A proposal for revising the rules on TAG Participation

I've been thinking about the recent controversy for the last few days. I 
think there's merit on both sides of the question, but on balance it seems 
that the Web community might benefit if the rules on TAG participation were 
somewhat relaxed. Specifically, I propose that the following be considered 
for the TAG (but not necessarily for the AB). The essence of the change I 
propose is

<current rules [1]>


        2.5.1 Advisory Board and Technical Architecture Group Participation
        Constraints



Given the few seats available on the Advisory Board and the TAG, and in 
order to ensure that the diversity of W3C Members is represented:

  * A Member organization is permitted at most one participant on the TAG.
  * A Member organization is permitted at most one participant on the AB.
  * An individual MUST NOT participate on both the TAG and the AB.

If, for whatever reason, these constraints are not satisfied (e.g., because 
a TAG or AB participant changes jobs), one participant MUST cease TAG or AB 
participation until the situation has been resolved. If after 30 days the 
situation has not been resolved, the Chair will declare one participant's 
seat to be vacant. When more than one individual is involved, the 
verifiable random selection procedure 
<http://www.w3.org/2005/10/Process-20051014/organization.html#random> 
described below will be used to choose one person for continued participation.

</current rules>

<proposed revision>


        2.5.1 Advisory Board and Technical Architecture Group Participation
        Constraints



Given the few seats available on the Advisory Board and the TAG, and in 
order to ensure that the diversity of W3C Members is represented:

  * An Member organization is permitted at most one participant two
    participants on the TAG. However, if a change of affiliation of an
    already seated member causes this limit to be violated, up to three
    members from the same organization may participate until results of the
    next TAG election become effective.
  * A Member organization is permitted at most one participant on the AB.
  * An individual MUST NOT participate on both the TAG and the AB.

If, for whatever reason, these constraints are not satisfied (e.g., because 
a TAG or AB participant changes jobs), one participant MUST cease TAG or AB 
participation until the situation has been resolved. If after 30 days the 
situation has not been resolved, the Chair will declare one participant's 
seat to be vacant. When more than one individual is involved, the 
verifiable random selection procedure 
<http://www.w3.org/2005/10/Process-20051014/organization.html#random> 
described below will be used to choose one person for continued participation.

<proposed revision>

I would love to see a change like this made in time for Alex to resume his 
membership, or else that special dispensation be made in his case if the 
change is approved.

BTW: the deletion of the word "member" is because employees of non-member 
organizations can serve as invited experts (as I did after I left IBM). I 
believe the limits for both AB and TAG should apply to employees of any 
organizations, not just W3C members. In principle this change should IMO be 
made whether or not the limits are relaxed; in practice it doesn't seem urgent.

[1] 
http://www.w3.org/2005/10/Process-20051014/organization.html#AB-TAG-constraints