W3C

– DRAFT –
W3C Vision — Getting To Statement

25 September 2024

Attendees

Present
AmyvanderHiel, BenSavage, cwilso, DavidSinger, dsinger, EricSiow, Erik, fantasai, fbedora, gendler, GlendaSims, gregwhitworth, jaeunjemmaku, jgraham, KarenMyers, KevinWhite, koalie, PLH, tantek, TristanNitot
Regrets
-
Chair
Chris Wilson, Tantek Çelik
Scribe
koalie

Meeting minutes

[Tantek introduces the session]

Pick a scribe

Reminders: code of conduct, health policies, recorded session policy

Goal of this session

Tantek: scope of session is to go over blocking issues

<Jem> can we have the link to the doc?

Tantek: aiming to take the document to statement, as a next step

<amy> Vision for W3C

<cwilso> https://github.com/w3c/AB-public/issues?q=is%3Aissue+is%3Aopen+label%3A%22needed+for+Statement%22 is open issues.

Discussion

tantek: we should get this in front of the advisory committee representatives for review

<amy> Issues for processing

tantek: let's go through the issues
… a few issues and one pull request
… if it's not a blocker, then it's out of scope

====

tantek: issue 126

<tantek> w3c/AB-public#126

<amy> smoke-testing the values... #126

Tantek: this is about how the document "holds up"
… we've done that
… heard comments from team and others that the note was used in decision making
… heard so far only positive feedback
… and that it's been incrementally helpful over not having a vision
… is there any feedback, are there any holds?

[none]

Tantek: I propose we close as complete with experience to date

<amy> no holds, my experience is positive. support closing this issue as complete

Tantek: and then understanding that if there is now information or new experience, a new issue can be open

<cwilso> PROPOSAL: We should close this issue (#126) as we have smoke-tested the Vision values and believe they are solid enough to provide guidance. We may open new issues in the future.

[people prepare to +1/-1/0 while the proposal is being typed up]

<tantek> +1

<fantasai> +1

<amy> +1

<gendler> +1

<dsinger> +1

<koalie> +1

<cwilso> +1

dsinger: that doesn't mean smoke testing should stop, right?

Tantek: correct

gendler: I don't think anyone's intention is to not change the vision ever
… we want to build on
… if we missed something
… the document can change
… we are in a good place now
… the AC deserves to vote on it

<tantek> +1 gendler

dsinger: +1 to that
… you need to have a living document

EricSiow: +1
… you have to adjust to your conditions

RESOLUTION: We should close this issue (#126) as we have smoke-tested the Vision values and believe they are solid enough to provide guidance. We may open new issues in the future.

====

supports truth over falsehood may read like censorship #113

tantek: we iterated a bit since that issue was filed
… statement blocker given apparent lack of consensus at the time, almost a year ago
… I believe the current vision has a good faith effort at resolving this

<amy> "facts over falsehoods"

tantek: we dropped "truth"
… now using "facts over falshoods"

cwilso: the best thing to do with this issue is that it's not needed for statement
… we should keep it open
… and continue to think about alignment with other principle documents
… aiming for better alignment
… I don't think further changes are needed

gregwhitworth: what does statements mean?

cwilso: groups who can not issue Recommendations can issue statements
… that have AC endorsement
… we did this for privacy and ethical principles from the TAG

<amy> Types of documents W3C publishes

gregwhitworth: I agree with what cwilso said then

<amy> [[2.5.3 Statements

<amy> A W3C Statement is a document produced by a W3C Working Group, a W3C Interest Group, the Advisory Board (AB), or the W3C Technical Architecture Group (TAG). A W3C Statement is a W3C Technical Report.

<amy> A Statement is to provide a stable reference for a document that is not intended to be a formal standard. These statements have been formally reviewed and are endorsed W3C.

<amy> These statements MAY be cited as W3C statements.

<amy> W3C Statements should not contain implementable technology.

<amy> There are no patent protection covering the implementations of the W3C Statement.

<amy> ]]

tantek: I don't like issues that never close
… not good issue tracking practice
… I'd propose we close this as completed
… while indicating while closing it that there is worth raising other issues

gregwhitworth: comments can be turned into separate issues
… maybe you take the action

<Jem> +1 gregwhitworth

<amy> +1 to gregwhitworth

[people prepare to vote +1/-1/0]

<tantek> PROPOSED: Close issue 113 as resolved as originally filed, and open a new non-statement-blocker issue forking from relevant comment in summary: "criticism is that we need to do an adversarial reading of the document, to anticipate how it will be understood and misunderstood by people outside the consortium"

<Jem> +1

<cwilso> +1

<koalie> +1

<tantek> +1

<gendler> +1

<amy> +1

<Erik> +1

RESOLUTION: Close issue 113 as resolved as originally filed, and open a new non-statement-blocker issue forking from relevant comment in summary: "criticism is that we need to do an adversarial reading of the document, to anticipate how it will be understood and misunderstood by people outside the consortium"

