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Internet Draft Internet Architecture Board and
Expires: March 1994 Internet Engineering Steering Group
September 1993
The Internet Standards Process -- Revision 2
| **SECOND DRAFT**
Status of this Memo
This document is an Internet-Draft. Internet-Drafts are working
documents of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), its Areas,
and its Working Groups. Note that other groups may also distribute
working documents as Internet-Drafts.
Internet-Drafts are draft documents valid for a maximum of six
months. Internet-Drafts may be updated, replaced, or made obsolet by
other documents at any time. It is not appropriate to use Internet-
Drafts as reference material, or to cite an Internet-Draft other than
as a "working draft" or "work in progress."
Abstract
This document is a draft of the first revision of RFC 1310, which
defines the official procedures for creating and documenting Internet
Standards. This draft revision is being distributed to the Internet
community for comments and suggestions.
This revision (revision 2) includes the following major changes:
(a) The new management structure arising from the POISED Working
Group is reflected. These changes were agreed to by the IETF
plenary and by the IAB and IESG in November 1992 and accepted by
the ISOC Board of Trustees at their December 1992 meeting.
(b) Prototype status is added to the non-standards track maturity
| levels (Section 2.4.1). [Second draft - the text describing
| the Prototype status is modified.]
| (c) The Intellectual Property Rights section is completely revised,
| in accordance with legal advice. Section 5 of this document
| replaces Sections 5 and 6 of RFC-1310. The new section 5 has
| been reviewed by legal counsel to the Internet Society.
| [The first draft of revision 2 contained text that had not
| been subjected to legal review. The second draft text has
| undergone legal review, and has been approved by counsel to
| the Internet Society.]
(d) An appeals procedure is added (Section 3.6).
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| (e) [Second draft] The wording of sections 1 and 1.2 has been changed
| to clarify the relationships that exist between the Internet
| Society and the IAB, the IESG, the IETF, and the Internet
| Standards process.
| (f) [Second draft] The e-mail addresses given in Appendix B have
| been changed from "-@isi.edu" to "-@isoc.org".
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. INTRODUCTION ................................................. 2
1.1 Internet Standards. ...................................... 2
1.2 Organizations ............................................ 5
1.3 Standards-Related Publications ........................... 6
1.4 Internet Assigned Number Authority (IANA) ................ 8
2. NOMENCLATURE ................................................. 9
2.1 The Internet Standards Track ............................. 9
2.2 Types of Specifications .................................. 9
2.3 Standards Track Maturity Levels .......................... 11
2.4 Non-Standards Track Maturity Levels ...................... 12
2.5 Requirement Levels ....................................... 14
3. THE INTERNET STANDARDS PROCESS ............................... 15
3.1 Review and Approval ...................................... 15
3.3 Advancing in the Standards Track ......................... 17
3.4 Revising a Standard ...................................... 18
3.5 Retiring a Standard ...................................... 19
3.6 Conflict Resolution and Appeals .......................... 19
4. EXTERNAL STANDARDS AND SPECIFICATIONS ........................ 20
5. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS ................................. 22
5.1 Trade Secret Rights ...................................... 23
5.2 Patent Rights ............................................ 23
5.3 Copyright ................................................ 24
5.4 Notices And Agreements ................................... 25
6. REFERENCES ................................................... 25
APPENDIX A: GLOSSARY OF ACRONYMS ................................. 26
APPENDIX B: CONTACT POINTS ....................................... 26
APPENDIX C: FUTURE ISSUES ........................................ 27
1. INTRODUCTION
This memo documents the process currently used by the Internet
community for the standardization of protocols and procedures.
| The Internet Standards process is an activity of the Internet Society
| that is organized and managed on behalf of the Internet community by
| the Internet Architecture Board (IAB) and the Internet Engineering
| Steering Group.
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1.1 Internet Standards.
The Internet, a loosely-organized international collaboration of
autonomous, interconnected networks, supports host-to-host
communication through voluntary adherence to open protocols and
procedures defined by Internet Standards. There are also many
isolated internets, i.e., sets of interconnected networks, which
are not connected to the Internet but use the Internet Standards.
Internet Standards were once limited to those protocols composing
what has been commonly known as the "TCP/IP protocol suite".
However, the Internet has been evolving towards the support of
multiple protocol suites, especially the Open Systems
Interconnection (OSI) suite. The Internet Standards process
described in this document is concerned with all protocols,
procedures, and conventions that are used in or by the Internet,
whether or not they are part of the TCP/IP protocol suite. In the
case of protocols developed and/or standardized by non-Internet
organizations, however, the Internet Standards process may apply
only to the application of the protocol or procedure in the
Internet context, not to the specification of the protocol itself.
In general, an Internet Standard is a specification that is stable
and well-understood, is technically competent, has multiple,
independent, and interoperable implementations with substantial
operational experience, enjoys significant public support, and is
recognizably useful in some or all parts of the Internet.
The procedures described in this document are designed to be fair,
| open and objective; to reflect existing (proven) practice; and to
be flexible.
o These procedures are intended to provide a fair, open, and
objective basis for developing, evaluating, and adopting
Internet Standards. They provide ample opportunity for
participation and comment by all interested parties. At each
stage of the standardization process, a specification is
repeatedly discussed and its merits debated in open meetings
and/or public electronic mailing lists, and it is made
available for review via world-wide on-line directories.
o These procedures are explicitly aimed at recognizing and
adopting generally-accepted practices. Thus, a candidate
specification is implemented and tested for correct operation
and interoperability by multiple independent parties and
utilized in increasingly demanding environments, before it
can be adopted as an Internet Standard.
o These procedures provide a great deal of flexibility to adapt
to the wide variety of circumstances that occur in the
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standardization process. Experience has shown this
flexibility to be vital in achieving the goals listed above.
