Minutes of the Board of Directors Meeting at Eurocrypt 2003
************************ EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ************************ The IACR Board of Directors met on May 4 and 6, 2003 during Eurocrypt 2003 in Warsaw. Reports were presented on the disposition of Crypto 2002 and status of Eurocrypt 2003, Crypto 2003, Asiacrypt 2003, and Eurocrypt 2004. Additional reports were presented on the status of the IACR Newsletter, web site, and ePrint Archive, the Journal of Cryptology, the Archivist's work, and IACR finances. Special reports were presented on IT Strategy and Elections Issues. The Board appointed an Election Committee consisting of Hughes, Preneel, and Wright. The Board accepted a proposal to hold Eurocrypt 2005 in Aarhus, Denmark with Ivan Damgaard as General Chair. The Board voted to ask Ron Cramer to serve as Eurocrypt 2005 Program Chair. The Board accepted a proposal to hold FSE 2004 in New Delhi, India. The Board accepted a proposal to hold PKC 2005 in Switzerland. The Board voted to ask Ivan Damgaard and Joan Feigenbaum to serve as initial members of the IACR Fellows Selection Committee. ************************ DETAILED MINUTES ************************ Board of Directors Meeting Eurocrypt Warsaw 4 May 2003 Board President Clark called the meeting to order at 10:10. Present were Benaloh, Berson, Biham, Camenisch, Clark, Desmedt, Gawinecki, Hughes, Knudsen, Langford, Laih, Maurer, Preneel, and Quisquater. Proxies were held for Cachin by Camenish, for McCurley by Berson, for Wright by Benaloh, for Rose by Langford, by Chang by Laih, for Kim by Dawson, for Dawson by Matsumoto, and for Matsumoto by Clark. ________________________________________________________________________ Clark reviewed the agenda and noted that the status report for Crypto 2003 would be delayed until the arrival of Rose. Maurer asked that information on the Theory of Cryptography Conference be included in "other business". ________________________________________________________________________ The minutes of the August 2002 Board Meeting were approved without change or objection. ________________________________________________________________________ Clark then reported on open action items. He reported that Beaver was working to complete an update of the IACR database, that a color version of the IACR logo had been completed, that a draft of the minutes of the August 2002 Board Meeting had been completed and circulated within 8 weeks of the meeting, that conference attendance numbers had been sent to Treasurer Langford, that Newsletter Editor Cachin would be reporting recommendations, and that McCurley would be reporting on the status of the Springer-Verlag contract. He also reported that recommendations for modifications to General Chair Guidelines be sent to Preneel, that Program Chair Guidelines recommendations be sent to Knudsen, and that Desmedt would be making recommendations on IACR conference sizes. He also indicated that he had sent a letter to the Library of Congress regarding the IACR position on the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and had contacted Harvard internet law professor John Paulfrey regarding the issue. ________________________________________________________________________ The Membership Secretary report was cancelled due to Beaver's absence. ________________________________________________________________________ Eurocrypt 2003 General Chair Gawinecki then reported on the status of the conference. He said that lunches would be held in the Gala Congresawa, that coffee breaks would be held outside of the lecture hall, and that a wireless LAN had been set up. Gawinecki noted that the conference venue was in the center of Warsaw and that multiple sponsors had been obtained to defray costs. He added that as of May 4 there had been 338 registrations (including 22 students) -- down somewhat due to SARS -- and that he expected about 40 additional registrants. Gawinecki said that the proceedings had arrived but that receipts for registrants had been delayed. He noted the availability of Internet access and made special mention of the Presidential sponsorship that the conference had received. He also suggested that delegates be careful walking near the conference venue after dark. ________________________________________________________________________ Newsletter Editor Cachin's report was circulated by e-mail. Desmedt asserted the view that the ePrint archive should not be refereed, and Hughes concurred. Clark then reminded the Board of prior discussions on this topic, and Preneel observed that some submissions are disparaging. Clark then asked for a sense of the Board on the running of the ePrint archive and received a high sense of approval. Biham then expressed his opinion that there should be no refereeing of ePrint submissions whatsoever -- even if this resulted in some very poor papers. Clark then reminded the Board that the ePrint archive managers work on a volunteer basis on behalf of the IACR and requested that they be given latitude. ________________________________________________________________________ Journal Editor-in-Chief Maurer's report was circulated by e-mail and included his expression of unhappiness regarding the necessity to hound referees. Berson suggested that Editors who do not reply should be removed from the Editorial Board, and Clark asserted that it was up to Maurer as to how to manage the Editorial Board. ________________________________________________________________________ IACR Archivist Orman's report was circulated by e-mail. Clark noted that the organization of this Eurocrypt required that the General Chair be given power of attorney, that IACR articles of association were required, and that much time, effort, and money were required. He suggested that such factors be taken into consideration in evaluating future Eurocrypt proposals. Preneel asked that a