Minutes of the BoD Meeting at Crypto 2000
Board of Directors Meeting Crypto 2000 Santa Barbara 20 August 2000 _______________________________________________________________________ The Board President called the meeting to order at 10:00am. Present were Balenson, Beaver, Benaloh, Berson, Biham, Cachin, Dawson, Feigenbaum, Franklin, Kim, Landrock, Langford, McCurley, E. Okamoto, T. Okamoto, Preneel, and Van Oorschot. Also present as an observer was Mickey Swick. Proxies were held by McCurley for Maurer, by Van Oorschot for Diffie, by Landrock for Vanderwalle, by Preneel for Posch, and by T. Okamoto for Matsumoto. _______________________________________________________________________ McCurley solicited additions to the agenda. Feigenbaum asked for maintenance of service lists to be added to the agenda. Landrock asked that the election committee be discussed. ************************************************************************ Minutes of the 14 May 2000 meeting were approved with a spelling correction. Motion by McCurley seconded by Feigenbaum carried 19 to 0. ************************************************************************ _______________________________________________________________________ Feigenbaum congratulated Franklin on his recent marriage. Congratulations were added by others. _______________________________________________________________________ Crypto 2000 General Chair Franklin then reported on Crypto 2000 status. He indicated 468 registrants as of August 17 which appeared to be slightly lower than that of '99. He said that management closely matched that of the previous year and that budget items were on target. Beaver asked about student support. Franklin said that this was the same as the previous year. He added that support totaling $13,100 was given to 21 students and that student authors were given free registration and stipends while student non-authors were generally given free registration alone. McCurley asked if registration had been smooth. Franklin responded that it had been but that budget formats differed from the previous year. Langford agreed to meet with Swick to look into this. McCurley asked about sponsorships and conference facilities. Franklin responded that the facilities were in good shape and that no corporate sponsorships had been solicited. McCurley asked about travel expenses and other difficulties. Franklin responded that there had been some co-ordination difficulties with Crypto 2000 Program Chair Bellare, and it was agreed that guidelines for reimbursement of program committee member travel expenses need to be clarified. McCurley offered thanks to Franklin for his work and all concurred. _______________________________________________________________________ The issue of IACR Distinguished Lectures was then raised. McCurley reported that Tom Berson would be delivering the IACR Distinguished Lecture at Asiacrypt 2000. It was felt by McCurley and others that a clear process was needed to select the venue and lecturer for future distinguished lectures. Feigenbaum suggested better co-ordination with program chairs was necessary. Biham suggested that these decisions needed to be made further in advance. Cachin observed that the Board had decided that it would select lecturers. McCurley suggested that many of the difficulties could be avoided if the board established a clear process and made its selections far in advance. He then asked how often distinguished lectures should be given suggesting one per year or one per conference as possible schedules. Benaloh suggested that the schedule would be simplest if distinguished lectures were given at every conference or annually at the same conference. Feigenbaum and Landrock suggested that the lecture should rotate between conferences. McCurley supported the idea of one distinguished lecture per conference. Van Oorschot suggested a rotation and observed that a "backwards" rotation with a lecture given at every other conference would allow an increased frequency over a once per year schedule. Preneel suggested that some flexibility might be beneficial. Cachin suggested a schedule wherein lectures would rotate, in order, from Eurocrypt to Crypto to Asiacrypt. Biham and McCurley supported Preneel's view that more flexibility might be desirable. Cachin expressed a desire for clarity. Van Oorschot suggested an "overridable" default. ************************************************************************ Feigenbaum offered a motion that there be one IACR Distinguished Lecture per year with the venue alternating in order from Eurocrypt to Crypto to Asiacrypt (beginning with Eurocrypt in 2001) and that the distinguished lecturer be chosen the prior year at the August meeting of the Board. Cachin seconded the motion which carried by a vote of 16 to 0 with 4 abstentions. ************************************************************************ McCurley wanted to make clear that the intent of the designation was to honor long-term contributions to the field. An e-mail message from Maurer was read which included the suggestion that the award should be given for profound and continuing achievement in the field. Feigenbaum suggested that "lifetime" be substituted for "long-term". Berson asked what fraction of conference attendees are "first-timers" and wondered how important continuing achievements were to this constituency. Feigenbaum suggested that one of the selection criteria could be speaking ability. Biham asked whether the title "Distinguished Lecturer" was appropriate. McCurley suggested that the criteria should include "profound and continuing research achievements and influence on the field". Cachin asked if the selection should be accompanied by a citation and referred to Maurer's e-mail message suggesting that the introduction be given by the IACR President whenever possible and that an announcement of the selection be made at the August Business meeting. Van Oorschot and Cachin suggested that the introduction always be