The goal of technical competence, the requirement for prior
implementation and testing, and the need to allow all interested
parties to comment, all require significant time and effort. On
the other hand, today's rapid development of networking technology
places an urgency on timely development of standards. The
Internet standardization rules described here are intended to
balance these conflicting goals. The process is believed to be as
short and simple as possible without undue sacrifice of technical
competence, prior testing, or openness and fairness.
In summary, the goals for the Internet standards process are:
* technical excellence;
* prior implementation and testing;
* clear, short, and easily understandable documentation;
* openness and fairness; and
* timeliness.
In outline, the process of creating an Internet Standard is
straightforward: a specification undergoes a period of development
and several iterations of review by the Internet community and
revision based upon experience, is adopted as a Standard by the
appropriate body (see below), and is published. In practice, the
process is more complicated, due to (1) the difficulty of creating
specifications of high technical quality; (2) the need to consider
the interests of all of the affected parties; (3) the importance
of establishing widespread community consensus; and (4) the
difficulty of evaluating the utility of a particular specification
for the Internet community.
From its inception, the Internet has been, and is expected to
remain, an evolving system whose participants regularly factor new
requirements and technology into its design and implementation.
Users of the Internet and providers of the equipment, software,
and services that support it should anticipate and embrace this
evolution as a major tenet of Internet philosophy.
The procedures described in this document are the result of three
years of evolution, driven both by the needs of the growing and
increasingly diverse Internet community, and by experience.
Comments and suggestions are invited for improving these
procedures.
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The remainder of this section describes the organizations and
publications involved in Internet standardization. Section 2
presents the nomenclature for different kinds and levels of
Internet standard technical specifications and their
applicability. Section 3 describes the process and rules for
Internet standardization. Section 4 defines how relevant
externally-sponsored specifications and practices, developed and
controlled by other standards bodies or by vendors, are handled in
the Internet standardization process. Section 5 presents the
rules that are required to protect intellectual property rights
and to assure unrestricted ability for all interested parties to
practice Internet Standards.
1.2 Organizations
1.2 Organizations
The following organizations are involved in the Internet Standards
process.
| * IETF
|
| The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) is a loosely self-
| organized group of people who make technical and other
| contributions to the engineering and evolution of the Internet
| and its technologies. It is the principal body engaged in the
| development of new Internet Standard specifications, although
| it is not itself a part of the Internet Society. The IETF is
| composed of individual Working Groups, which are grouped into
| Areas, each of which is coordinated by one or more Area Directors.
| Nominations to the Internet Architecture Board and the Internet
| Engineering Steering Group are made by a nominating committee
| selected at random from the ranks of regular IETF meeting
| attendees who have volunteered to serve as nominating committee
| members.
|
| * ISOC
|
| Internet standardization is an organized activity of the
| Internet Society (ISOC). The ISOC is a professional society
| that is concerned with the growth and evolution of the
| worldwide Internet, with the way in which the Internet is and
| can be used, and with the social, political, and technical
| issues that arise as a result. The ISOC board of trustees
| is responsible for approving appointments to the Internet
| Architecture Board from among the nominees submitted by the
| IETF nominating committee.
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| * IESG
|
| The Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG) is responsible
| for technical management of IETF activities and the Internet
| Standards process. As part of the Internet Society, it admini-
| sters the Internet Standards process according to the rules and
| procedures given in this document, which have been accepted and
| ratified by the Internet Society trustees. The IESG is directly
| responsible for the actions associated with entry into and move-
| ment along the "standards track", as described in section 3 of
| this document, including final approval of specifications as
| Internet Standards. The IESG is composed of the IETF Area
| Directors and the chairperson of the IETF, who also serves as
| the chairperson of the IESG.
|
| * IAB
|
| The Internet Architecture Board (IAB) is a technical advisory
| group of the Internet Society. It is chartered by the Internet
| Society trustees to provide oversight of the architecture of the
| Internet and its protocols, and to serve in the context of the
| Internet Standards process as a body to which the decisions of
| the IESG may be appealed (as described in section 3.6 of this
| document). The IAB is responsible for approving appointments to
| the IESG from among the nominees submitted by the IETF nominating
| committee.
Any member of the Internet community with the time and interest is
urged to participate actively in one or more IETF Working Groups
and to attend IETF meetings. In many cases, active Working Group
participation is possible through email alone; furthermore,
Internet video conferencing is being used experimentally to allow
remote participation. Participation is by individual technical
contributors rather than formal representatives of organizations.
The process works because the IETF Working Groups display a spirit
of cooperation as well as a high degree of technical maturity;
IETF participants recognize that the greatest benefit for all
members of the Internet community results from cooperative
development of technically superior protocols and services.
Members of the IESG and IAB are nominated for two-year terms by a
committee that is drawn from the roll of recent participation in
the IETF and chartered by the ISOC Board of Trustees. The
appointment of IESG and of IAB members are made from these
nominations by the IAB and by the ISOC Board of Trustees,
respectively.
The Internet Research Task Force (IRTF) is not directly part of
the standards process. It investigates topics considered to be
too uncertain, too advanced, or insufficiently well-understood to
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be the subject of Internet standardization. When an IRTF activity
generates a specification that is sufficiently stable to be
considered for Internet standardization, the specification is
processed through the IETF using the rules in this document.
1.3 Standards-Related Publications
1.3.1 Requests for Comments (RFCs)
Each distinct version of a specification is published as part
of the "Request for Comments" (RFC) document series. This
archival series is the official publication channel for
Internet standards documents and other publications of the
IESG, IAB, and Internet community. RFCs are available for
| anonymous FTP from a number of Internet hosts.