specific location be set up to send copies of proceedings and other relevant materials to the Archivist. ________________________________________________________________________ At 11:00, the Board recessed for a ten-minute break. The Board reconvened at 11:10. ________________________________________________________________________ Crypto 2002 General Chair Wright's report was circulated by e-mail. ________________________________________________________________________ An IT Strategy Report by McCurley was circulated by e-mail. Clark summarized that McCurley had investigated the viability of better database management, electronic registration, e-mailing of IACR announcements, and provision of electronic services for Program Committees and had also done associated code development. He said that McCurley would have a demonstration available for the Crypto conference. Desmedt suggested that McCurley not do this work entirely on his own. Clark noted that the IACR Secretariat had become responsible for the management of three annual conferences and two annual workshops and suggested avoiding overburdening the Secretariat. He added that the role of the Board was to decide on the business (not technical) case. Hughes noted that this work would not replace the role of the Secretariat and offered to help with the process. Clark asked for a report at the Crypto 2003 Board Meeting on the business case and risks associated with the recommendations of the initial report. Berson expressed a concern about an excessive reliance on McCurley to maintain the code, and Clark responded that ownership and maintenance were issues that needed to be addressed. Preneel expressed the view that the business case was clear if mailing costs for the IACR were $20,000 annually. ________________________________________________________________________ Treasurer Langford then delivered a report on IACR finances. She said that as of December 31, 2002, IACR assets included approximately $206,000 in certificates of deposit, approximately $279,000 in a checking account, and approximately $140,000 held by the Secretariat. She noted that this sum was larger than typical because of pending payments to Springer-Verlag, the Secretariat, and expected losses of about $100,000 for Eurocrypt 2003. She estimated a total surplus at the end of 2002 of approximately $305,000. Langford said that Eurocrypt 2002 had returned an approximate $23,000 surplus, Crypto 2002 had returned an approximate $17,000 surplus, and that Asiacrypt 2002 had suffered an approximate $15,000 loss. She noted that the IACR surplus at the end of 2001 had been approximately $376,000. Clark asked about the plans for the Membership Meeting, and Langford said that she would describe the hard times being faced by the IACR. Clark noted that the break even point for Eurocrypt 2003 had been set at 400 delegates, and Langford noted that the $100,000 anticipated loss included losses due to currency fluctuation from which IACR has benefited in the past. Clark then observed that Asiacrypt 2002 had suffered from lower attendance and currency fluctuation and thanked Asiacrypt 2002 General Chair Wolfe for his efforts in minimizing losses. He also encouraged attendance of Asiacrypt 2003. Preneel suggested separating currency fluctuation from surplus and loss calculations. Clark suggested requiring a break-out of both anticipated and actual expenses in future conferences and suggested that electronic registration might facilitate payments in local currencies. Preneel re-iterated his desire to have currency fluctuation separated from other expenses, and Clark suggested that it had been a bad year and that conservative planning would be required. ________________________________________________________________________ Berson then initiated a discussion on the financial health of the IACR. He suggested that methods may be available to reduce costs, increase income, reduce risk, and/or boost attendance, and that Board should make explicit decisions as to which directions to follow. Clark noted that the cost that the cost of mailings -- especially membership list mailings -- was quite high and suggested planning for lower conference attendance. Desmedt expressed the opinion that paper mailings should be eliminated, but Hughes asked if this would present a hardship to members in less connected locales. Biham asked how often members change their electronic addresses, and Benaloh expressed the concern that e-mail could get be regarded as spam and be lost. Clark suggested exploring lower break-even attendance numbers for conferences, and Hughes asked whether General Chairs must accommodate larger numbers of delegates and suggested that university venues be considered. Preneel noted that Eurocrypt 2005 proposals had fixed costs in the range of $60,000 to $70,000 with roughly one third of the costs going to facilities -- mostly in the form of lunches for delegates. Berson expressed a preference for risking turning potential delegates away rather than risking paying for excess facilities. Desmedt asked about the costs from Springer-Verlag, and Biham indicated that proceedings were ordered after the early registration deadline. Camenisch expressed the view that savings due to a reduced hall size would not be significant. Clark summarized the mood as in favor of planning for smaller attendance and considering capping attendance where necessary. Berson asked about eliminating mailing of the membership list. Clark responded that an explicit choice had been made to not make the membership list available to members in electronic form and that steps had been taken to make it difficult to scan. Clark suggested that it might be time to reconsider this policy and suggested mailing the membership list as a CD or making it downloadable (perhaps, in either case, with some kind of watermark). Preneel suggested that other mail to members be sent electronically, and