Session Date/Time: 05 Nov 2025 22:30

PLENARY - IETF 124

Summary

The IETF 124 Plenary session commenced with a welcome to Montreal, acknowledgements of meeting hosts and supporting staff, and a reminder of IETF policies. The Jonathan B. Postel Service Award was presented to David Clark (virtually). Leadership bodies (IETF Chair/IESG, IAB, IRTF, NOMCOM, IETF Trust, IETF LLC) provided updates on their activities, including meeting statistics, policy statements, workshops, appointments, and financial status. An apology was issued by the IETF Chair regarding a disruptive Datatracker change. Open mic sessions addressed a range of community concerns, including ICANN's IP address assignment procedures, the IESG's appeals processing, scheduling for newcomer events, RFC naming, and the importance of IETF's technical focus when selecting meeting locations.

Key Discussion Points

Welcome and Acknowledgements:
- Welcome to Montreal for IETF 124, noting high in-person and remote participation.
- Gratitude extended to meeting host Comcast & NBCUniversal, Secretariat, Mid-Echo team, NOC, LLC administrative staff (including tools team), and hackathon support.
- Acknowledgement of organizations sponsoring IESG ADs.
- Special thanks to the Ombuds team for their work and transparency report, and recognition for Alison Mankin's nine years of service.
Jonathan B. Postel Service Award:
- Awarded to David Clark for his major contributions to Internet design and policy, and lifetime of service. His famous quote, "We reject kings, presidents, and voting. We believe in rough consensus and running code," was highlighted as a cardinal principle of the IETF.
- A technical issue prevented the live video presentation; it was shown later in the session.
- David Clark's acceptance video emphasized John Postel's role in "speaking for the Internet" and the importance of remembering early Internet pioneers. A remote ceremony for David Clark is planned for November 20th.
IETF Chair / IESG Report:
- IETF 124 is the largest meeting in over two and a half years, with record onsite participation and a robust hackathon. Approximately one-fifth of participants are new to IETF.
- The IESG held "Ask Me Anything" sessions on becoming an AD and onboarding new work (BOFs).
- IESG Statements:
  - The IESG clarified that the IETF appeals process is not for reporting non-compliance with legal matters; such issues should be reported to [email protected] at the IETF Administrative LLC. Appeals are subject to IETF guidelines for conduct and anti-harassment policy. Specific formatting and content requirements for appeals were outlined.
  - The IESG stated that "non-conformant non-derivative clauses" in documents are inconsistent with IETF policy and disruptive. This disruption arises from: 1) communicating false representations of IETF process, 2) increasing participation costs (requiring legal counsel review), and 3) silencing risk-averse participants.
- Appeals Summary: Three new appeals were reported since the last meeting, bringing the 2025 total to six IESG decisions appealed to the IAB. This represents a historically high number of appeals. The IESG reaffirmed its commitment to the appeals path, acknowledging the challenge of balancing process adherence, clarity, and the substance of claims.
- General Area Updates: Progress was noted in the MODPOD WG (moderation procedures, now in AD review), IANABIS (IANA requirements), PROCON WG (standards process for RFC 2026/2418), and IPR-W WG (updating RFC 5378 on IPR management).
- Tools Team: Two new dashboards were launched to increase transparency: one showing all documents in IESG processing and another providing roll-ups of IETF size and activity by area/working group/AD.
- Datatracker Change Apology: The IETF Chair apologized on behalf of the IESG for a disruptive Datatracker change in August, which implied process changes without community engagement. The IESG committed to improving engagement and change control for future tool rollouts.
Ombuds Team Report: Over the last year, the Ombuds team handled 8 cases related to email, 1 in-person behavior case, 1 private virtual interaction case, 2 requests for advice, and 2 appeals of Ombuds decisions. Confidentiality of cases was emphasized.
IAB Report:
- Workshops: A joint workshop with W3C on age-based restrictions concluded, with a report forthcoming by year-end. An upcoming virtual workshop in December will focus on IP address geolocation topics.
- Appointments: Current call for nominations for the ISC Independent Stream Editor position (closes Friday). A call for feedback on the ISC role is forthcoming. A call for nominations for an IAB-appointed position to the ISOC Board of Trustees is also expected soon.
- Appeals: Three appeals have been received by the IAB since the last meeting, with responses forthcoming.
IRTF Report:
- The IRTF currently has 16 research groups, 13 of which are meeting this week.
- A new research group, SpaceRG, focused on systems and protocol aspects for cislunar and space environments, was announced.
- The Applied Networking Research Workshop (ANRW) was held in Madrid; the call for papers for the next round is expected in December.
- The Applied Networking Research Prize (ANRP) recognized two papers this week; supported by ISOC, Comcast, and NBC Universal.
- Renata Tescher (Netflix) gave a keynote at IETF Open on Netflix streaming over Starlink.
- IRTF Diversity Travel Grants supported four early career researchers from Asia and South America for IETF 124. Applications for IETF 125 close next week.
- The IRTF will hold a workshop on "Internetworking Challenges for AI" at ACM CoNEXT in December.
NOMCOM Report:
- The NOMCOM is working to fill 15 positions: 6 IAB, 1 IETF LLC Board, 1 IETF Trust, 6 IESG ADs, and 1 IETF Chair.
- 111 unique nominees, 41 accepted for interviews. The chair encouraged nominees to accept even if unsure, as mentoring is available.
