RE: Accessing the WG2 document register

Andrew!

I honestly believe that Michel as the WG2 Convener has little choice but to follow the JTC1 rules - and work actively to change them (hopefully having to spend less time on this than the years Mike had to spend to achieve the publicly available status for WG2-originated standards).

Actually, I believe that a feasible solution would be to make Unicode a JTC1 PAS (Publicly Available Specification) submitter, and thus give the chance for the ISO/IEC JTC1/SC2 National Bodies to vote on the approval of TUS as an ISO standard. IRG (with possibly a somewhat expanded role, could/should still work under SC2 and co-operate with Unicode).

Anshuman, I'd recommend that you withdraw your request to withdraw your contributions, because that would be of no help to the user communities involved.

Sincerely

Erkki I. Kolehmainen
Tilkankatu 12 A 3, 00300 Helsinki, Finland
Mob: +358400825943, Tel / Fax (by arr.): +358943682643

-----Alkuperäinen viesti-----
Lähettäjä: Unicore [mailto:unicore-bounces_at_unicode.org] Puolesta Andrew West
Lähetetty: 10. kesäkuuta 2015 12:18
Vastaanottaja: Anshuman Pandey
Kopio: UnicoRe List; unicode Unicode Discussion
Aihe: Re: Accessing the WG2 document register

In the LiveLink system some document types are open and some document types are restricted, and you can see this in the SC2 document registry <http://isotc.iso.org/livelink/livelink?func=ll&objid=8919192&objaction=ndocslist>
where some documents have a key icon against them and some do not. In the case of the WG2 document registry <http://isotc.iso.org/livelink/livelink?func=ll&objid=8917016&objaction=ndocslist>
which is what Anshu is referring to, the list of documents is not even visible unless you are logged on to the system, which I believe to be completely unacceptable, and something I have questioned Michel about on several occasions. But even if the list of documents was to be visible to the public, they would all be password protected because of their document type ("Contributions"). I have suggested to Michel that a simple workaround would be to change the document type to one that is open to the public, even if the document type would not accurately reflect what sort of documents they are.

The new restrictive rules for committee participation and document access have been forced on the committees by JTC1 (see JTC1 N12468 -- not publicly available, but there is a Google cache of the document if you search), and has caused considerable consternation among experts on the WG2 committee as well as in some national bodies. If you follow the new rules to the letter then WG2 is not allowed to even accept contributions from individuals who are not members of the relevant committee, which is quite ridiculous, and a severe handicap to many JTC1 working groups. I know that the BSI (representing the
UK) is very unhappy with the restrictions on who can submit and access documents, and I hope (with little expectation) that the issue of document access will be raised at the next JTC1 plenary, and the rules changed. But in the meantime the rules are alienating experts such as Anshu, which is a great shame.

Andrew

On 9 June 2015 at 23:07, Anshuman Pandey <pandey_at_umich.edu> wrote:
> Hello all,
>
> I learned today that the WG2 document register is not publicly
> accessible. This means that I, as a proposal author, have no means of
> accessing the documents that I contribute.
>
> Can someone associated with WG2 or anyone else in the know please tell
> me why these documents are under lock and key?
>
> All the best,
> Anshuman
Received on Wed Jun 10 2015 - 06:52:33 CDT