This replicates a notice sent on the working group mailing list:
( This notice is derived from a posting to the working group mailing list )
The topic being covered by the REPUTE working group is inherently difficult and has a long history of difficult participant behavior in previous IETF contexts.
This has tended to reduce participation by otherwise-valuable representatives of the community.
IETF process and culture is based on open participation. Anyone can participate in any working group. But this also means that participants must strive to be constructive.
This obviously means maintaining a professional demeanor, but it also means staying within scope. Failure in either produces a distracted and likely hostile environment. Which winds up meaning that the WG discourages participation and fails to move forward.
Anyone can have a bad day and fail in one way or the other.
Patterns of failure are another matter, and is where the chairs, acting as WG management, must act.
Some working groups are managed loosely because they're on relatively non-controversial subject matter, however the Repute Working Group is not one of those.
This message is being sent to ensure that participants are aware of the rules governing participation and enforcement procedures.
Here is the formal IETF documentation for procedures to enforce acceptable participation:
3.3 Session Management
...
To facilitate making forward
progress, a Working Group Chair may wish to decide to reject
or defer the input from a member, based upon the following
criteria:Old:
The input pertains to a topic that already has been resolved
and is redundant with information previously available;Minor
The input is new and pertains to a topic that has already
been resolved, but it is felt to be of minor import to the
existing decision;Timing
The input pertains to a topic that the working group
has not yet opened for discussion; orScope
The input is outside of the scope of the working group
charter.
As in face-to-face sessions, occasionally one or more
individuals may engage in behavior on a mailing list that, in
the opinion of the WG chair, is disruptive to the WG process.
Unless the disruptive behavior is severe enough that it must be
stopped immediately, the WG chair should attempt to discourage
the disruptive behavior by communicating directly with the
offending individual. If the behavior persists, the WG chair
should send at least one public warning on the WG mailing list.
As a last resort and typically after one or more explicit
warnings and consultation with the responsible Area Director,
the WG chair may suspend the mailing list posting privileges of
the disruptive individual for a period of not more than 30 days...
Therefore
The REPUTE Working Group chairs will be actively managing the group's conduct with respect to any egregious behavior or any tendency towards participation that qualifies under the criteria listed under RFC 2418, Section 3.2 (as amended) or Section 3.3, and will use the enforcement procedures defined in RFC 3934 if necessary.
The working group had a BOF, which included a basic introduction to the topic: