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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