Re: Appeal of the WG Chairs on the draft DiD Working Group charter

Philippe,

I'm saddened to hear that Staff is unwilling to enforce the process in this
matter, which states "To promote consensus, the W3C process requires Chairs
to ensure that groups consider all legitimate views and objections, and
endeavor to resolve them, whether these views and objections are expressed
by the active participants of the group or by others (e.g., another W3C
group, a group in another organization, or the general public)".

In contrast, Staff found that consensus was, in fact, not found by the
chairs and endorsed their behavior. Not because the decision embodied the
best effort to consider all legitimate views and objections, but rather
because, "we reached the conclusion that the best way forward for the
Working Group is to submit the charter proposal, in its current state". The
record is clear that the chairs, in fact, actively denied that consensus
applied and acted with no intention of considering alternative options.

It is clear to me that Staff has sided with the chairs by refusing to
require them to find consensus. There is a consensus available from the
options discussed by the WG, the chairs are just refusing to give them a
full and equivalent airing in the goal of finding the proposal with the
weakest objections. And Staff supported that narrative with a sham poll
that failed to even ask the WG about alternatives, something that is
required under the Process.

If we can't count on Staff to follow the Process, then no process can
ensure a healthy organization.

I have reached out to David Singer of the W3C Board of Directors to inquire
about the board's disposition on this action as it represents a clear
violation of Process and thereby our membership agreements.

I expect the board is fully apprised of this decision, but as yet, no one
on the board has shared their interpretation of the situation with me.

-j


On Wed, Jul 26, 2023 at 11:23 AM Philippe Le Hégaret <plh@w3.org> wrote:

> Context: Joe Andrieu requested to file an appeal on the DID WG chairs
> decision to merge some changes in the charter proposal to be submitted
> to AC review. Joe argues that this charter does not reflect the
> consensus of the WG. The chairs, on the other hand, argue that 1) while
> there is indeed no clear consensus, this charter is the most acceptable
> for the majority of the group (an assessment that was confirmed by a
> recent poll); and that 2) the charter is not a WG deliverable, and
> consensus must be reached at the AC level anyway, so Joe’s argument
> should be raised during AC review, not prior to it.
>
>
> Dear Joe,
>
> In response to your appeal (sent to Pierre-Antoine Champin and me on
> April 12, 2023), and in light of the discussions we had with you, with
> the DID Working Group chairs, and of the results of the poll sent to the
> DID Working Group on May 22, 2023 [1].
>
> While the W3C team concurs there is no consensus within the Working
> Group, we reached the conclusion that the best way forward for the
> Working Group is to submit the charter proposal, in its current state
> [2], to the Advisory Committee for review, per section 4.3 Advisory
> Committee Review of a Charter [3]. We will clearly signal that there is
> dissent among the participants of the Working Group, and encourage all
> members (including those disagreeing participants) to discuss these
> issues as part of the AC review. We expect that the charter proposal may
> further evolve during this discussion, and hope that the end result will
> be acceptable to all members.
>
> Philippe Le Hegaret,
> W3C Strategy and Project Lead
>
> [1] https://www.w3.org/2002/09/wbs/117488/rechartering_survey/results
> [2] https://w3c.github.io/did-wg-charter/
> [3] https://www.w3.org/2023/Process-20230612/#CharterReview
>
> On 4/12/2023 6:20 PM, Joe Andrieu wrote:
> > Pierra-Antoine,
> >
> > As team contact, I am officially asking for an appeal to the decision by
> > the WG chairs.
> >
> > The required information is published publicly at
> >
> https://blog.joeandrieu.com/2023/04/12/fighting-for-consensus-at-the-w3c/
> <https://blog.joeandrieu.com/2023/04/12/fighting-for-consensus-at-the-w3c/
> >
> >
> > I look forward to hearing from the Director.
>
>