The RFC series of documents on networking began in 1969 as part
of the original ARPA wide-area networking (ARPANET) project
(see Appendix A for glossary of acronyms). RFCs cover a wide
range of topics, from early discussion of new research concepts
to status memos about the Internet. RFC publication is the
direct responsibility of the RFC Editor, under the general
direction of the IAB.
The rules for formatting and submitting an RFC are defined in
reference [5]. Every RFC is available in ASCII text, but some
RFCs are also available in PostScript*. The PostScript version
of an RFC may contain material (such as diagrams and figures)
that is not present in the ASCII version, and it may be
formatted differently.
*********************************************************
* A stricter requirement applies to standards-track *
* specifications: the ASCII text version is the *
* definitive reference, and therefore it must be a *
* complete and accurate specification of the standard, *
* including all necessary diagrams and illustrations. *
*********************************************************
The status of Internet protocol and service specifications is
| summarized periodically in an RFC entitled "Internet Official
Protocol Standards" [1]. This RFC shows the level of maturity
and other helpful information for each Internet protocol or
service specification. See Section 3.1.3 below.
_________________________
*PostScript is a registered trademark of Adobe Systems, Inc.
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Some RFCs document Internet standards. These RFCs form the
'STD' subseries of the RFC series [4]. When a specification
has been adopted as an Internet Standard, it is given the
additional label "STDxxxx", but it keeps its RFC number and its
place in the RFC series.
Not all specifications of protocols or services for the
Internet should or will become Internet Standards. Such non-
standards track specifications are not subject to the rules for
Internet standardization. Generally, they will be published
directly as RFCs at the discretion of the RFC editor and the
IESG. These RFCs will be marked "Prototype", "Experimental" or
"Informational" as appropriate (see section 2.3).
********************************************************
* It is important to remember that not all RFCs *
* are standards track documents, and that not all *
* standards track documents reach the level of *
* Internet Standard. *
********************************************************
1.3.2 Internet Drafts
During the development of a specification, draft versions of
the document are made available for informal review and comment
by placing them in the IETF's "Internet Drafts" directory,
which is replicated on a number of Internet hosts. This makes
an evolving working document readily available to a wide
audience, facilitating the process of review and revision.
An Internet Draft that is published as an RFC, or that has
remained unchanged in the Internet Drafts directory for more
than six months without being recommended by the IESG for
publication as an RFC, is simply removed from the Internet
Draft directory. At any time, an Internet Draft may be
replaced by a more recent version of the same specification,
restarting the six-month timeout period.
An Internet Draft is NOT a means of "publishing" a
specification; specifications are published through the RFC
mechanism described in the previous section. Internet Drafts
have no formal status, are not part of the permanent archival
record of Internet activity, and are subject to change or
removal at any time.
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********************************************************
* Under no circumstances should an Internet Draft *
* be referenced by any paper, report, or Request-for-*
* Proposal, nor should a vendor claim compliance *
* with an Internet-Draft. *
********************************************************
Note: It is acceptable to reference a standards-track
specification that may reasonably be expected to be
published as an RFC using the phrase "RFC in preparation",
without referencing an Internet Draft.
1.4 Internet Assigned Number Authority (IANA)
Many protocol specifications include numbers, keywords, and other
parameters that must be uniquely assigned. Examples include
version numbers, protocol numbers, port numbers, and MIB numbers.
The IAB has delegated to the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority
(IANA) the task of assigning such protocol parameters for the
Internet. The IANA publishes tables of all currently assigned
numbers and parameters in RFCs titled "Assigned Numbers" [3].
Each category of assigned numbers typically arises from some
protocol that is on the standards track or is an Internet
Standard. For example, TCP port numbers are assigned because TCP
is a Standard. A particular value within a category may be
assigned in a variety of circumstances; the specification
requiring the parameter may be in the standards track, it may be
Experimental, or it may be private. Note that assignment of a
number to a protocol is independent of, and does not imply,
acceptance of that protocol as a standard.
Chaos could result from accidental conflicts of parameter values,
so we urge that every protocol parameter, for either public or
private usage, be explicitly assigned by the IANA. Private
protocols often become public. Programmers are often tempted to
choose a "random" value or to guess the next unassigned value of a
parameter; both are hazardous.
The IANA is expected to avoid frivolous assignments and to
distinguish different assignments uniquely. The IANA accomplishes
both goals by requiring a technical description of each protocol
or service to which a value is to be assigned. Judgment on the
adequacy of the description resides with the IANA. In the case of
a standards track or Experimental protocol, the corresponding
technical specifications provide the required documentation for
IANA. For a proprietary protocol, the IANA will keep confidential
any writeup that is supplied, but at least a short (2 page)
writeup is still required for an assignment.
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2. NOMENCLATURE
2.1 The Internet Standards Track
Specifications that are destined to become Internet Standards
evolve through a set of maturity levels known as the "standards
track". These maturity levels -- "Proposed Standard", "Draft
Standard", and "Standard" -- are defined and discussed below in
Section 3.2.
Even after a specification has been adopted as an Internet
Standard, further evolution often occurs based on experience and
the recognition of new requirements. The nomenclature and
procedures of Internet standardization provide for the replacement
of old Internet Standards with new ones, and the assignment of
descriptive labels to indicate the status of "retired" Internet
Standards. A set of maturity levels is defined in Section 3.3 to
cover these and other "off-track" specifications.
2.2 Types of Specifications
Specifications subject to the Internet standardization process
fall into two categories: Technical Specifications (TS) and
Applicability Statements (AS).
2.2.1 Technical Specification (TS)
A Technical Specification is any description of a protocol,
service, procedure, convention, or format. It may completely
describe all of the relevant aspects of its subject, or it may
leave one or more parameters or options unspecified. A TS may
be completely self-contained, or it may incorporate material
from other specifications by reference to other documents
(which may or may not be Internet Standards).
