Minutes of the Membership Meeting at Eurocrypt 2002
Membership Meeting Eurocrypt 2002 Amsterdam 1 May 2002 IACR President Clark convened the meeting at 16:10. Raffle tickets were distributed to those in attendance for a drawing for a bottle of Champagne. Clark presented the meeting agenda which consisted of information about the IACR, its Board of Directors, its finances, its conferences and workshops, the Journal of Cryptology, the Newsletter, current issues including euro-denominated conference registration and electronic registration, and a period of open discussion. Clark quoted the purposes of the IACR from the Bylaws as "to advance the theory and practice of cryptology and related fields, and to promote the interests of its members with respect thereto, and to serve the public welfare." He then described the three annual IACR conferences of Eurocrypt, Crypto, and Asiacrypt and the two IACR-sponsored workshops: FSE and PKC. He then described IACR publications of the Journal of Cryptology and the IACR Newsletter and noted the web site at www.iacr.org. Clark then introduced the members of the Board of Directors. Clark next presented a brief financial report noting that IACR finances were stable with reserves of approximately $376,000 (approximately $350,000 at the end of 2001) and observed that costs of a typical conference are approximately $250,000. He added that all three IACR conferences in 2001 had returned modest surpluses and that the 2002 conferences were on track. Clark then expressed thanks to Eurocrypt 2002 General Chair Berry Schoenmakers and Program Chair Lars Knudsen and awarded them plaques of appreciation. Clark then enumerated upcoming IACR conferences and workshops as follows. Crypto 2002 Santa Barbara August 18-22 Asiacrypt 2002 Queenstown, New Zealand December 1-5 PKC 2003 Miami, Florida January 5-7 FSE 2003 Lund, Sweden February 24-26 Eurocrypt 2003 Warsaw, Poland May 4-8 Crypto 2003 Santa Barbara August 17-21 Asiacrypt 2003 Taipei, Taiwan November 30-December 4 PKC 2004 Singapore March 1-3 Eurocrypt 2004 Interlaken, Switzerland May 2-6 Crypto 2004 Santa Barbara dates TBD Asiacrypt 2004 Jeju, Korea December 5-9 [N.B. Some of these dates conflict with the IACR Calendar of Events on the web site.] Clark then noted that bids were being sought to host Eurocrypt 2005. Clark next proceeded to describe the Journal of Cryptology as the premier journal in this field, and described it as being published by Springer-Verlag and mailed to all IACR members with the cost of the Journal accounting for roughly 75% of member dues. He introduced Ueli Maurer as the new Editor-in-Chief who solicited high-quality papers for the Journal and mentioned its short current backlog. Clark then described the IACR Newsletter which is published thrice annually and emailed to members as well as being available at www.iacr.org/newsletter. Clark then described current issues that were being addressed by the Board beginning with the consideration of acceptance of currencies other than U.S. dollars for IACR conference registration. He said that this had been investigated and considered for the current conference and noted that the UCSB Secretariat gives very favorable rates to the IACR but cannot except currencies other than U.S. dollars. Clark then presented an analysis of the currency options available to the IACR -- specifically with regard to possible acceptance of euros. He stated that commercial acceptance of credit cards could be managed with a contract that either charged a percentage plus a fixed constant per transaction or eliminated the fixed cost in exchange for higher percentage rates. He noted that the current fee from UCSB was 2.75% and that the best commercial deals would likely result in a fee of approximately 5% plus a fixed cost of approximately 10 euros. He computed the estimated additional costs would therefore total about 22 euros which were said to be much higher than the cost of foreign currency exchange, and he asserted that it would therefore still be much less expensive for European delegates to pay in U.S. dollars. Clark also noted that the next two Eurocrypts would be hosted by non-Eurozone nations and stated that the dollar would remain the only currency for at least Eurocrypt 2003 and 2004. Clark then raised the issue of electronic registration. He said that he had hoped to have electronic registration in place for Crypto 2002 but that it had been delayed until Crypto 2003 in hopes of having a full solution rather than an interim approach. ________________________________________________________________________ At 16:30 Clark opened the floor for discussion from the membership. ________________________________________________________________________ Markus Dichtl disputed the analysis of currency costs presented by Clark. He noted that many expenses had to be paid in the local currency, asserted that the credit card costs should not be as high