made by a member of the Board. Berson emphasized the importance of putting these rules in writing as part of the general chair guidelines. Van Oorschot suggested that information on distinguished lectures be added to the IACR web site. Cachin agreed to make this addition and to include the actual addresses when available. McCurley summarized that we have agreed that a citation by the Board should be given with each distinguished lecture and that the introduction should be given by the IACR President. ************************************************************************ The Board then voted to select Andrew Odlyzko as the IACR Distinguished Lecturer with the lecture to be presented at Eurocrypt 2001. ************************************************************************ ________________________________________________________________________ Membership Secretary Beaver then reported on current issues. Beaver said that a formal contract with the IACR Secretariat at Santa Barbara was to be finalized. There was to be no on-site secretariat support available after Asiacrypt 2000. He then asked whether off-site services might be available and reported on concerns from some members that payments always be in US dollars. Langford said that the infrastructure provided by the Secretariat is advantageous. Benaloh asserted that the single payment type was preferable. Swick offered that the Secretariat could manage payments and services remotely. Beaver expressed concerns about flexibility for individual conferences. Dawson noted that Asiacrypt 2001 is using a booking service. McCurley rued that for Asiacrypt 2000, two separate forms must be submitted. Swick noted that this causes confusion and that it would be helpful to have a database of bookings available. Swick then reported that in 1999, the IACR had 992 members (including 82 students) and that this decreased in 2000 to 937 members (including 65 students). Berson asked how many nationalities were represented and Swick agreed to explore this. Benaloh asked what the expectation was for a new contract. Swick responded that having a contract this year would be desirable. ________________________________________________________________________ The Board then adjourned for lunch at 11:57 and reconvened at 12:14. ________________________________________________________________________ Journal Editor Feigenbaum reported on the Journal of Cryptology. She announced that five new members had been added to the editorial board replacing five members who had retired. She indicated that approximately two or three issues were complete and ready for publication and that roughly ten additional papers were nearly ready. She also said that she was contemplating special issues and soliciting ideas in that regard. McCurley asked about cost of the Journal, and Langford responded that we had no guarantees for the coming year. Feigenbaum offered to get McCurley the name of a contact at Springer-Verlag. McCurley asked about electronic publishing, and Feigenbaum responded that she believed that the production and formatting work done by Springer-Verlag were very valuable. McCurley thanked Feigenbaum for her work on the Journal and unanimous applause was given. ________________________________________________________________________ A financial report was then given by Treasurer Langford. Langford recommended no change in IACR dues and reported moving approximately $75,000 in funds from a checking account to a higher interest liquid account. She reported that 1999 taxes had been filed and that errors had been discovered in the 1998 tax forms which showed approximately $70,000 in excess revenues and for which a specialist CPA had been hired to make corrections. Langford also reported IACR assets of approximately $300,000 with funds from the current Crypto conference forthcoming. Additionally, she noted that the Secretariat had thus far only billed the IACR for services through September 1999. Langford indicated that the two major outstanding issues were the Journal and the Secretariat. ________________________________________________________________________ Editor Cachin then reported on the Newsletter and Web Site. Cachin noted that job listings had been added to the Newsletter. He said that each listing is in a precise, pre-structured format and is included in only one issue of the Newsletter. He also reported that the Newsletter was being sent to 840 addresses of which approximately 35-45 are returned as invalid. Cachin also asked if a version of the IACR logo was available in electronic form. McCurley answered that the original logo was in "Corel Draw Format" (.cdr) and came from Jimmy Upton. Benaloh observed that the Board of Directors lists on the Web Site needed updating. McCurley asked about archiving a video of the Crypto '98 conference. Feigenbaum suggested that we should avoid cluttering the Web Site. McCurley then thanked Cachin for his work on the Newsletter and Web Site and unanimous applause was given. Berson then noted that Langford had not been thanked for her work as Treasurer and thanked her as she received unanimous applause. ________________________________________________________________________ McCurley then raised the issue of Board elections noting that the terms of Berson, T. Okamoto, and van Oorschot were expiring. He noted that nomination forms were available. McCurley asked how many ballots were spoiled in the last election, and Landrock responded that there had been approximately 50 spoiled ballots. ________________________________________________________________________ Preneel then reported on Eurocrypt 2000. He said that complete numbers were not yet available as some invoices may be pending. He reported 481 attendees of which 91 were students. Approximately $232,000 in registration fees were collected and approximately $14,500 was received from sponsors. Approximately $103,000 was spent on catering and approximately $7,000 on student stipends. After other expenses, the