A TS shall include a statement of its scope and the general
intent for its use (domain of applicability). Thus, a TS that
is inherently specific to a particular context shall contain a
statement to that effect. However, a TS does not specify
requirements for its use within the Internet; these
requirements, which depend on the particular context in which
the TS is incorporated by different system configurations, is
defined by an Applicability Statement.
2.2.2 Applicability Statement (AS)
An Applicability Statement specifies how, and under what
circumstances, one or more TSs are to be applied to support a
particular Internet capability. An AS may specify uses for TSs
that are not Internet Standards, as discussed in Section 4.
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An AS identifies the relevant TSs and the specific way in which
they are to be combined, and may also specify particular values
or ranges of TS parameters or subfunctions of a TS protocol
that must be implemented. An AS also specifies the
circumstances in which the use of a particular TS is required,
recommended, or elective.
An AS may describe particular methods of using a TS in a
restricted "domain of applicability", such as Internet routers,
terminal servers, Internet systems that interface to Ethernets,
or datagram-based database servers.
The broadest type of AS is a comprehensive conformance
specification, commonly called a "requirements document", for a
particular class of Internet systems, such as Internet routers
or Internet hosts.
An AS may not have a higher maturity level in the standards
track than any standards-track TS to which the AS applies. For
example, a TS at Draft Standard level may be referenced by an
AS at the Proposed Standard or Draft Standard level, but not by
| an AS at the Standard level.
|
| An AS may refer to a TS that is either a standards-track speci-
| fication or is "Informational", but not to a TS with a maturity
| level of "Prototype", "Experimental", or "Historic" (see section
| 2.4).
Although TSs and ASs are conceptually separate, in practice a
| standards-track document may combine an AS and one or more
related TSs. For example, Technical Specifications that are
developed specifically and exclusively for some particular domain
of applicability, e.g., for mail server hosts, often contain
within a single specification all of the relevant AS and TS
information. In such cases, no useful purpose would be served by
deliberately distributing the information among several documents
just to preserve the formal AS/TS distinction. However, a TS that
is likely to apply to more than one domain of applicability should
be developed in a modular fashion, to facilitate its incorporation
by multiple ASs.
2.3 Standards Track Maturity Levels
ASs and TSs go through stages of development, testing, and
acceptance. Within the Internet standards process, these stages
are formally labeled "maturity levels".
This section describes the maturity levels and the expected
| characteristics of specifications at each level.
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2.3.1 Proposed Standard
The entry-level maturity for the standards track is "Proposed
Standard". A Proposed Standard specification is generally
stable, has resolved known design choices, is believed to be
well-understood, has received significant community review, and
appears to enjoy enough community interest to be considered
valuable. However, further experience might result in a change
or even retraction of the specification before it advances.
Usually, neither implementation nor operational experience is
required for the designation of a specification as a Proposed
Standard. However, such experience is highly desirable, and
will usually represent a strong argument in favor of a Proposed
Standard designation.
The IESG may require implementation and/or operational
experience prior to granting Proposed Standard status to a
specification that materially affects the core Internet
protocols or that specifies behavior that may have significant
operational impact on the Internet. Typically, such a
specification will be published initially with Experimental or
Prototype status (see below), and moved to the standards track
only after sufficient implementation or operational experience
has been obtained.
A Proposed Standard should have no known technical omissions
with respect to the requirements placed upon it. However, the
IESG may recommend that this requirement be explicitly reduced
in order to allow a protocol to advance into the Proposed
Standard state, when a specification is considered to be useful
| and necessary (and timely) even without the missing features.
|
2.3.2 Draft Standard
A specification from which at least two independent and
interoperable implementations have been developed, and for
which sufficient successful operational experience has been
obtained, may be elevated to the "Draft Standard" level. This
is a major advance in status, indicating a strong belief that
the specification is mature and will be useful.
A Draft Standard must be well-understood and known to be quite
stable, both in its semantics and as a basis for developing an
implementation. A Draft Standard may still require additional
or more widespread field experience, since it is possible for
implementations based on Draft Standard specifications to
demonstrate unforeseen behavior when subjected to large-scale
use in production environments.
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2.3.3 Internet Standard
A specification for which significant implementation and
successful operational experience has been obtained may be
elevated to the Internet Standard level. An Internet Standard
(which may simply be referred to as a Standard) is
characterized by a high degree of technical maturity and by a
generally held belief that the specified protocol or service
provides significant benefit to the Internet community.
2.4 Non-Standards Track Maturity Levels
Not every TS or AS is on the standards track. A TS may not be
intended to be an Internet Standard, or it may be intended for
eventual standardization but not yet ready to enter the standards
track. A TS or AS may have been superseded by more recent
Internet Standards, or have otherwise fallen into disuse or
disfavor.
Specifications not on the standards track are labeled with one of
four off-track maturity levels: "Prototype, "Experimental",
"Informational", and "Historic". There are no time limits
associated with these non-standard track labels, and the documents
bearing these labels are not Internet standards in any sense.
2.4.1 Prototype
| The "Prototype" designation on a TS denotes a specification
| that is believed to be complete and contains no known
| deficiencies. It is intended for eventual entry into the
| standards track, but is deemed to require further testing
| and possible refinement before becoming a standards-track
| specification. The Prototype designation is particularly
| appropriate for specifications that modify existing "core"
| aspects of Internet technology, or that may involve complex
| interactions among Internet system elements that are not
| readily accessible to static analysis.
| The Prototype designation is assigned to a document by the
| IESG. A Prototype specification will generally be the product
| of an organized Internet engineering effort, such as a Working
Group of the IETF. An IETF Working Group should submit a
document that is intended for Prototype status to the IESG.
