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Censure of Mr. Simpson




 
 
Mr. Simpson, 
 
As a chairman of an Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) working group I 
find myself in the difficult position of interpreting consensus as a means to 
mediate the activities of our committee.  So, as a chairman (one of two) of 
the IP Security (IPSEC) working group, I must inform you of the consensus of 
the committee regarding your participation in this working group and the 
status of your submittals to this committee.  There is strong consensus in the 
IPSEC working group that your behavior in this committee is unacceptable.  
There is strong consensus that your ongoing diatribe on the mailing list is 
detrimental to the progress of the working group.  You continue to ignore 
direct requests by the chairs to edit specifications that you have submitted, 
so none of documents submitted by you to IPSEC reflect the working group 
consensus. 
 
Consensus does not belong to the individual with the loudest voice or the 
fastest typing fingers.  You loudly declare group acceptance for documents 
that you submit, but offend, insult and ignore those that comment on these 
specifications.  Your attempts to control the editing of working group 
specifications does not improve or expedite the creation of good technical 
documents, but can only be viewed as the self serving promotion of your own 
business interests and ego. 
 
Editors for a working group specification should not be allowed to select 
themselves by being the first to publish, but rather should be selected as the 
best individual to document a technical topic.  You have taken advantage of 
flaws in the Internet process to subvert the orderly progression of technical 
ideas.  By rushing to publish a document under your own name you ignore the 
contributions of others, and claim squatters rights on the technical domain of 
others. 
 
The design for the key management protocol Photuris was created by Phil Karn. 
Phil's consistent effort and valuable technical contributions have lead to our 
current IPSEC consensus on a "hybrid Diffie-Hellman STS-like" cryptographic 
mechanism.  In December, you (Bill Simpson) were "fired" as Phil's supporting 
editor for the "Photuris" specification.  You refused to edit the document to 
meet working group consensus and refused to step down as Phil's assistant in 
the documentation process.   You asserted that you were an "author" of the 
Photuris specification and not an "editor".  In this context you threatened 
both individuals and the IETF with a lawsuit if you were "removed".  To avoid 
using any text that you might have generated, the chairs of the IPSEC working 
group have encouraged Hillary Orman to become the editor for the IPSEC key 
exchange specification.  Her excellent effort has resulted in the 
draft-ietf-ipsec-oakley-00.txt specification.  This specification is intended 
to meet the working group direction for a "hybrid Differ-Hellman STS-like" 
cryptographic mechanism.  Your affiliation with the Photuris specification has 
resulted in a document that lacks clarity and group acceptance.  I strongly 
encourage you to reexamine the "help" that you are giving to Mr. Karn. 
 
The "security transform" specifications in the IPSEC committee have also 
suffered from your "authorship".  An editor, Jim Hughes, has been selected to 
edit working group specifications on the IPSEC security transforms.  His first 
Internet Draft on this topic has been submitted and other transforms (IDEA, 
triple-DES, or others) will follow soon.  I am confident that these documents 
will reflect the contributions and expert ice of the whole committee. 
 
Your belligerent and disruptive behavior in the IPSEC working group is not the 
first case of your misbehavior in Internet working groups.  At least three 
other working groups have had to censure your participation.  You consistently 
insult and intimidate members of Internet committees and manipulate the IETF 
to promote your own interests over those of the working groups. 
 
The interaction of the IETF by electronic mail has created a unique form of 
committee interaction that replaces meeting halls with e-mail lists, votes 
with consensus and membership with subscription.  Disruptive behavior in any 
forum is unacceptable and the IETF will be forced by your actions to 
investigate suitable disciplinary actions in our network community.  If this 
were a "physical" meeting run by Robert's Rules of Order, we could vote to 
have you expelled from the meeting.  As chairman, I wish that we could 
"banish" you from our list and I am confident that a very large majority of 
the IPSEC mailing list would approve.   
 
In summary Mr. Simpson, your continued work on the Photuris specification, 
security transform specifications and your ongoing diatribes on this mailing 
list are detrimental to the progress of the IPSEC working group.  I request 
that you abstain from making pronouncements on working group goals and group 
consensus.  I suggest that you apologize to the working group and severely 
limit your postings to the IPSEC mailing list. 
 
 
 
 
Paul A. Lambert 
 
IPSEC Co-Chair 
 




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