RE: draft-housley-iesg-rfc3932bis and the optional/mandatory nature of IESG notes

[<Pasi.Eronen at nokia.com>]

Joel M. Halpern wrote:

> If the ISE / RSE is unreasonable, the IAB will slap the editor and say
> "stop doing that."  There is no equivalent process if we reverse the
> structure.

Yes, there is. If the IESG would request/recommend a particularly bad
IESG note, this decision can be appealed just like any other IESG
decision. The IAB would then determine if the IESG acted appropriately
or not.

On the other hand, if the ISE/RSE decides to publish a document
without an IESG note even if the IESG requested/recommended it, this
decision cannot be effectively appealed (since the RFC already came
out, and can't be really "recalled").

Although I'm not expecting this really to happen very often (if ever),
from checks-and-balances viewpoint I would support (b) from Jari's
email (in other words: RFC Editor cannot unilaterally ignore a note
requested by IESG, but has to take it to the IAB via the usual
appeal procedures).
 
Best regards,
Pasi