[Foundation] statement from the Board

[JD Conley]

You've got my vote on that proposal.

Thank you for taking the membership's concerns into consideration and
proposing a very objective and promising resolve.  Have a good vacation.
:)

JD

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Peter Saint-Andre [mailto:stpeter at jabber.org] 
> Sent: Friday, August 01, 2003 10:56 AM
> To: members at jabber.org
> Subject: [Foundation] statement from the Board
> 
> 
> The Board of Directors of the Jabber Software Foundation has agreed 
> on the following statement:
> 
> ******
> 
> August 1, 2003
> 
> The JSF Board of Directors recognizes the concerns among some 
> members of the Jabber community that led to the recent 
> proposal to remove the word "Jabber" from the name of the 
> organization. These include:
> 
>    1. The desire to have an IM protocol, logos, compliance testing
>    suites and marks, etc. that are not "encumbered" by the 
> JABBER name,
>    since that name is also used in the company name of Jabber, Inc.
>    2. The desire to capitalize on standardization of the IM protocol
>    developed by the Jabber community within the IETF's Applications
>    Area under the name of XMPP.
>    3. The need for clearer communication of the fact that the JSF
>    is fully distinct from Jabber Inc.
>    4. The need to complete the transfer of the JABBER trademark
>    to the JSF.
> 
> These concerns are legitimate. Indeed, even some members of 
> the Board voted for the name change. However, the fact that 
> the name change proposal was rejected does not mean that 
> these concerns should not be addressed. Addressing them is 
> not only the right thing to do, but we believe it will also 
> help to lessen some of the existing tensions within the 
> community and create a structure in which everyone can 
> contribute and work together in building the protocol as well 
> as associated technologies, networks, and the community itself.
> 
> Obviously much could be done to address these concerns: 
> acceleration of the trademark transfer work accomplished by 
> the Board over the last 12 months, renaming of JEP-0073, 
> improved wording on the JSF website, and perhaps a different 
> JSF logo. Those efforts are all valuable and should be 
> pursued. Above and beyond those efforts, the Board has 
> concluded that we need a framework for harnessing the 
> contributions and energies of those who for whatever reason 
> are not comfortable with the Jabber branding of the JSF. 
> Ideally, such a framework should help to address the core 
> concerns of some community members, as well as capitalize on 
> the community's standardization efforts within the IETF.
> 
> The proposed framework is as follows:
> 
>    1. Inaugurate a website at xmpp.org devoted exclusively to
>    documentation of XMPP-based protocols for instant messaging and
>    presence.
>    2. These protocols would include both relevant output from the
>    IETF's XMPP WG and IM protocols developed through the JSF's
>    normal standards process (e.g., multi-user chat and file
>    transfer).
>    3. Define a compliance testing program and certification
>    mark for the XMPP protocols.
>    4. Provide a directory of XMPP applications, software
>    companies, and service providers.
>    5. Enable sponsors to support only the JSF's xmpp.org
>    activities if desired.
> 
> The task of working out the details of such a framework will 
> be pursued by a dedicated working group within the JSF that 
> will be led by a member of the Board of Directors. Those 
> details might include issues such as organizational 
> structure, protocol naming, branding for XMPP vs. Jabber, and 
> standards processes. The Board will resolve to create such a 
> working group if consensus can be reached on the proposed framework.
> 
> Thank you.
> 
> The Jabber Software Foundation Board of Directors:
> 
> Michael Bauer (Chair)
> Tony Bamonti
> Ryan Eatmon
> Jeremie Miller
> Marco Palombi 
> 
> ******
> 
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