Subject: [urn] 3986, scope issues, list behavior, etc...

From: Andrew Newton <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 31 Oct 2014 15:59:40 -0400

All,

I am sorry for not being able to address this sooner as it appears
discussions on this list have gone a little sideways. I do ask that
everybody take a mental and/or emotional step back for a minute. While
I do appreciate your passion for this topic, let us all remember that
we must be collaborative in our efforts.

A few requests have been asked to me as chair. Let me address them.

With regards to revoking posting rights, in my view that action should
only be taken for abusive situations as it denies a person their
ability to participate in the IETF process. Taking IETF discussions
off course is a common occurrence but is seldom malicious.

Discussions regarding the revision of RFC 3986 are out of scope for
this working group. As I have stated in the past, this working group's
relationship with 3986 is to update the semantics, but not the syntax,
as it relates to URNs only. All other digressions with regards to 3986
are off course. So I ask that you please attempt to remain on-course.
And it is appropriate that others may ask that of you in a polite way.

It is also important to realize that in the rough and tumble of IETF
discussions, the words you may use might not have the same meaning to
others and the words you hear or read may not have been intended as
you have perceived. Descriptions of things being "broken" can be taken
the wrong way but at the same time most of us can think of far more
colorful words meant to agitate others.

With regards to petitioning the IESG for a charter change, I'll
discuss that with our AD. However, that does not preclude us from
following the direction I have given above.

And specifically to Keith's point about the uniform treatment of URNs
in software, I hope we can have that discussion without worrying about
our group's relevance or the fate of RFC 3986. In other words, we can
decide as a group how important that is to our efforts. But that
decision doesn't have to be a gating factor for the rest of our work.

-andy
your friendly neighborhood URNBIS co-chair