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[802SEC] IEEE SA position on unofficial 802 related activities



Dear EC Members,

As the Chair of 802 I have observed that it is not unusual for a group of 
individuals to collaborate in consensus building activities outside of the 
umbrella of the formal 802 process during the life of a standards 
development project.  This unofficial 802 related activity can be beneficial 
to the formal standards development process because under the right 
conditions it may help build consensus across the 802 membership.  The 
purpose of this email is to make sure that all individuals working in groups 
outside the 802 process clearly understand that although they may be working 
on subject material relevant to an 802 project they are not covered by IEEE 
indemnification policy while participating in the unofficial 802 related 
activities.

For example, it has come to my attention that the IEEE 802.11 Task Group N 
(TGn) considered a motion at the July plenary session to grant TGn Sync, 
WWiSE and Mitmot time to complete a merged Joint Proposal to replace the 
three remaining TGn proposals.  The Joint Proposal activity is not governed 
by the 802 process.  Regardless, as documented in the July 2005 TGn minutes, 
the group voted overwhelmingly to allow the extra time requested by the 
three proponents to formulate a Joint Proposal as the motion was approved on 
a vote of 195-2-3.  (This motion and result was in accordance with the TGn 
selection procedures, which required approval of 75% of the TGn members 
voting on the motion.)

As can be seen in this particular case the activity to develop a Joint 
Proposal is not itself an activity of IEEE 802, hence like other activities 
outside IEEE 802 process, this activity does not meet the eligibility 
criteria for the IEEE indemnification policy.

I ask that each EC member that is chair of a TAG or WG circulate this email 
to their entire group prior to the November plenary session so that all our 
members better understand the limits of indeminfication provided by IEEE.

Regards,

--Paul Nikolich 

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