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Subject: The conduct of this list


To all list participants:

as Chairman of the OASIS Board of Directors, my attention has
been drawn to the salutation in one of the messages in this list,
http://lists.oasis-open.org/archives/oiic-formation-discuss/200806/msg00273.html:
"Mr. Chairman, I raise a point of order under the rules."
which would seem to indicate it is directed at me, since I'm the
only Chairman whose existence is relevant as far as this list
is concerned.

Having read that particular thread in its entirety, as well as
others in this list, I would like to make a few observations for
the benefit of all. But please note that the purpose of this message
is not to initiate a dialogue; it is only to clarify, for those who
are not interested in muddying the waters, certain issues that may
not be understood by all.

1) This is not a TC. This is an OASIS TC _discussion_ list.
The only rules of the TC Process document
(http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/process.php) that apply to
it are to be found in section 2.1 thereof. There are, therefore,
no rules under which a point of order may be raised.  Anybody in
the world can read the Process document, not just OASIS members,
so ignorance of the rules that apply is not a good excuse; the
rules are clear. Even lawyers should be able to understand them.
Further clarification (non-normative) can be found at
http://wiki.oasis-open.org/staff-stds-wiki/GuidelinesHomePage,
in particular http://wiki.oasis-open.org/staff-stds-wiki/DiscussionGroups

2) This list is owned and operated by OASIS. It was established for
the benefit of both members and non-members of OASIS. The existence
of discussion lists has been part of the OASIS TC Process since it
was first established in the year 2000, and they have always worked
quite well, either dying for lack of interest or remaining focused
and productive until they disband.

3) The purpose of the list is restricted, as per the section quoted
above, to evaluating the interest in proposing a new OASIS TC, and
defining the proposal for one or more new OASIS TCs in the form of
charter(s) for such TC(s). The first goal can be defined in terms
of a yes/no question: is there more or less general agreement as to
the need or interest for a TC? If the answer is no, the list should
disband at that point. If the answer is yes, the list can either
disband, or it can draft a charter for a TC (or more than one).

4) Anything else is off topic. The output of this list can only be
zero or more TC proposals as defined in section 2.2 of the TC Process
document. However, TCs can be proposed even if the output of this
list is zero. In other words, this list is optional, not mandatory.

5) The list has 90 days of life. Regardless of whether any conclusion
has been reached by then, at the end of those 90 days the list dies.

6) Robert Weir is this list's discussion leader because his name
was advanced as such by those who requested OASIS to provide this
discussion list, in accordance with the above mentioned Section 2.1.

7) Participation in the list is voluntary. Those who do not like
this list, or who do not agree with its original proposal, are
cordially invited to withdraw from the list.

8) This list is not moderated, but it certainly could be. Nothing
in Section 2.1 of the TC Process document obligates OASIS not to
moderate the list, or prevents OASIS from starting to moderate it
mid-stream.  Similarly, nothing prevents OASIS from unsubscribing
people from the list who are abusive of others or who otherwise
demonstrate a minimal understanding of the rules of courtesy that
should apply to discussion lists of this nature. Participation in
the list is not a right.

9) List participants are specifically asked to refrain from issuing
personal attacks, legalistic or pseudo-legalistic threats and/or
warnings of upcoming lawsuits, or any other discussion of legal
matters, off-topic tirades against OASIS members (or anybody else,
for that matter), and any kind of presentations and arguments that
do not and cannot advance the purpose of this list, of which this
message, albeit necessary, is unfortunately one such example.

10) One final point. While I have never seen such unfocused
discussion in one of these lists, I have also rarely seen such
passion and involvement wrt the real issues that this list is
confronting. And for that, I thank you.

-- 
Eduardo Gutentag
OASIS Acting President and Chairman of the Board
eduardo.gutentag@oasis-open.org


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