The IESG will forward it to the RFC Editor for publication,
after verifying that there has been adequate coordination with
the standards process.
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2.4.2 Experimental
The "Experimental" designation on a TS typically denotes a
specification that is part of some research or development
effort. Such a specification is published for the general
information of the Internet technical community and as an
archival record of the work. An Experimental specification may
be the output of an organized Internet research effort (e.g., a
Research Group of the IRTF), or it may be an individual
contribution.
Documents intended for Experimental status should be submitted
directly to the RFC Editor for publication. The procedure is
intended to expedite the publication of any responsible
Experimental specification, subject only to editorial
considerations, and to verification that there has been
adequate coordination with the standards process.
2.4.3 Informational
An "Informational" specification is published for the general
information of the Internet community, and does not represent
an Internet community consensus or recommendation. The
| Informational designation is intended to provide for the
| timely publication of a very broad range of responsible
informational documents from many sources, subject only to
editorial considerations and to verification that there has
been adequate coordination with the standards process.
Specifications that have been prepared outside of the Internet
community and are not incorporated into the Internet standards
process by any of the provisions of Section 4 may be published
as Informational RFCs, with the permission of the owner.
2.4.4 Historic
A TS or AS that has been superseded by a more recent
specification or is for any other reason considered to be
obsolete is assigned to the "Historic" level. (Purists have
suggested that the word should be "Historical"; however, at
this point the use of "Historic" is historical.)
2.5 Requirement Levels
An AS may apply one of the following "requirement levels" to each
of the TSs to which it refers:
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(a) Required: Implementation of the referenced TS, as specified
by the AS, is required to achieve minimal conformance. For
example, IP and ICMP must be implemented by all Internet
systems using the TCP/IP Protocol Suite.
(b) Recommended: Implementation of the referenced TS is not
required for minimal conformance, but experience and/or
generally accepted technical wisdom suggest its desirability
in the domain of applicability of the AS. Vendors are
strongly encouraged to include the functions, features, and
protocols of Recommended TSs in their products, and should
omit them only if the omission is justified by some special
circumstance.
(c) Elective: Implementation of the referenced TS is optional
within the domain of applicability of the AS; that is, the AS
creates no explicit necessity to apply the TS. However, a
particular vendor may decide to implement it, or a particular
user may decide that it is a necessity in a specific
environment.
As noted in Section 2.4, there are TSs that are not in the
standards track or that have been retired from the standards
track, and are therefore not required, recommended, or elective.
Two additional "requirement level" designations are available for
such TSs:
(d) Limited Use: The TS is considered appropriate for use only
in limited or unique circumstances. For example, the usage
of a protocol with the "Experimental" designation should
generally be limited to those actively involved with the
experiment.
(e) Not Recommended: A TS that is considered to be inappropriate
for general use is labeled "Not Recommended". This may be
because of its limited functionality, specialized nature, or
historic status.
The "Official Protocol Standards" RFC lists a general requirement
level for each TS, using the nomenclature defined in this section.
In many cases, more detailed descriptions of the requirement
levels of particular protocols and of individual features of the
protocols will be found in appropriate ASs.
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3. THE INTERNET STANDARDS PROCESS
3.1 Review and Approval
A "standards action" -- entering a particular specification into,
advancing it within, or removing it from, the standards track --
must be approved by the IESG.
3.1.1 Initiation of Action
Typically, a standards action is initiated by a recommendation
to the appropriate IETF Area Director by the individual or
group that is responsible for the specification, usually an
IETF Working Group.
After completion to the satisfaction of its author and the
cognizant Working Group, a document that is expected to enter
or advance in the Internet standardization process shall be
made available as an Internet Draft. It shall remain as an
Internet Draft for a period of time that permits useful
community review, at least two weeks, before submission to the
IESG with a recommendation for action.
3.1.2 IESG Review and Approval
The IESG shall determine whether a specification satisfies the
applicable criteria for the recommended action (see Sections
3.2 and 3.3 of this document).
The IESG shall determine if an independent technical review of
the specification is required, and shall commission one when
necessary. This may require creating a new Working Group, or
an existing group may agree to take responsibility for
reviewing the specification. When a specification is
sufficiently important in terms of its potential impact on the
Internet or on the suite of Internet protocols, the IESG shall
form an independent technical review and analysis committee to
prepare an evaluation of the specification. Such a committee
is commissioned to provide an objective basis for agreement
within the Internet community that the specification is ready
for advancement.
The IESG shall communicate its findings to the IETF to permit a
final review by the general Internet community. This "last-
call" notification shall be via electronic mail to the IETF
mailing list. In addition, for important specifications there
shall be a presentation or statement by the appropriate Working
Group or Area Director during an IETF plenary meeting. Any
significant issues that have not been resolved satisfactorily
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during the development of the specification may be raised at
this time for final resolution by the IESG.
In a timely fashion, but no sooner than two weeks after issuing
the last-call notification to the IETF mailing list, the IESG
shall make its final determination on whether or not to approve
the standards action, and shall notify the IETF of its decision
via email.
3.1.3 Publication
Following IESG approval and any necessary editorial work, the
RFC Editor shall publish the specification as an RFC. The
specification shall then be removed from the Internet Drafts
directory.
An official summary of standards actions completed and pending
shall appear in each issue of the Internet Society Newsletter.
| This shall constitute the "journal of record" for Internet
standards actions. In addition, the IESG shall publish a
monthly summary of standards actions completed and pending in
the Internet Monthly Report, which is distributed to all
members of the IETF mailing list.
| Finally, the IAB shall publish quarterly an "Internet Official
Protocol Standards" RFC, summarizing the status of all Internet
protocol and service specifications, both within and outside the
standards track.