as stated, and added that not all payments are made with credit cards. He also noted the international character of the IACR. Clark responded that the IACR is registered in the U.S. Dichtl expressed the view that this policy was a humiliation to other currencies and made the following motion: "Fees for conferences sponsored or co-sponsored by the IACR are payable in the local currency of the country where the conference takes place." The motion was seconded by Evangelos Kranakis. Discussion on the motion then began. Paul Van Oorschot noted that the IACR is a volunteer organization and that it was undesirable to place such impositions on those volunteering their time. Jurjen Bos suggested adding different currencies to the motion, but Dichtl said that he did not want any modifications. Desmedt asserted that many delegates are on tight travel budgets and would not wish actions taken that would raise costs. He added his view that economic factors outweigh nationalistic ones here. Niels Ferguson said that as a Dutch national he is happy with U.S. dollars and doesn't want the IACR spending time on this issue. Brian Snow asked for clarification on the Bylaws rules about such motions and was told that members can make motions during Membership meetings. Dichtl was asked if the motion required that only euros be used in Eurozone nations, and he responded that his proposal was not restrictive. Others suggested that the wording of the motion seemed to restrict payments to only the local currency. Clark then answered Snow's question more thoroughly saying that a motion made from the floor of a Membership meeting with a 25-member quorum would, if approved by a simple majority, be enacted or, if in the opinion of the IACR President not reflective of the majority of IACR members, placed on the ballot to be voted upon by the entire membership. A member suggested the establishment of an IACR arm in Europe that would accept payment in euros. Clark responded that this would also entail additional costs. Tal Rabin asked for clarification on whether both dollars and euros could be accepted, and Dichtl responded that this would be fine. Langford noted that two currencies cause administrative problems, and Clark described his experience as General Chair of Eurocrypt '91, in which two currencies were used, as being difficult. Clark then expressed his opinion that multiple currencies were dropped for good reason. Clark then asked for a vote on whether future conferences should accept payment in the local currency only. Approximately 7 members voted "yes", approximately 93 voted "no", and approximately 15 abstained. Clark then moved to consideration of the possibility of accepting multiple currencies. Cachin suggested that Dichtl's motion be amended to not exclude any other currencies. Moti Yung suggested that arrangements for payments be left up to the General Chair and the IACR Board and Ferguson seconded this suggestion. Cachin asked that we stay with the Dichtl motion, and Dichtl amended his motion by adding the sentence: "This does not exclude payments in other currencies if the IACR Board decides so." Rose seconded this amendment. A vote on the amended motion was then taken in which approximately 11 members voted "yes", approximately 100 voted "no", and approximately 20 abstained. ________________________________________________________________________ Phil Rogaway then expressed his unhappiness with the lack of a policy to protect non-smokers at Eurocrypt and offered the following motion: "IACR conference participants are requested not to smoke in lecture halls, the vicinity of lecture halls, and dining areas." Clark offered to write this recommendation into the General Chair Guidelines. Desmedt added his view that General Chairs should have non-smoking areas clearly marked. Clark repeated that he would write this into the General Chair Guidelines. Rogaway asked for clarification as to why this should not be adopted as IACR policy. Clark then suggested that the General Chair Guidelines include a request that the conference area be designated as non-smoking. Many members then expressed their support for a smoking ban. ________________________________________________________________________ A member then asked if it would be possible to produce a CD-ROM with the conference proceedings. Clark responded that he thought that this would be impractical to do within the time restrictions, and McCurley offered to speak privately on this issue. ________________________________________________________________________ A bottle of Champagne was then raffled off to Membership meeting attendees. ________________________________________________________________________ The Membership meeting was then adjourned at 17:10. ________________________________________________________________________ Respectfully submitted Josh Benaloh IACR Secretary
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