Re: allowable questions (was Re www...)

[John Day <day at std.com>]

At 14:00 -0700 4/8/01, James P. Salsman wrote:
> Patrik,
>
> If you or Ned are not already aware from the context of my disputed
> question and my previous posts, I tried private emails and phone calls,
> prior to my working group question, which was only a footnote to a longer
> list of requested solutions which still seem like entirely constructive
> critisism to me.  As I stated, they were only met with evasions and
> invitations to expensive marketing events.
>
> Is there any way to resolve this situation other than asking IESG
> participants to state their own NDA restrictions up front?

You are perfectly free to ask any question you wish.  However, that 
does not mean that you required to receive an answer.

I do not know about other countries, but I do know that the US 
government has taken action against companies for announcing products 
and then deciding later to not offer those products.  Hence, most 
people do not talk about possible future product offerings until they 
are duly approved and ready to be offered to customers.

You can ask anyone, WG chair or not, about their product plans and 
they would be very foolish to answer with anything other than a 
qualified (evasive, if you will) manner.  You can not and probably 
should not get a definitive answer unless the capability is nearly 
ready for release.  This is all part of doing business.  No company 
will ever commit (nor should they) to implementing a standard before 
it is completed.  Many things can happen between the time a standard 
is developed and the time it is ready for implementation that can 
effect a company's decision.

Unfortunately, uncertainty in business is something we all have to 
learn to live with.

Take care,
John