conference would likely return a surplus of between $20,000 and $25,000. ________________________________________________________________________ E. Okamoto then reported on the Asiacrypt Steering Committee. He said that the steering committee had met during the Eurocrypt 2000 conference to consider proposals for Asiacrypt 2002. Proposals were received for New Zealand, Hong Kong, and India, and he reported that the Steering Committee was recommending the New Zealand proposal together with recommendations for a Program Chair. McCurley asked if the Steering Committee was satisfied with the selection process and E. Okamoto responded that the members were happy. McCurley expressed his pleasure with the Asiacrypt process and suggested a similar process be considered for Eurocrypt. Cachin seconded the idea. ________________________________________________________________________ E. Okamoto then reported on the upcoming Asiacrypt 2000 conference. He noted that two separate registrations were required -- one for the conference and another for the hotel. He reported 140 papers submitted with 1 paper withdrawn and 45 acceptances (a 32% acceptance rate). He indicated that it was decided to not distinguish between the accepted papers but that the presentation times would vary between 20 and 25 minutes. He also noted two invited talks -- the IACR Distinguished Lecture to be given by Berson and a talk by Professor Imai on Japanese Government hardware standardization. McCurley asked that 30 minutes be reserved for an IACR business meeting and T. Okamoto agreed to do so. ________________________________________________________________________ McCurley then raised the issue of Asiacrypt 2003. E. Okamoto reported that two previously rejected proposals would both be resubmitted. Dawson reported that the Taiwan proposal (withdrawn after the earthquake) would also be resubmitted. E. Okamoto said that a recommendation would be made by the Asiacrypt steering committee at the Asiacrypt 2000 meeting in Kyoto and that this recommendation would be presented to the Board at its meeting during Eurocrypt 2001. ________________________________________________________________________ Progress in planning for Eurocrypt 2003 was then discussed. McCurley described an attempt to move to London the site of an earlier proposal for Bristol. Landrock told of a planned exploratory visit to Poland. Preneel said that there would be another conference in Poland in late 2002. Berson noted that IACR has a growing Polish membership. Landrock said that he had not heard from the sponsors of last year's proposal for Italy about the possibility of resubmitting this year. McCurley thanked Landrock for his efforts. ________________________________________________________________________ Feigenbaum then asked for a volunteer to take on the task of maintaining lists of general chairs, program committee members and chairs, and potential new committee members. Benaloh agreed to add this to the responsibilities of the IACR Secretary. ________________________________________________________________________ Franklin then left to attend to conference duties and gave his proxy to Berson. ________________________________________________________________________ Planning for Asiacrypt 2002 was then discussed. E. Okamoto presented the Asiacrypt Steering Committee's recommendation for New Zealand. Henry Wolfe presented the proposal for conference dates of 1-5 December 2002 at the Millennium Hotel in Queenstown, New Zealand. The hotel costs would be under $100 per night. ************************************************************************ The motion to accept the New Zealand bid was offered by Berson and seconded by Beaver. The motion carried 19 to 0 with 1 abstention. ************************************************************************ The Board then voted to ask Yuliang Zheng to serve as program chair. [This offer was subsequently accepted.] ________________________________________________________________________ Crypto 2001 General Chair Balenson then reported on the status of the conference. Balenson asked the Board about possible corporate sponsorship. Members felt that seeking sponsorship was not necessary but could benefit students by funding stipends. It was also noted that if sponsorships were obtained then they should be explicitly acknowledged by the IACR President at the business meeting and any other opportunities. Balenson also raised questions about exhibits, the rump session, and a possible 20th anniversary celebration. ________________________________________________________________________ The Board then discussed planning for Crypto 2002. The Board voted to ask Rebecca Wright to serve as General Chair and Moti Yung to serve as Program Chair. [Both offers were subsequently accepted.] ________________________________________________________________________ The Board then heard from Preneel representing the ad hoc Conference Committee consisting of Biham, Maurer, and Preneel. Preneel reported on many Crypto-related workshops that had become established. These included the Fast Software Encryption Workshop (since 1993), the Information Hiding Workshop (since 1996), Financial Cryptography (since 1997), the International Workshop on Practice and Theory in Public Key Cryptography (since 1998), and the Workshop on Cryptographic Hardware and Embedded Systems (since 1999). He noted that the IACR currently sponsors three major annual conferences and recommended that sponsorship be selectively extended to workshops that have been well-established for at least two years, that have crypto-related content, scientific criteria for acceptance, are ongoing, do not conflict in scheduling with other IACR activities, are open and non-profit, and have reliable people in charge. He proposed that a steering committee make recommendations to the IACR board on General Chairs, Program Chairs, and conference venues. He also proposed an exchange of representatives between the