Marshall, I think going to China would be a great opportunity and that we should go for it and play by their rules. I agree with Bernard, attendees should be responsible for their own actions no matter where in the world we meet.
mike > -----Original Message----- > From: wgchairs-boun...@ietf.org [mailto:wgchairs-boun...@ietf.org] On > Behalf Of Marshall Eubanks > Sent: Friday, September 18, 2009 8:42 AM > To: IETF Announcement list; IETF-Discussion list; Working Group Chairs > Cc: IAOC Jabberr; irtf-ch...@irtf.org > Subject: Request for community guidance on issue concerning a future > meetingof the IETF > > Greetings; > > We have received numerous suggestions and requests for an IETF meeting > in China and the IAOC has been working on a potential China meeting for > several years. We are now close to making a decision on a potential > upcoming meeting in China. However, the following issue has arisen > and we would appreciate your feedback. > > The Chinese government has imposed a rule on all conferences held > since 2008 regarding political speech. A fundamental law in China > requires that one not criticize the government. Practically, this > has reference to public political statements or protest marches, which > are not the IETF's custom. The government, which is a party to the > issue, > requires that people who attend conferences in China (the IETF being > but one example) not engage in political speech during their tour > in China. We consider this to be acceptable, on the basis that the > IETF intends to abide by the laws of whatever nations it visits and > we don't believe that this impacts our ability to do technical work. > > The rule is implemented in the Hotel agreement and reads (note that > the "Client" would be the Host, and the "Group" would be the IETF) : > > "Should the contents of the Group's activities, visual or audio > presentations at the conference,or printed materials used at the > conference (which are within the control of the Client) contain > any defamation against the Government of the People's Republic > of China, or show any disrespect to the Chinese culture, or > violates any laws of the People's Republic of China or feature > any topics regarding human rights or religion without prior > approval from the Government of the People's Republic of China, > the Hotel reserves the right to terminate the event on the spot > and/or ask the person(s) who initiates or participates in any or > all of the above action to leave the hotel premises immediately. > > The Client will support and assist the Hotel with the necessary > actions to handle such situations. Should there be any financial > loss incurred to the Hotel or damage caused to the Hotel's > reputation as a result of any or all of the above acts, the Hotel > will claim compensation from the Client." > > What does this condition mean ? The hotel staff would have, in theory, > the legal right to shut down the meeting and ask the offending > participants to leave the property immediately. While we do not > foresee a situation where such action would take place, we feel that > it is proper to disclose these conditions to the community. > > The members of the IAOC, speaking as individuals, do not like this > condition as a matter of principle. The IAOC does believe that this > condition would not prevent the IETF from conducting its business. > > We note that the Vancouver/Quebec survey conducted earlier this year > asked for people to suggest venues in Asia; an overwhelming majority > (94%) of those who mentioned China were in favor of having a meeting > there. > > We are therefore asking for input from the community by two means - by > commenting on the IETF discussion list, and also by completing a very > short survey on people's intentions to travel to China, or not, > subject to these conditions. This survey can be found here : > > https://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=h4DUkRUOdG_2bVLqioPcYYHw_3d_3d > > All responses received by October 1, 2009 at 9:00 AM EDT (1300 UTC) > will be considered by the IAOC in making its decision. We appreciate > the assistance of the community in providing us with data that will > help us to make an informed decision. > > Regards > Marshall Eubanks > (acting for the IAOC) _______________________________________________ Ietf mailing list Ietf@ietf.org https://www.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/ietf