====

<amy> Thank contributors by name #64

tantek: I think we've done some of that

gregwhitworth: I don't think it should be a hold-up
… but I agree it's a good idea

fantasai: make sure the acks are non-negligent is a good idea

<amy> Acknowledgements

fantasai: at least make sure the major contributors are listed for publication

gendler: I would say the acks is very representative of who worked on it

cwilso: Max you've been on the TF a long time, and your name isn't on the list. is that a mistake?

gendler: No
… having thoughts and paying attention doesn't warrant putting my name

<fantasai> +1, I think that's the right level of criteria to apply

dsinger: s/including/notably/ is my suggestion

<Zakim> amy, you wanted to wonder if including "the Vision TF" might suffice if there are concerns

amy: if there are concerns, I support David's idea

<dsinger> suggest s/notably/including/

amy: otherwise I suggest "the vision task force"

<Jem> +1 to dsinger

amy: I don't think it's a blocker

<Zakim> fantasai, you wanted to say that with max's verification I'm supportive of closing

tantek: I can file a PR to include "vision task force"

fantasai: with Amy's proposal and max's verification
… I feel confident closing this issue

<amy> +1 to closing

<Erik> +1

<tantek> PROPOSED: Close 64 with an editorial change to include "and the Vision Task Force" (PR expected soon)

<tantek> +1

<cwilso> +1

<gendler> +1

<song> +1

<Erik> Erik Taubeneck

<koalie> +1

<fantasai> w3c/AB-public#175

<fantasai> +1

RESOLUTION: Close 64 with an editorial change to include "and the Vision Task Force" (PR expected soon)

====

<amy> Be more explicit about how to improve web's "integrity" #13

tantek: This has been a high-level long-standing challenges
… to make a difference
… one of our strongest advocates has been David Singer who's here
… and requested that we advocate for a bold vision
… I think we've achieved that
… there is room for improvement
… I don't need it needs to be a blocker

dsinger: I agree
… we say core values
… and we should iterate on it in the future

<amy> +1 to seeing Integrity as a core value which we expect to iterate on in future

<cwilso> PROPOSAL: remove "Needed for statement" from issue 13, but keep it open

tantek: so remove the "needed for statement" but keep it open

gregwhitworth: I feel in general at W3C that there needs to be key goals towards vision, mission, ethics, etc., that we try to achieve against
… it's a separate process
… and how are you going to track it
… so I recommend closing it

<Zakim> cwilso, you wanted to react to greg

gregwhitworth: I feel that what's in the vision is great
… but no way to measure anything yet
… so another process is needed

ErikTaubeneck: I'm new to this
… "integrity" is used twice
… this isn't clear how to get to the how
… what is it that is meant by that

tantek: could you open a new issue?

<Jem> I would like to use "a Vision is supposed to create a mental image of what a future web with more "integrity" would be like, and give the reader some plausible reason to believe the vision is achievable. "

tantek: did you intend it as a stateent blocker

<Zakim> Jem, you wanted to address the disagreement by Greg

Erik: no

Jemma: I may miss some context as I'm new
… but mission should "mentor"
… in a vision, "integrity" is essential to have
… that's my different opinion

<Jem> "a Vision is supposed to create a mental image of what a future web with more "integrity" would be like, and give the reader some plausible reason to believe the vision is achievable."

<Zakim> cwilso, you wanted to react to Jem

tantek: Jemma if you want to file a "mental image" issue, please do so, or work with Erik on his

cwilso: the entire vision is supposed to be that picture of what a future web with integrity looks like
… "integrity" is a hard work to pin down

Jemma: a tangible concept unless we talk about privacy or security

tantek: I support that

<Zakim> fantasai, you wanted to propose action for AB chairs and liaisons

fantasai: to the extent it's about clarifying vision, should file separate issues about specifically what needs clarifying; to the extent it's about operationalizing the realization of the vision, there is a role for strategy for Board, AB, TAG, AC need to be developing for W3C

<cwilso> +1

<Erik> +1

<tantek> +1 fantasai

fantasai: otherwise file as separate issues
… including "how to do it"

<Zakim> amy, you wanted to support Greg's suggestion to closing this but making commitments to ongoing KPIs part of the work of W3C

fantasai: which should then be copied to the AB or BoD

Amy: I wanted to support to close as blocking for statement
… but to do what David has been talking about
… if you look up integrity
… the first definition is about having principles
… which is inline with what we're doing
… so this closes the loop for me
… instead of entering the rabbit hole

<Zakim> gendler, you wanted to discuss KPIs and what is integrity

<Jem> love that "having principles"

gendler: I'm glad to hear "we can still work on things" and not hearing this is a blocker
… on KPIs
… and how to do better,
… one of the struggles we've had is to let go that this doc isn't a technical document
… greg's suggestion of time KPIs is crucial but not inside the vision

gregwhitworth: +1

gendler: I believe this is for leadership groups
… we don't have hard KPIs and that doesn't meant those can't exist
… but if you were to have ones, those would come from this or that secion

