LoCoCouncil-mandated logging of LoCo channel

[Robert Wall]

Hello,

The LoCo Council informed Ubuntu California today that they have
decided to require public logging of our IRC channel, and that they
expect to extend this requirement to other LoCo teams in the future.
As I have mentioned in the past when overzealous individuals advocate
logging channels without the consent and approval of their occupants,
I consider this a terrible idea. I believe that LoCo channel
communities should be free to decide whether to log their channels,
and I strongly object to higher authorities requiring logging. I also
strongly object to the lack of public discussion about this
beforehand, both in California's case and that of LoCo teams in
general.

The first I heard about this topic was when LoCo Council members
brought it up for discussion at an IRC Council meeting back in May
[1]. Given the lack of progress on it since then, and the lack of
public discussion (that I can find, anyway), I had hoped that common
sense had prevailed and killed the idea, but apparently not.

[1] logs of which begin at
http://irclogs.ubuntu.com/2010/05/30/%23ubuntu-meeting.html#t19:01

As a consequence of this and other unrelated decisions, I do not feel
that I have sufficient autonomy to effectively act as a channel
operator in #ubuntu-california, and have thus removed those privileges
from myself. I recommend that other operators of LoCo channels with
active communities consider carefully whether those communities would
be happy with everything they say being available /in perpetuum/ on a
public, search-engine-indexed website. I also recommend that
California LoCo members consider the same before using our channel.

Thanks for your time, and for the lessons I learned as an op in
#ubuntu-california,

~ Robert Wall
(Ubuntu Member; Ubuntu California LoCo Team member)
(If replying, please note that I emailed this to ubuntu-us-ca and
loco-contacts lists, and modify replies' destinations to your liking.)