or performed internally within the IASA, must be clearly specified and documented with well-defined deliverables, service level agreements and transparent accounting for the cost of such function.
The IASA is responsible for managing all intellectual property rights (IPR), including but not limited to trademarks, and copyrights that belong to the IETF. The IASA is responsible for undertaking any required actions on behalf of the IETF to obtain, protect and manage the rights that the IETF needs in order to carry out its work.
Members of the IAOC
- Lucy Lynch, appointed by the IESG (Initial Chair)
- Kurtis Lindquist, appointed by the IAB
- Steve Crocker, appointed by the ISOC Board of Trustees
- Brian Carpenter, IETF Chair (ex officio)
- Leslie Daigle, IAB Chair (ex officio)
- Lynn St.Amour, ISOC President/CEO (ex officio)
- Jonne Soininen, appointed by the NomCom (2 year term)
- Ed Juskevicius, appointed by the NomCom (1 year term)
- Ray Pelletier, IETF Administrative Director (non-voting)