proposed steering committee and the IACR Board and a financial commitment from the IACR. Finally, it was recommended that the IACR maintain a list of candidate workshops. Feigenbaum asked why the IACR should consider this expansion. Biham responded that he felt that more specialized conferences were useful and good for the IACR. Berson observed that the IACR was established as a way to keep the resources in the community. McCurley observed that the IACR was already paying for Secretariat services that allowed for better growth. Berson said that he found the Asiacrypt Steering Committee model attractive. Cachin observed that this would change the managerial model for the IACR Board. McCurley suggested the need for a permanent conference committee. Benaloh suggested separate steering committees for each affiliate workshop. Feigenbaum agreed adding a suggestion that these steering committees provide the IACR Board with a short list of possible Program Chairs (rather than a single selection). Preneel agreed that the IACR should maintain control of Program Chair selections. Van Oorschot asked whether these events were best labeled as workshops or conferences. Cachin added that we need to avoid calling Crypto a workshop. Preneel suggested the formation of a permanent conference committee to consider budgets for such affiliated workshops. McCurley questioned whether this was the best use of the Board's time. Dawson suggested that this might be too much work for the Board and suggested starting with a Eurocrypt steering committee. Benaloh asked how such a committee would be structured. Cachin suggested that such a committee could be an outgrowth of the Board with both Board members and non-members. McCurley again suggested the formation of a permanent conference committee. Benaloh asked if this would be an unnecessary layer. Van Oorschot offered a motion to create a Eurocrypt steering committee with the responsibility of soliciting, evaluating, and recommending conference particulars including General Chairs, possible Program Chairs, and venues. He also proposed that the Board appoint a chair of this committee who is empowered to add other members. Preneel seconded this motion. Benaloh asked if there would be rules for who could join this committee. McCurley appointed Cachin, Clark, Landrock, Maurer, and Preneel to serve as members of a new Eurocrypt Steering Committee. McCurley then asked about the financial status of the Fast Software Encryption Workshop. Preneel reported that the workshop had no reserves and had run on a break-even basis each year. Kim said the he doesn't know what the financial model is for the Public Key Cryptography conference. McCurley suggested that this process was optional. ************************************************************************ The formal motion to establish a Eurocrypt steering committee with the responsibility of soliciting, evaluating, and recommending conference particulars including General Chairs, possible Program Chairs, and venues was then voted on. The motion carried 18 to 1 with 1 abstention. ************************************************************************ McCurley then asked for volunteers to take responsibility for contacting other conferences to explore the possibility of creating affiliations and/or sponsorships. ________________________________________________________________________ At this point, Berson noted that Clark had volunteered to serve as the IACR election returning officer but NOT as the Election Committee Chair. Benaloh agreed to serve as Chair of the Election Committee. ________________________________________________________________________ The issue of the published IACR membership list was then discussed. McCurley reported that several members have complained about SPAM originating from conference attendee list data. Feigenbaum said that the consensus was that we allow members to not have their names listed. Beaver asked if this was an issue for the business meeting. Preneel asked if IACR members could use the lists for announcements. ________________________________________________________________________ McCurley then reported that he had two boxes of leftover proceedings from Crypto '98 and '99. Preneel suggested that Program Committee members who did not attend the conference get copies. The consensus was that any leftover proceedings be sold. ________________________________________________________________________ McCurley then suggested amending the IACR by-laws by changing the quorum requirement of 25 members at a business meeting to 25% of the membership. Preneel expressed a view that such a change was not necessary. Cachin asked if the by-laws should be amended to reflect new committees being established. Berson said that the by-laws are a legal document and that these details did not belong there. ________________________________________________________________________ Cachin then reported that the E-print library was doing well and was up to 50 submissions. ________________________________________________________________________ McCurley then solicited topics to be covered in the business meeting. It was agreed that the following topics should be included. - Announcement of Andrew Odlyzko as the 2001 IACR Distinguished Lecturer - Journal of Cryptology report (Feigenbaum) - Membership report (Beaver) - Elections report (Benaloh) - Discussion of possible affiliate workshops - Discussion of membership list usage - Asiacrypt 2000 report (E. Okamoto) - Solicitation of future conference proposals - Treasurers report (Langford) - Newsletter report (Cachin -- to be delivered by McCurley) - Announcements of upcoming conferences, Program Chairs, and General Chairs ________________________________________________________________________ The meeting adjourned at 17:27. ________________________________________________________________________ Respectfully submitted Josh Benaloh IACR Secretary
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