RE: Point of clarification on OASIS process

["Mary McRae" <mary.mcrae@oasis-open.org>]

Hi Arshad,

  Let me respond as the OASIS TC Administrator - my responsibilities include
overseeing all aspects of the TC Process and making sure it is adhered to. 

It appears that the KMIP co-proposer group is very much aware of the
existence of the EKMI TC and have referenced its work in their proposed
charter. 

  There is no OASIS policy prohibiting one TC from working in a similar area
to another; if that were the case we would not have both DocBook and DITA
TCs - while I can certainly differentiate between the two, many can't, and
both groups would argue that you don't really need the other. There are
similar examples in many other functional areas.  By permitting multiple
projects to grow in parallel, OASIS now has fostered several viable
technologies, which have differentiated over time, each with its own niche.
Implementers often choose to use them in combinations the proposers might
not have expected.

  A TC does not have veto rights over the creation of a new TC; in fact, as
long as the requisite number of co-proposers meeting our requirements put
forth a valid proposal it is accepted. I encourage the members to submit
comments on the proposed charter and anticipate that the co-proposers are
anxious to respond.

Best regards,

Mary

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Arshad Noor [mailto:arshad.noor@strongauth.com]
> Sent: Tuesday, February 17, 2009 3:01 PM
> To: 'James Bryce Clark'; Mary McRae; Dee Schur
> Cc: Robin Cover; ekmi; laurent liscia
> Subject: Point of clarification on OASIS process
> 
> Jamie/Mary/Dee,
> 
> As Robin may have indicated to you all, there is near unanimous
> consensus in the EKMI TC (one member withheld his opinion because
> he hadn't read the KMIP TC charter yet) that the KMIP TC charter
> overlaps the EKMI TC's charter (the meeting notes should be out
> as soon as Anil posts them).
> 
> While OASIS process may allow the release of any new TC's charter
> for discussion, the EKMI TC is, obviously, disappointed that this
> new charter was released without any discussion with the EKMI TC
> before-hand, to avoid potential embarrassment to EKMI TC members
> and OASIS in the public arena.  After all, OASIS EKMI TC members
> have only been working on this for 2+ years with laser-like vision
> and focus and reached Committee Specification status, while the
> IEEE effort has been floundering for lack of vision and the IETF
> work is reviewing its own focus as it starts to overlap with the
> EKMI work (they are even incorporating some SKSML concepts into
> their own schema now).
> 
> Now that the cat is out of the bag, the TC is interested in
> understanding OASIS policy/process wrt duplicate/overlapping
> charters of an existing TC and a potential new TC.  What is
> legally possible now?
> 
> Do OASIS rules permit the creation of the KMIP TC despite the
> near-unanimous consensus amongst EKMI TC members that the KMIP
> TC charter overlaps the EKMI TC's?
> 
> Your answers will help the EKMI TC in understand what its options
> are.
> 
> Thank you.
> 
> Arshad Noor
> StrongAuth, Inc.