- Community feedback is crucial; the soft deadline for feedback is tonight, with deliberations starting Friday.
IETF Trust / IPMC Report:
- The IETF Trust, composed of 5 volunteer trustees, reported zero new licenses, inquiries, or trademark actions, indicating the passive Trust Legal Provisions (TLP) are functioning as designed.
- The legal restructuring from a Virginia Common Trust to a corporation is nearing completion.
- An update to RFC 5378 (DRAFT-RADNER-GEN-RIGHTS) is in progress, changing references from "IETF Trust" to "Intellectual Property Management Corporation (IPMC)" in copyright statements. Companion documents for outbound rights are also being updated.
- The Trust manages IANA assets (trademarks, domain names); a proposed bylaw amendment for direct recognition of the CCG (IANA oversight group) is open for public comments until December 5th.
- The Trust Chair is stepping down, creating an opportunity for new trustees. Four nominees were accepted for current positions, with an IESG-appointed position opening later. Office hours are scheduled for Thursday.
IETF Administrative LLC Report:
- Expressed thanks to meeting host Comcast & NBCUniversal, Diversity & Inclusion sponsors (Akamai, Huawei, Graves Erickson), Sustainability sponsors (NTT), Running Code sponsors (ICANN, CERN, NIC.DE, NOMINET), and Equipment/Connectivity sponsors.
- Announced new product ideas for the IETF store (hoodies, running gear, stickers).
- Acknowledged volunteers for CodeSprint and NOC, and LLC staff (Secretariat, Mit-Mitico, NOC, RPC).
- A promotional video for IETF 125 in Shenzhen was shown.
- Future meeting locations: IETF 125 in Shenzhen (host confirmed), IETF 126 in Vienna (seeking host), IETF 127 in San Francisco (seeking host). The LLC aims to provide more information on future venue countries earlier in the process.
- LLC Board meetings are open to observers; financial statements are published online.
- Current work includes reviewing fundraising and investment strategies, formalizing communications, and a consultation on proposed meeting fees (deadline November 14th).
- Comments were submitted on the IETF Trust bylaws, and the Secretariat contract renewal is underway.
Open Mic - IAB:
- Commemoration of 40 years of IETF; recognition of founding participants.
- Appreciation for IAB members' outreach to operator communities (e.g., Ripe 91) and the policymaker program.
- Elliot Lear, outgoing Independent Submissions Editor, offered to advise interested candidates.
- Rodney Taylor (Caribbean Telecommunications Union) expressed appreciation as a new participant, highlighted Caribbean Internet governance efforts, submarine cable resilience, and interest in future collaboration and hosting IETF meetings.
Open Mic - IESG:
- ICANN IP Address Assignment: Jordi Palet raised concerns about ICANN unilaterally assigning special IP addresses without following IETF procedures. The IESG acknowledged the issue, noting it was discussed with IANA, attributing it to a lack of knowledge rather than malice. Eric Vink volunteered to help draft a generic IETF request for address assignment for testing purposes, not specifically for ICANN. A call was made for ICANN to halt its public consultation and correct its information.
- IESG Appeal Processing: Stephen Farrell questioned what the IESG believed it got wrong in processing recent appeals. The IESG explained its efforts to navigate process adherence, clarity, and substance, acknowledging a "fine line." Mike Bishop noted that appeals to the IAB indicate areas where IESG relies on "norms and tradition" rather than explicit RFCs, suggesting potential future formalization (e.g., via PROCON WG). Stephen Farrell critiqued the IESG's focus on "wrapping" (formality/presentation) over "substance," leading to more appeals, and advocated for focusing on core issues. IESG members responded that formalism was sometimes necessary to manage disruptive/voluminous appeals and to avoid relitigating issues where rough consensus already existed. The need for community consensus on RFC 2026/5378 was highlighted.
- Tools Changes and Process: Pete Resnick reinforced concerns about tools changes implying process changes without community consensus (e.g., document adoption), citing the recent Datatracker issue. The IESG reiterated its apology and commitment to improving change control for tools.
- Newcomer Session Scheduling: James Kunle Alonadari (newcomer) noted conflicts between newcomer sessions and other programs. The IESG requested feedback via the post-meeting survey to address this in future scheduling, acknowledging the challenges of scheduling hundreds of sessions.
- RFC Naming: James Kunle Alonadari suggested renaming approved RFCs (e.g., to "Internet Engineering Standard") and reserving "Request for Comments" for drafts to clarify their status. The IESG noted RFC 2026 clarifies different RFC types and encouraged feedback to the RFC Editor for their new website launch.
- IETF 125 Shenzhen Location: Alain Bidon strongly supported IETF 125 in Shenzhen, expressing concern that "ideology" might influence meeting location decisions, potentially creating a "Pandora's Box." He emphasized the technical nature of IETF, the contributions of Chinese colleagues, and the danger of setting precedents that could lead to questioning other future locations. He advocated for dialogue and "techno-diplomacy." Sean Turner, Harold, and Andrew Campley thanked the IESG for the MODPOD WG, and Harold and Andrew Campley cautioned against excessive formalism in procedures. Andrew Campley also urged continuation of combined GENDISPATCH sessions and praised IAB outreach efforts, and thanked the moderation team.
Open Mic - IETF LLC Board:
- A question was posed regarding the ability of Hong Kong University students to travel freely to Shenzhen for IETF 125 and hackathon. Dirk Kutscher responded that it depends on nationality and visa requirements but generally should be possible, encouraging participation from Hong Kong and Guangzhou universities.

