I’m actually extremely supportive of this line of reasoning.  That’s why this 
ballot actually LENGTHENS the discussion period for all ballots.  I agree that 
“fix it later” is horrible, and that it is better to take up to 30 days to get 
it right (I’d even support lengthening that number if people want to do so).  
It’s the arbitrariness of “voting starts immediately after seven days, 
regardless of where the discussion has gone” that drives those bad decisions.  
I want to fix the perverse incentive that puts us in those bad situations.

 

-Tim

 

From: Ryan Sleevi [mailto:[email protected]] 
Sent: Tuesday, December 5, 2017 1:19 PM
To: Tim Hollebeek <[email protected]>
Cc: CA/Browser Forum Public Discussion List <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: [cabfpub] Pre-ballot: Ballot discussion ends when discussion ends, 
and not before

 

There have been more cases of bugs being introduced through changes than there 
have been of typographical errors. There's also been the repeated suggestion to 
"let it pass, and fix it afterwards" - which has also shown to be a regular 
poison pill for discussion and deferring solving real problems.

 

To the extent the Forum provides a valuable venue to deconflict requirements 
between various browser programs, it would seem avoiding conflicts and forced 
'no votes', particularly from browsers, would be better. Otherwise, I can 
easily see the Baseline Requirements being less valuable as input into Browser 
requirements or the accepted audit criteria if unnecessary or controversial 
changes are rushed in.

 

I can understand the argument against would be that such changes could delay 
much needed fixes that are time sensitive. But we've also seen those 'much 
needed' fixes themselves are the result of inadequate review and last minute 
changes, which yet again argues for a thoughtful deliberation as to what will 
become the common requirement.

 

On Tue, Dec 5, 2017 at 3:10 PM, Tim Hollebeek <[email protected] 
<mailto:[email protected]> > wrote:

Thanks for the two editorial comments; they are helpful and I will include them.

 

My position remains the same as it was in the previous thread: if you believe 
you need more time to understand the ballot, you are free to vote no.  But 
people don’t need seven days to analyze an effective date that was accidentally 
omitted.  There have been other similar cases over the last few years.

 

I intentionally left gaining consensus up to the proposer, and they may do so 
by any means they feel is appropriate.  This may include waiting seven days 
after making complex changes, to give people time to analyze them.

 

-Tim

 

From: Ryan Sleevi [mailto:[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> ] 
Sent: Tuesday, December 5, 2017 1:03 PM
To: Tim Hollebeek <[email protected] 
<mailto:[email protected]> >; CA/Browser Forum Public Discussion List 
<[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> >
Subject: Re: [cabfpub] Pre-ballot: Ballot discussion ends when discussion ends, 
and not before

 

 

 

On Tue, Dec 5, 2017 at 2:41 PM, Tim Hollebeek via Public <[email protected] 
<mailto:[email protected]> > wrote:

 

Now that I have a bit more time, I’d like to propose a ballot that we discussed 
with Gerv after the recent CAA voting snafu.  The current bylaws require the 
proposer to predict in advance how long the discussion period will be.  We’ve 
had a few cases where we’ve had to choose between withdrawing a ballot and 
starting over (with a week delay …) and going forward with an imperfect ballot. 
 We should have the time and flexibility to get ballot right, even if a flaw is 
noticed late in the discussion period.  I included Gerv’s proposal to sunset 
abandoned ballots.

 

While I was modifying the voting rules, I decided to make it clear that the 
ballot can be modified in response to concerns identified during the discussion 
period.  We’ve always operated that way, so I thought I’d make it clear in the 
bylaws.

 

The change is in github here:

 

https://github.com/cabforum/documents/compare/master...timfromdigicert:patch-1

 

-(c) A representative of any Member can call for a proposed ballot to be 
published for discussion and comment by the membership. Any proposed ballot 
needs two endorsements by other Members in order to proceed. The discussion 
period then shall take place for at least seven but no more than 14 calendar 
days before votes are cast. The proposer of the ballot will designate the 
length of the discussion period, and each ballot shall clearly state the start 
and end dates and times (including time zone) for both the discussion period 
and the voting period.

+(c) A representative of any Member can call for a proposed ballot to be 
published for discussion and comment by the membership. Any proposed ballot 
needs two endorsements by other Members in order to proceed. The discussion 
period then shall take place for at least seven calendar days. After seven 
days, wheneverr the proposer feels the ballot is ready for voting, he shall 
repost the ballot, incorporating any changes based on feedback from the 
discussion period. However, if 30 days elapse from the beginning of the 
discussion period without voting having started, the ballot will be considered 
withdrawn. The ballot shall clearly state the start and end dates and times 
(including time zone) for the voting period.

 

Comments?  Endorsers?

 

There's a typo -> wheneverr should be whenever

There's some unnecessary gendered language, "he shall repost" -> "The proposer 
shall repost"

 

That said, I'm uncomfortable with the idea of last minute changes to trigger 
the vote. As captured during the previous discussion, it may make more sense to 
have changes restart discussion to allow adequate review - especially of the 
implications of the change. I think the Ballot 190 discussions captured a 
number of ways in which the attempts to solve the problem kept introducing new 
problems, especially if the proposer may be misunderstanding the concerns.

 

I think the end state should be "Members have at least 7 days to review the 
final ballot and submit feedback"

 

 

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