3.2 Entering the Standards Track
A specification that is potentially an Internet Standard may
originate from:
(a) an ISOC-sponsored effort (typically an IETF Working Group),
(b) independent activity by individuals, or
(c) an external organization.
| Case (a) accounts for the great majority of specifications that
| enter the Internet standards track. In cases (b) and (c),
the work might be tightly integrated with the work of an
existing IETF Working Group, or it might be offered for
standardization without prior IETF involvement. In most cases, a
specification resulting from an effort that took place outside of
an IETF Working Group will be submitted to an appropriate Working
Group for evaluation and refinement. If necessary, an appropriate
Working Group will be created.
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For externally-developed specifications that are well-integrated
with existing Working Group efforts, a Working Group is assumed to
afford adequate community review of the accuracy and applicability
of the specification. If a Working Group is unable to resolve all
technical and usage questions, additional independent review may
be necessary. Such reviews may be done within a Working Group
context, or by an ad hoc review committee established specifically
for that purpose. It is the responsibility of the appropriate
IETF Area Director to determine what, if any, review of an
external specification is needed and how it shall be conducted.
3.3 Advancing in the Standards Track
A specification shall remain at the Proposed Standard level for at
least six (6) months.
A specification shall remain at the Draft Standard level for at
least four (4) months, or until at least one IETF meeting has
occurred, whichever comes later.
These minimum periods are intended to ensure adequate opportunity
for community review without severely impacting timeliness. These
intervals shall be measured from the date of publication of the
corresponding RFC(s), or, if the action does not result in RFC
publication, the date of IESG approval of the action.
| ***paragraph moved to end of section
A specification may be (indeed, is likely to be) revised as it
advances through the standards track. At each stage, the IESG
shall determine the scope and significance of the revision to the
specification, and, if necessary and appropriate, modify the
recommended action. Minor revisions are expected, but a
significant revision may require that the specification accumulate
more experience at its current maturity level before progressing.
Finally, if the specification has been changed very significantly,
the IESG may recommend that the revision be treated as a new
document, re-entering the standards track at the beginning.
Change of status shall result in republication of the
specification as an RFC, except in the rare case that there have
been no changes at all in the specification since the last
publication. Generally, desired changes will be "batched" for
incorporation at the next level in the standards track. However,
deferral of changes to the next standards action on the
specification will not always be possible or desirable; for
example, an important typographical error, or a technical error
that does not represent a change in overall function of the
specification, may need to be corrected immediately. In such
cases, the IESG or RFC Editor may be asked to republish the RFC
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with corrections, and this will not reset the minimum time-at-
level clock.
When a standards-track specification has not reached the Internet
Standard level but has remained at the same status level for
twenty-four (24) months, and every twelve (12) months thereafter
until the status is changed, the IESG shall review the viability
of the standardization effort responsible for that specification.
Following each such review, the IESG shall approve termination or
continuation of the development. This decision shall be
communicated to the IETF via electronic mail to the IETF mailing
list, to allow the Internet community an opportunity to comment.
This provision is not intended to threaten a legitimate and active
Working Group effort, but rather to provide an administrative
mechanism for terminating a moribund effort.
3.4 Revising a Standard
A new version of an established Internet Standard must progress
through the full Internet standardization process as if it were a
completely new specification. Once the new version has reached
the Standard level, it will usually replace the previous version,
which will move to Historic status. However, in some cases both
| versions may remain as Internet Standards to honor the
requirements of an installed base. In this situation, the
relationship between the previous and the new versions must be
explicitly stated in the text of the new version or in another
appropriate document (e.g., an Applicability Statement; see
Section 2.2.2).
3.5 Retiring a Standard
As the technology changes and matures, it is possible for a new
Standard specification to be so clearly superior technically that
one or more existing Internet Standards for the same function
should be retired. In this case, the IESG shall approve a change
of status of the superseded specification(s) from Standard to
Historic. This recommendation shall be issued with the same
Last-Call and notification procedures used for any other standards
action.
3.6 Conflict Resolution and Appeals
IETF Working Groups are generally able to reach consensus, which
sometimes requires difficult compromises between differing
technical solutions. However, there are times when even
reasonable and knowledgeable people are unable to agree. To
achieve the goals of openness and fairness, such conflicts must be
resolved with a process of open review and discussion.
Participants in a Working Group may disagree with Working Group
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decisions, based either upon the belief that their own views are
not being adequately considered or the belief that the Working
Group made a technical choice which essentially will not work.
The first issue is a difficulty with Working Group process, and
the latter is an assertion of technical error. These two kinds of
disagreements may have different kinds of final outcome, but the
resolution process is the same for both cases.
Working Group participants always should first attempt to discuss
their concerns with the Working Group chair. If this proves
unsatisfactory, they should raise their concerns with an IESG Area
Director or other IESG member. In most cases, issues raised to
the level of the IESG will receive consideration by the entire
IESG, with the relevant Area Director or the IETF Chair being
tasked with communicating results of the discussion.
For the general community as well as Working Group participants
seeking a larger audience for their concerns, there are two
opportunities for explicit comment. (1) When appropriate, a
specification that is being suggested for advancement along the
standards track will be presented during an IETF plenary. At that
time, IETF participants may choose to raise issues with the
plenary or to pursue their issues privately, with any of the
relevant IETF/IESG management personnel. (2) Specifications that
are to be considered by the IESG are publicly announced to the
IETF mailing list, with a request for comments.
Finally, if a problem persists, the IAB may be asked to adjudicate
the dispute.
* If a concern involves questions of adequate Working Group
discussion, the IAB will attempt to determine the actual
nature and extent of discussion that took place within the
Working Group, based upon the Working Group's written record
and upon comments of other Working Group participants.
