Update on charter appeal and the work of our group

To the Working Group:

            As you know, Alan Chapell has filed an appeal concerning the extension of our Working Group’s charter.  I have spoken with Alan tonight, and we are pleased to be in agreement on an approach that is consistent with the current charter while addressingimportant concerns that Alan and others have voiced about user interface, user education, and related topics.

            1.  As I indicated in my email of March 7, the topic of user interface and user education leaves considerable room for discussion under the scope of our existing charter. As such, user interface and education will be the specific subject of at least one regular Wednesday working group meeting.  I will work with Alan and all other interested parties to have a concrete agenda for this discussion, circulated to the group in advance.

            2.  This discussion will take place consistent with the current schedule of the Working Group.  We will continue to intensively draft, discuss, and seek to close issues in the lead up to the next face-to-face in early May. We will work on the already-posted schedule, which requires the spec to be sent to Last Call no later than July, 2013.

            3.  As part of this understanding, Alan agrees to withdraw his appeal as of the sending of thismessage.

            I am pleased that this mutual understanding will enable the entire group to focus on our important work together.

            Peter



Here are the relevant parts of my email to the group on March 7:

To the Working Group:

The topic of charter extension came up today at the Do Not Track panel at the IAPP Summit.  I thought I would pass on my comments to the full group.
On the topic of user interface, the Charter states that “the Working Group will not specify the exact presentation to the user.”  Reading the language as a lawyer, “not specify the exact presentation” leaves considerable room to talk about issues of user interface.
My general approach is to have an open door, meet with people, and consider how to foster a useful conversation.  Iapply that to discussions of user interface as well.
If I can be useful to helping convene discussions, including browsers, advertisers, and others, I am open to that, and I know that W3C staff would be happy to help with that.
. . .
As I said in my earlier email to the group about the charter appeal, we have work to do.  Let¹s do it on the timetable that we contemplated when I came aboard.
Best,
Peter
Professor Peter P. Swire
C. William O'Neill Professor of Law
    Ohio State University
240.994.4142
www.peterswire.net