<Jem> +1 to gendler

gendler: re: 'integrity' as a word, we tied to a more technical doc
… since that's not our job and this that other doc deals with it

btsavage: 'integrity' suggests differents things and there are different parts of the document

<Jem> +1 btsavage

btsavage: 'fraud/scam/fishing' aren't clearly reflected
… is that intentional?
… which one of these three did we mean?

gendler: we were having that kind of conversation

<amy> I think that thinking of integrity as supporting facts is ok but I don't think we should tie integrity as used here to all possible associations

gendler: to address this, we tried to be more specific
… we spelled it out where needed
… so that it was clearer in specific instances
… the oeverall intent is not to be highly specific
… 'integrity' is a big word
… each of the definitions are useful

<Zakim> fantasai, you wanted to distinguish operational principles section vs vision for the web

<Erik> ty

fantasai: bullet point list is about operational principles, so the concept of integrity of the Web would not be part of that list, but rather in other sections

<Zakim> cwilso, you wanted to react to btsavage to answer Ben

cwilso: 'integrity' appears only twice
… one time it's very clear
… scams and fishing, for example
… the second time it to say to rise even further
… and this can be read either way
… intended to be both
… on 'how do we operationalize combatting'? I don't think we know what to put there
… we've only started to look
… we don't have a privacy working group yet

tantek: Ben, no it wasn't intentional to not clearly reflect 'fraud/scam/fishing'

<Zakim> tantek, you wanted to react to gendler to discuss is intentional that 'fraud/scam/fishing' aren't clearly reflected

<Jem> then should we create the ticket for adding integrity to "Operational Principles for W3C"?

jgraham: what I read and what I heard don't quite meet

<Jem> just curious who are the readers and audiences for this vision document.

jgraham: to me integrity is related to agency which people have
… not the Web
… I struggle to explain more that sentence given the word what is should convey
… So I prefer "principles" as Amy mentioned

tantek: we can postpone that discussion if we agree that this is not a blocker for statement

<amy> +1 to close as statement blocker (while other issues will be opened to discuss terms)

<cwilso> PROPOSAL: remove "Needed for statement" from issue 13, but keep it open

<tantek> +1

<cwilso> +1

<koalie> +1

<gendler> +1

<Zakim> dsinger, you wanted to talk about distant horizons

<amy> +1

<fantasai> +1 to removing "needed for statement"; rather than keeping open transfer to Board this issue (which is about operationalizing the Vision), and open new issues about ambiguities in wording

<jgraham> +1

dsinger: 100% with Max
… vision is what you're driving towards

<Jem> Thanks for great discussion, everyone.

btsavage: my favourite among the listed is the patent policy

<tantek> no objections and only support for the proposal, declaring it resolved

btsavage: I would love to see how standards should be designed to avoid abuse

RESOLUTION: remove "Needed for statement" from issue 13, but keep it open

Next steps / where discussion continues

tantek: thanks all!
… we know our next steps

[adjourned]

Summary of resolutions

  1. We should close this issue (#126) as we have smoke-tested the Vision values and believe they are solid enough to provide guidance. We may open new issues in the future.
  2. Close issue 113 as resolved as originally filed, and open a new non-statement-blocker issue forking from relevant comment in summary: "criticism is that we need to do an adversarial reading of the document, to anticipate how it will be understood and misunderstood by people outside the consortium"
  3. Close 64 with an editorial change to include "and the Vision Task Force" (PR expected soon)
  4. remove "Needed for statement" from issue 13, but keep it open
Minutes manually created (not a transcript), formatted by scribe.perl version 229 (Thu Jul 25 08:38:54 2024 UTC).

Diagnostics

Succeeded: s/sind/sing/

Succeeded: s/clarifying vision/clarifying vision, should file separate issues about specifically what needs clarifying; to the extent it's about operationalizing the realization of the vision/

Succeeded: s/fo me/for me/

Succeeded: s|q/||

Succeeded: s/@@@/bullet point list is about operational principles, so the concept of integrity of the Web would not be part of that list, but rather in other sections/

Warning: ‘s/no it wasn't intentional/no it wasn't intentional to not clearly reflect 'fraud/scam/fishing'’ interpreted as replacing ‘no it wasn't intentional’ by ‘no it wasn't intentional to not clearly reflect 'fraud/scam/fishing'’

Succeeded: s/no it wasn't intentional/no it wasn't intentional to not clearly reflect 'fraud/scam/fishing'

Succeeded: s/very/vey/

No scribenick or scribe found. Guessed: koalie

Maybe present: amy, btsavage, ErikTaubeneck, Jemma

All speakers: amy, btsavage, cwilso, dsinger, EricSiow, Erik, ErikTaubeneck, fantasai, gendler, gregwhitworth, Jemma, jgraham, Tantek

Active on IRC: amy, btsavage, cwilso, dsinger, Erik, fantasai, fbedora, gendler, gregwhitworth, Jem, jgraham, koalie, song, tantek, tpac-breakout-bot