* If a concern involves questions of technical adequacy, the
IAB may convene an appropriate review panel, which may then
recommend that the IESG and Working Group re-consider an
alternate technical choice.
* If a concern involves a reasonable difference in technical
approach, but does not substantiate a claim that the Working
Group decision will fail to perform adequately, the Working
Group participant may wish to pursue formation of a separate
Working Group. The IESG and IAB encourage alternative points
of view and the development of technical options, allowing
the general Internet community to show preference by making
its own choices, rather than by having legislated decisions.
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4. EXTERNAL STANDARDS AND SPECIFICATIONS
Many standards groups other than the IETF create and publish
standards documents for network protocols and services. When these
external specifications play an important role in the Internet, it is
desirable to reach common agreements on their usage -- i.e., to
establish Internet Standards relating to these external
specifications.
There are two categories of external specifications:
(1) Open Standards
Accredited national and international standards bodies, such as
ANSI, ISO, IEEE, and ITU-TS, develop a variety of protocol and
service specifications that are similar to Technical
Specifications defind here. National and international groups
also publish "implementors' agreements" that are analogous to
Applicability Statements, capturing a body of implementation-
specific detail concerned with the practical application of
their standards.
(2) Vendor Specifications
A vendor-proprietary specification that has come to be widely
used in the Internet may be treated by the Internet community as
if it were a "standard". Such a specification is not generally
developed in an open fashion, is typically proprietary, and is
controlled by the vendor or vendors that produced it.
To avoid conflict between competing versions of a specification, the
Internet community will not standardize a TS or AS that is simply an
| "Internet version" of an existing external specification unless an
explicit cooperative arrangement to do so has been made. However,
there are several ways in which an external specification that is
important for the operation and/or evolution of the Internet may be
adopted for Internet use.
(a) Incorporation of an Open Standard
An Internet Standard TS or AS may incorporate an open external
standard by reference. The reference must be to a specific
version of the external standard, e.g., by publication date or
by edition number, according to the prevailing convention of the
organization that is responsible for the specification.
For example, many Internet Standards incorporate by reference
the ANSI standard character set "ASCII" [2]. Whenever possible,
the referenced specification shall be made available online.
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(b) Incorporation of a Vendor Specification
Vendor-proprietary specifications may be incorporated by
reference to a specific version of the vendor standard. If the
vendor-proprietary specification is not widely and readily
available, the IESG may request that it be published as an
Informational RFC.
For a vendor-proprietary specification to be incorporated within
the Internet standards process, the proprietor must meet the
requirements of section 5 below, and in general the
specification shall be made available online.
The IESG shall not favor a particular vendor's proprietary
specification over the technically equivalent and competing
specifications of other vendors by making it "required" or
"recommended".
(c) Assumption
An IETF Working Group may start from an external specification
| and develop it into an Internet TS or AS. This is acceptable if
| (1) the specification is provided to the Working Group in
| compliance with the requirements of section 5 below, and
| (2) change control has been conveyed to IETF by the original
developer of the specification. Continued participation in the
IETF work by the original owner is likely to be valuable, and
is encouraged.
The following sample text illustrates how a vendor might convey
| change control to the Internet Society:
"XXXX Organization asserts that it has the right to transfer to
the Internet Society responsibility for further evolution of the
YYYY protocol documented in References (1-n) below. XXXX
Organization hereby transfers to the Internet Society
responsibilty for all future modification and development of the
YYYY protocol, without reservation or condition."
5. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS
5.1. General Policy
In all matters of intellectual property rights and procedures, the
intention is to benefit the Internet community and the public at
large, while respecting the legitimate rights of others.
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5.2. Definitions
As used in this section, the following terms have the
indicated meanings:
o "Trade secrets" are confidential, proprietary information.
o "Contribution" means any disclosure of information or ideas,
whether in oral, written, or other form of expression, by an
individual or entity ("Contributor").
o "Standards track documents" are specifications and other
documents that have been elevated to the Internet standards
track in accordance with the Internet Standards Process.
o "Copyrights" are purportedly valid claims to copyright in all
or part of a contribution to standards work, whether or not the
contribution becomes a standards track document, including but
not limited to any works by third parties that the contribution
is based on or incorporates.
o "ISOC" refers to the Internet Society and its trustees, officers,
employees, contractors, and agents, as well as the IAB, IETF,
IESG, IRTF, IRSG, and other task forces, committees, and groups
coordinated by the Internet Society.
o "Standards work" is work involved in the creation, testing,
development, revision, adoption, or maintenance of an Internet
standard that is carried out under the auspices of ISOC.
o "Internet community" refers to the entire set of persons,
whether individuals or entities, including but not limited
to technology developers, service vendors, and researchers,
who use the Internet, either directly or indirectly, and users
of any other networks which implement and use Internet Standards.
5.3. Trade Secret Rights
Except as otherwise provided under this section, ISOC will not accept,
in connection with standards work, any idea, technology, information,
document, specification, work, or other contribution, whether written
or oral, that is a trade secret or otherwise subject to any commitment,
understanding, or agreement to keep it confidential or otherwise
restrict its use or dissemination; and, specifically, ISOC does not
assume any confidentiality obligation with respect to any such
contribution.
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5.4. Rights and Permissions
In the course of standards work, ISOC receives contributions
in various forms and from many persons. To facilitate the
wide dissemination of these contributions, it is necessary to
establish specific understandings concerning any copyrights,
patents, patent applications, or other rights in the
contribution. The procedures set forth in this section apply
to contributions submitted after <date of this RFC>. For
Internet standards documents published before this date (the
RFC series has been published continuously since April 1969),
information on rights and permissions must be sought directly
from persons claiming rights therein.