Decisions and Action Items

The IETF Chair/IESG issued an apology for the disruptive Datatracker change in August and committed to improving community engagement and change control for future tool rollouts.
The IESG will work with the IAB and ICANN liaison to address ICANN's process for assigning special IP addresses, including drafting a generic IETF request for address assignment for testing purposes.
Community feedback for the NOMCOM is due tonight (soft deadline).
The IETF Trust bylaws amendment for CCG recognition is open for comments until December 5th.
The IETF LLC consultation on proposed meeting fees is open until November 14th.
Attendees are encouraged to provide feedback on newcomer session scheduling conflicts via the post-meeting survey.
Feedback on RFC naming conventions and the new RFC Editor website is encouraged at the RFC Editor desk.

Next Steps

A remote ceremony for David Clark's Jonathan B. Postel Service Award is scheduled for November 20th.
A report from the joint IAB/W3C workshop on age-based restrictions is forthcoming by the end of the year.
The IAB will host a virtual workshop on IP address geolocation topics in December.
Calls for nominations and feedback for various IAB-appointed positions (ISC Independent Stream Editor, ISOC Board of Trustees) are forthcoming.
The IRTF will issue a call for papers for the next Applied Networking Research Workshop in December.
Applications for IRTF Diversity Travel Grants for IETF 125 are due by the end of next week.
The IRTF will hold a workshop on "Internetworking Challenges for AI" at ACM CoNEXT in December.
NOMCOM deliberations will begin Friday, with the slate expected by early December and announcements early next year.
The IETF Trust's legal restructuring to a corporation is nearing completion.
The IETF Trust will hold office hours on Thursday, 10:40-11:15 in the MedGo room.
The IETF LLC will continue work on fundraising, streamlining investment strategy, formalizing communications, and the Secretariat contract renewal.
The IETF LLC plans to provide more details (at least country information) for future IETF meeting venues beyond IETF 127.
IETF 125 will be held in Shenzhen.