Maurer suggested that the IACR charge for paper copies. Clark then asked for a sense of the Board about whether to make the membership list available in electronic form and the general sense was that it should be done to save costs. Clark then asked about electronic conference registration mailings, and Hughes suggested that post cards be used during transition to which there was general agreement although Preneel asked if post cards would save much over full mailings. Clark expressed the view that one mailing per conference should suffice, and Berson suggested maintaining conference mailings to maintain attendance. Clark expressed a desire to avoid excessive registration fees and maintain student discounts. He then set an action item to discuss membership list mailings during the Membership Meeting. Camenisch noted that Program Committee meetings have budgets around $10,000, but Biham indicated that most of these funds were usually not spent and encouraged not cutting this item. ________________________________________________________________________ The status report on Crypto 2003 was deferred to await the arrival of Crypto 2003 General Chair Rose. ________________________________________________________________________ Asiacrypt 2003 General Chair Laih then reported on the status of the conference. Laih said that the conference web site had been active since December of 2002 and that the conference would be held in Taipei, Taiwan from November 30 through December 4. He said that the Chinese Cryptology and Information Security Association would be a major sponsor and noted the venue of the Grand Hotel in Taipei. Laih noted that the 2003 IACR Distinguished Lecture would be delivered by Don Coppersmith and that invited talks would be given by Adi Shamir and Hong-Sen Yan. Concerns were expressed that SARS might reduce the number of papers submitted, and confidence was expressed that the Asiacrypt 2003 organizing committee would manage the situation wisely. ________________________________________________________________________ Eurocrypt 2004 General Chair Camenisch then reported on the status of the conference. Camenisch said that the registration fees had risen from $580 to $743 with a break-even point set at 350 attendees including 50 students. He said that cost increases were due to changes in exchange rates and the cost of mailings. Maurer expressed the view that the meal costs were exorbitant and Desmedt suggested eliminating the lunches to which Maurer concurred. Benaloh expresses the view that less elaborate lunches would be fine but that lunches should be maintained. ________________________________________________________________________ Clark reported that the Asiacrypt Steering Committee had met in New Zealand and that Asiacrypt 2005 planning was on schedule. ________________________________________________________________________ Clark reported that electronic versions of the IACR logo had been updated and that both grayscale and color versions were available. ________________________________________________________________________ An Election Committee was appointed consisting of Hughes, Preneel, and Wright. Hughes offered to serve as returning officer. ________________________________________________________________________ Clark reported that Springer-Verlag had agreed to stop including its copyright notice in IACR publications. ________________________________________________________________________ The Board recessed for lunch at 12:50. The Board reconvened at 13:31. ________________________________________________________________________ The Board then heard proposals to host Eurocrypt 2005 in Denmark, Hungary, and Russia. ************************************************************************ The Board then voted to accept the proposal to hold Eurocrypt 2005 in Aarhus, Denmark with Ivan Damgaard as General Chair. ************************************************************************ ************************************************************************ The Board then voted to ask Ron Cramer to serve as Eurocrypt 2005 Program Chair. [Cramer subsequently agreed to serve in this role.] ************************************************************************ ________________________________________________________________________ Preneel then reported on the status of FSE 2004 in New Delhi, India. ________________________________________________________________________ ************************************************************************ The Board then voted to approve the FSE 2004 proposal in New Delhi, India by a count of 12-0 with 3 abstentions. ************************************************************************ ________________________________________________________________________ Desmedt then reported on the status of PKC 2004 in Singapore and PKC 2005 in Switzerland. ________________________________________________________________________ ************************************************************************ The Board then voted to approve the PKC 2005 proposal in Switzerland by a count of 12-0 with 5 abstentions. ************************************************************************ ________________________________________________________________________ Preneel then asked for the sense of the Board on the possibility of co-locating FSE with PKC in 2005. The sense of the Board seemed to be that this was up to the FSE Steering Committee. ________________________________________________________________________ Desmedt then raised the issue of parallel sessions in IACR conferences and was asked and agreed to bring a specific proposal before the Board. ________________________________________________________________________ ************************************************************************ The Board then voted to ask Ivan Damgaard and Joan Feigenbaum to serve as founding members of the IACR Fellow Selection