Subject: Trust Financial Statements

From: S Moonesamy <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 16 Jan 2020 01:48:34 -0800

Dear IETF Trust,

I was browsing your web site and I noticed that the last monthly 
financial statements is dated August 2019.  Could the statements 
after that month be published on the web site?

I could not find the Disclosure Forms mentioned in one of your 
policies on your web site.    I found that odd as the IETF 
Administration LLC publishes individual-level disclosures.  Could the 
trustees consider publishing the Disclosure Forms?

Regards,
S. Moonesamy

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From: Kathleen Moriarty <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 16 Jan 2020 09:51:47 -0500

Hi SM,

Thank you for your email.  We'll look into the gap and appreciate you
pointing it out.  We do intend to keep what we can transparent, but as with
life, some things fall int he cracks at times.  We'll work to get this
resolved in terms of the financial statements.  As the treasurer, it's all
been business as usual.  You should just see a repeated pattern from month
to month of expected expenses.

We'll discuss the disclosures and get back to you as I don't want to
respond for everyone until we have time to discuss.

Best regards,
Kathleen

On Thu, Jan 16, 2020 at 4:50 AM S Moonesamy <[email-masked]> wrote:

> _______________________________________________
> Trustees mailing list
> [email-masked]
> https://www.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/trustees
>

-- 

Best regards,
Kathleen

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From: "Deen, Glenn (NBCUniversal)" <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 16 Jan 2020 17:00:23 +0000

Hi 

The IETF Trustees will certainly discuss the suggestion of the individual-level disclosures.   Though I'd like to see where the current other discussions end up before we proceed too far as I don't want us to duplicate discussions that are already going on.     

The IETF Trustee role is certainly different than the others being discussed as it doesn't have any influence or decision making over technical standards, or architectural issue, or what the IETF would work on.  It also doesn't engage in the funding decisions that the IETF LLC does.     The Trust focused is limited to managing the IETF IP's assets - the copyrights, trademarks, and open source licenses, as well as the IANA assets.

Still, it is something I believe we should discuss and consider so that we do what's right and reasonable.

Regards
Glenn Deen, as IETF Trust Chair

On 1/16/20, 1:51 AM, "Trustees on behalf of S Moonesamy" <[email-masked] on behalf of [email-masked]> wrote:

    Dear IETF Trust,

    
    Regards,
    S. Moonesamy
    
    _______________________________________________
    Trustees mailing list
    [email-masked]
    https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/trustees__;!!PIZeeW5wscynRQ!9rOlGV4CiXr_oAKdmfwOdNbXR-0BY0wtVmhnskR5RZq5jAlMKBzEprbMFgARJ6Hn$

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From: S Moonesamy <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 16 Jan 2020 09:47:35 -0800

Dear Glenn,

Thank you for the feedback.

In order to avoid any confusion I would like to clarify that my 
request was not related to the topic of having influence or decision 
making over technical standards, or architectural issue.

Regards,
S. Moonesamy

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From: "Deen, Glenn (NBCUniversal)" <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 16 Jan 2020 18:06:46 +0000

On 1/16/20, 9:49 AM, "S Moonesamy" <[email-masked]> wrote:

    Dear Glenn,

Understood.  

At the heart of discussing disclosure a key question is what aspects would possibly be a conflict of interest for a Trustee that would be revealed via the disclosure.   The Trust's focus on IP asset management which means ensuring licenses are properly done, where needed defensive protective actions are taken, and that needed legal processes are properly followed and timely makes the potential conflicts very different and will require some new thinking through what would constitute a conflict.  

Clearly a Trustee that is/was a plaintiff or is/has been engaged on the side of a plaintiff in a lawsuit against the IETF LCC or IETF Trust would be a clear conflict.   Another is a situation of an anti-IP activist who is fundamentally opposed to the role of the Trust or the way that IP assets are legally managed as they may be unwilling to perform the duties of a Trustee.   What other situations there might be will need thinking through, as well as the question of what specific information disclosure would in fact be asked by Trustees to address the scenarios.   

Regards
Glenn

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From: S Moonesamy <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 16 Jan 2020 12:08:54 -0800

Dear Glenn,
At 10:06 AM 16-01-2020, Deen, Glenn (NBCUniversal) wrote:
>At the heart of discussing disclosure a key question is what aspects 
>would possibly be a conflict of interest for a Trustee that would be 
>revealed via the disclosure.   The Trust's focus on IP asset 
>management which means ensuring licenses are properly done, where 
>needed defensive protective actions are taken, and that needed legal 
>processes are properly followed and timely makes the potential 
>conflicts very different and will require some new thinking through 
>what would constitute a conflict.

Yes.

>Clearly a Trustee that is/was a plaintiff or is/has been engaged on 
>the side of a plaintiff in a lawsuit against the IETF LCC or IETF 
>Trust would be a clear conflict.   Another is a situation of an 
>anti-IP activist who is fundamentally opposed to the role of the 
>Trust or the way that IP assets are legally managed as they may be 
>unwilling to perform the duties of a Trustee.   What other 
>situations there might be will need thinking through, as well as the 
>question of what specific information disclosure would in fact be 
>asked by Trustees to address the scenarios.

One of the stated purposes of the IETF Trust is that it is for the 
advancement of education and public interest ...  It is difficult to 
argue that the trustee is acting as a disinterested party when there 
is a conflict of interest.  It also raises questions about whether 
the action was in the public interest or whether it was self-interest.

I gather that a Trustee would understand that it is a bad idea to be 
affiliated with a party which files a lawsuit against the IETF 
Trust.  As for the unwillingness of a Trustee to perform his/her 
duties, it would be good to understand what the problem is instead of 
reaching hasty conclusions.

Regards,
S. Moonesamy