Agilent Technologies, Inc.
815 14th Street S.W.
Loveland, Colorado 80537

March 9, 2000

Judith Gorman
Secretary of the IEEE-SA Standards Board
IEEE Standards Association
P.O. Box 1331
445 Hoes Lane
Piscataway, NJ 08855-1331

Dear Judith Gorman,

We feel we must raise a complaint about the procedures followed with the IEEE 488.1 Project.

The IEEE Standards Board appears ready to approve the results of the IEEE 488.1 project without an adequate resolution of the negative ballots. Adoption of the changes suggested in the draft would cause confusion in the industry as mentioned in the negative ballots.

In August 1999, we asked the working group's chairman and sponsor ballot distributor, Robert Canik, for several items, which we never received. He did not even acknowledge the request.

I&M TC8 MEETING MINUTES

  1. At the August 1995 meeting in Atlanta, a TC8 member raised an objection to Robert Canik being chairman of the project as he has an obvious conflict of interest. These minutes might reveal why TC8 did not act on the objection.
  2. The working group appears to have run without any guidance or oversight from the sponsor. These minutes might help reveal whether the sponsor met its obligations according to the IEEE-SA Standards Board Operations Manual.

WORKING GROUP MEETING MINUTES

  1. We are only aware of the working group meeting twice, August 1995 and January 1996. The lack of public meetings or the lack of knowledge about those meetings indicates an absence of openness in the development process. These minutes might help reveal how open the process was.
  2. Working groups normally conduct an informal vote amongst themselves to see if they reached consensus. These minutes might reveal whether such a vote was taken and how close the group was to consensus.
  3. The PAR lists IEC SC65C/WG3 for coordination. That group believes the IEEE working group made no effort to coordinate with them. The IEC group raised objections to the PAR initially and supplied comments on the draft. These minutes might reveal how the IEEE working group handled the coordination and comments.

1997 SPONSOR BALLOT RESULT

In the fall of 1997, someone initiated a Sponsor Ballot. The results are unknown. We do not know what process the sponsor used to form the balloting group. The sponsor never published a list of the members of the balloting group.

1999 SPONSOR BALLOT

From the first sponsor ballot until June 1999, when the PAR was about to expire, we heard nothing from either the sponsor or the working group about progress on the draft. (Again, meeting minutes might reveal if any activity had actually occurred.) We requested a list of the balloting group members. We do not know who selected the members or what criteria he used. Were they hand picked by the working group chairman with his obvious conflict of interest? We know of one person who the TC8 chair promised could be a member of the balloting group who was omitted. Perhaps by knowing the other members we would change our views on the draft.

RESOLUTION OF NEGATIVE BALLOTS

The only response to all the negative ballots was an out of hand dismissal by the chairman. We asked Mr. Canik to schedule a meeting to resolve the issues raised by the negative ballots. We did not receive a reply.

The Operation Manual states, "The Sponsor shall make every attempt to resolve comments, objections, and negative votes." From our view, the sponsor made no attempt at all. The latest rushed distribution of negative ballots appears to be an attempt to bypass any actual effort to resolve objections.

REMEDIAL ACTION

The best action to take is to invalidate the sponsor Ballot and reform the working group with an unbiased chairman who is willing to listen to all parties and to act on all concerns. He must also make a legitimate effort to coordinate with IEC SC65C/WG3.

At a minimum, the working group and balloting group should meet, under unbiased leadership, and make an honest effort to resolve the issues raised in the negative ballots.

Sincerely,

Nathan Berg, David Clemens, and Robin Steele
Agilent Technologies