Committee. [Both Damgaard and Feigenbaum subsequently agreed to serve in this role.] ************************************************************************ ________________________________________________________________________ Maurer then announced the establishment of a new Theoretical Cryptography Conference (TCC) to be held in February 2004 at M.I.T. with proceedings to be published in the Springer-Verlag Lecture Notes in Computer Science series. Maurer asked if copyrights could be assigned to the IACR. Clark responded that this would require the approval of Springer-Verlag. Maurer then asked if copyrights could be assigned to the IACR if Springer-Verlag approved, and Clark voiced the apparent consensus of the Board saying that this would be fine but that the IACR had no intention of opening new negotiations with Springer-Verlag. ________________________________________________________________________ Clark then reported that the Cryptographic Hardware and Embedded Systems (CHES) workshop was seeking IACR sponsorship commencing in 2004. The proposed terms would include IACR membership for CHES delegates, copyright assignment to the IACR, and the CHES Steering Committee retaining primary control of the workshop. It was agreed that this proposal would be discussed further at the Crypto 2003 Board Meeting. ________________________________________________________________________ Rose arrived at this point. ________________________________________________________________________ Desmedt then reported on issues surrounding the 2002 IACR elections. Desmedt suggested that the mailing procedure for ballots be improved, that a deadline be instituted for amendments to the By-Laws, that the Election Committee Chair Guidelines be updated, and that electronic elections be explored. ________________________________________________________________________ Crypto 2003 General Chair Rose then reported on the status of the conference. Rose said that preparations were going well and that a break-even point of 325 delegates had been set. ________________________________________________________________________ An agenda for the Membership Meeting was then set to include discussion of election procedures, SARS concerns regarding Asiacrypt 2003, and mailing of membership lists and a report from the Treasurer. ________________________________________________________________________ Action items included informing FSE and PKC Steering Committees of Board actions, establishing the IACR Fellows Steering Committee, and working with the IACR Secretariat on timely mailings. ________________________________________________________________________ The meeting adjourned at 14:45. ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ A supplemental Board Meeting was called to order by IACR President Clark at 13:26 of May 6 to discuss and vote on the IT proposal presented at the regular Board Meeting. In attendance were Benaloh, Berson, Biham, Camenisch, Clark, Desmedt, Hughes, Knudsen, Langford, Maurer, Quisquater, Preneel, and Rose. The executive summary of the proposal included the purchase of a dedicated IACR machine for no more than $2,500 and hosting services of approximately $250 per month (in contrast to the current hosting fees of approximately $80 per month). The dedicated machine would host the IACR web site, archive, mailing list, database, on-line registration services, and on-line Program Committee review system. Desmedt asked why this would cost $250 per month, and Clark responded that this would be necessary for the enhanced services provided. Rose asked what would happen if and when the machine gets hacked, and Clark responded that a risk analysis would be necessary. Hughes noted that the additional costs would allow for credit card processing, and Langford stated that the Secretariat costs were approximately $40,000 per year. Clark added that this should reduce the workload on the Secretariat and allow for a reduction in costs, and Langford noted that IACR would need to enlist a professional conference organizer if this proposal was not enacted. Maurer noted that continued maintenance could be an issue. ************************************************************************ A motion was made by Berson and seconded by Hughes to ask for a report to the Board at the August meeting on the status of going forward for Eurocrypt 2004. The motion was approved unanimously. ************************************************************************ ________________________________________________________________________ The agenda of the Membership Meeting was then discussed. Langford stated plans to give a financial report detailing status through the end of 2002. Clark would then describe the current losses resulting from reduced attendance. Langford would then take questions on finances, and Clark would report on upcoming conferences. Clark would also report on the Journal of Cryptology, the IACR Newsletter, the new contract with Springer-Verlag, copyrights, the Springer-Verlag Link service, cost containment, and the possibility of changing membership lists from paper to electronic form. Clark would speak on issues regarding SARS and Asiacrypt 2003 and on the IT plans for the IACR. Berson asked if it was too soon to report on IT, and Clark responded that it was mentioned at Crypto 2002. Langford indicated that she would prefer to not yet commit to on-line registration. ________________________________________________________________________ Desmedt suggested that the IACR seek NSF support and sponsorship, and Berson took on an action item to explore this possibility. ________________________________________________________________________ The supplemental meeting was adjourned at 13:48. ________________________________________________________________________ Respectfully submitted Josh Benaloh IACR Secretary
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