some notes on Chip's message at ">>" Scott (ISOC VP-Standards) ------------ At 09:59 AM 5/30/00 -0400, Roy, Radhika R, ALARC wrote: ...snip...

There are also no mechanisms in the ITU-T SG16 to accept the contributions for the companies that can afford to communicate via emails only. I guess that the best way is to have the RFC from the IETF that will have all inputs from all companies that invented the interworking solution. The SG16 can then have the RFC for their use to make a formal standard (with more additions if needed).

It is true that SG16 still operates mainly on the basis of written contributions to meetings and not on mail lists like IETF WG. It is also true that non-ITU members have a hard time participating in ITU SG work. Even if a company is an ITU member, attending all the meetings around the world is a travel burden on small companies (even big companies). However, an IETF WG can submit a written contribution to SG16 via existing mechanisms. Usually, this is initiated via consensus of the WG and/or by WG chair via the ISOC VP - Standards. Of course, it requires someone to represent that contribution at the SG16 meetings. The SG16 Rapporteurs have been very open in the past to inviting non-ITU member experts to Rapporteur Meetings to further the work. The SG16 mail list has been one of the more active SG mail lists in actually discussing technical issues. And SG16's working documents are available for review as well (at least from Rapporteur's Meetings). It will be nice if ITU could codify some of these examples at WTSA.

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in addition working group chairs can request that individuals be appopinted formal ISOC (IETF) representives to ITU-T meetings by the ISOC VP-standards working with the IAB (teh ISOC is an ITU-T member)

I understand the desire to do the work in one place. It is also true that SG16 can reference an IETF RFC in its recommendations. However, if it is an informational RFC, it can't be a normative reference in ITU.

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nor should it be since an RFC with informational status carries no implication of IETF review, support or approval

...snip...

If you think that any improvements need to be done in the solutions proposed in the contributions of the IETF (please see the references provided in my email), please submit the proposal in the IETF. We can then use the Informational RFC as an input for a formal standard in the SG16. In this way, we can get the best the both worlds having a "single common standard for SIP-H.323 Interworking".

Remember an ITU Recommendation cannot make a normative reference to an Informational RFC. If there is no new protocol work being done, the H.323-SIP interworking could conceivably become a BCP (Best Current Practice) some day.

The key is that the SG16 cannot use the interworking solution that has been "invented" by the other companies or institutions without their consent and participation. I personally feel very strongly that the SG16 cannot not "invent" a NEW interworking solution of its own that will NOT include the solutions proposed by others in the IETF.

The ITU can incorporate by (normative or non-normative) reference to any RFC. The IETF has an IPR policy that isn't too different from ITU (I don't think). Current A.5 procedures require that IETF provide a written agreement to allow normative references to an RFC (I don't remember ever seeing one of these, but there may be a blanket agreement). There are proposals to drop this requirement in the next version of A.5.

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the ISOC gave a blanket approval years ago

Any IPR contained in IETF RFCs are covered by IETF IPR policy. It is true that a company that has declared IPR in an IETF RFC may not know it is being referenced in ITU and therefore may not submit an IPR statement to ITU. Therefore the IPR would only be covered by the IETF IPR statement (this brings up interesting legal questions, but I'll leave that up to the lawyers.). This should only be a real problem if the invention were included in the ITU Recommendation by some means other than reference. So the bottom line is that there are mechanisms to share work in ITU and IETF even without all the formal mechanisms worked out between Megaco and Q.14. However, if the work is going to be cooperative, such an agreement is probably desirable.

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specifically - the process worked out for megaco is described in A.5 but it is listes as the least desirable way to work together - it is far cleaner for one organization to take respoinsibility for publishing the document (with input from the other) and the other organization create a simple document that points to the offical document

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