5.4.1. All Contributions
By submission of a contribution to ISOC, and in
consideration of possible dissemination of the contribution
to the Internet community, a contributor is deemed to agree
to the following terms and conditions:
l. Contributor agrees to grant, and does grant to
ISOC, a perpetual, non-exclusive, royalty-free,
world-wide right and license under any copyrights in
the contribution to reproduce, distribute, perform or
display publicly and prepare derivative works that are
based on or incorporate all or part of the contribution,
and to reproduce, distribute and perform or display
publicly any such derivative works, in any form and in
all languages, and to authorize others to do so.
2. Contributor acknowledges that ISOC has no duty to
publish or otherwise use or disseminate every
contribution.
3. Contributor grants ISOC permission to reference the
name(s) and address(s) of the contributor as well as
other persons who are named as contributors.
4. Where the contribution was prepared jointly with others,
or is a work for hire, the contributor represents and
warrants that the other owner(s) of rights have been
informed of the rights and permissions granted to ISOC
and that any required authorizations have been obtained.
Copies of any such required authorizations will be
furnished to ISOC, upon request.
5. Contributor acknowledges and agrees that ISOC assumes no
obligation to maintain any confidentiality with respect
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to any aspect of the contribution, and warrants that the
the contribution does not violate the rights of others.
6. All material objects in which contributions are
submitted to ISOC become the property of ISOC and
need not be returned to the contributor.
Where appropriate, written confirmation of the above terms
and conditions will be obtained in writing by ISOC, usually
by electronic mail; however, a decision not to obtain such
confirmation in a given case shall not act to revoke the
prior grant of rights and permissions with respect to the
contribution as provided herein. Except as provided below,
the Executive Director of the IETF Secretariat, or a person
designated by the Executive Director, will be responsible
for obtaining written confirmations.
In the case of IETF Working Groups, the responsibility for
identifying the principal contributor(s) for purposes of
obtaining written confirmation of the above rights and
permissions will be assumed by the Editor or Chair of the
particular Group. While only those persons named as
principal contributor(s) will generally be requested to
provide written confirmation, it is the responsibility of
all contributors to standards work to inform the IETF
Secretariat of any proprietary claims in any contributions
and to furnish the Secretariat with any required
confirmation.
Where any person participating in standards work asserts
any proprietary right in a contribution, it is the
responsibility of such person to so inform the Editor or
Chair of the group, promptly, in writing. The Editor or
Chair will then determine whether to list the person as a
principal contributor, or to revise the document to omit
the particular contribution in question.
5.4.2. Standards Track Documents
(A) ISOC will not propose, adopt, or continue to maintain
any standards, including but not limited to standards
labelled Proposed, Draft or Internet Standards, which
can only be practiced using technology or works that
are subject to known copyrights, patents or patent
applications, or other rights, except with the prior
written assurance of the owner of rights that:
l. ISOC may, without cost, freely implement and use
the technology or works in its standards work;
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2. upon adoption and during maintenance of an
Internet Standard, any party will be able to
obtain the right to implement and use the
technology or works under specified, reasonable,
non-discriminatory terms; and
3. the party giving the assurance has the right and
power to grant the licenses and knows of no other
copyrights, patents, patent applications, or other
rights that may prevent ISOC and members of the
Internet community from implementing and operating
under the standard.
(B) ISOC disclaims any responsibility for identifying the
existence of or for evaluating any copyrights,
patents, patent applications, or other rights, on
behalf of or for the benefit of any member of the
Internet community, and ISOC takes no position on the
validity or scope of any such rights. Further, ISOC
will take no position on the ownership of inventions
made during standards work, except for inventions of
which an employee or agent of the Internet Society is
a joint inventor. In the latter case, the Internet
Society will make its rights available under license
to anyone in the Internet community in accordance with
the written assurances set forth below.
5.5. Notices
(A) When a written assurance has been obtained as set
forth below, the relevant standards track documents
shall include the following notice:
"_____________(name of rights' owner(s)) has provided
written assurance to the Internet Society that any
party will be able to obtain, under reasonable,
non-discriminatory terms, the right and license to
implement and use the technology covered by_________
(list copyrights, patents, patent applications, and
other rights) to practice the standard. A copy of
this assurance may be obtained from the Executive
Director of the IETF Secretariat. The Internet
Society takes no position on the validity or scope of
the copyrights, patents, patent applications, or other
rights, or on the appropriateness of the terms and
conditions of the assurances. The Internet Society
does not make any representation that there are no
other rights which may apply to the practice of this
standard, or that it has made any effort to identify
any such rights. For further information on the
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Internet Society's procedures with respect to
rights in standards and standards-related
documentation, see RFC_____, dated________."
(B) ISOC encourages all interested parties to bring to
its attention, at the earliest possible time, the
existence of any copyrights, patents, patent
applications, or other rights pertaining to Internet
Standards. For this purpose, each standards document
will include the following invitation:
"The Internet Society invites any interested party to
bring to its attention any copyrights, patents or
patent applications, or other proprietary rights which
purport to cover technology or works that may be
required to practice this standard. Please address
the information to the Executive Director of the
Internet Engineering Task Force Secretariat."
(C) Where applicable, the following sentence will be included
in the above notice:
"As of ___________, no information about any
copyrights, patents or patent applications, or other
proprietary rights has been received."
(D) The following copyright notice and disclaimer will be
included in all ISOC standards-related documentation:
"Copyright (c) ISOC (year date). Permission is
granted to reproduce, distribute, transmit and
otherwise communicate to the public any material
subject to copyright by ISOC, provided that credit is
given to the source. For information concerning
required permissions, please contact the Executive
Director of the Internet Engineering Task Force
Secretariat."
ISOC hereby informs the Internet community and other
persons that any standards, whether or not elevated to
the Internet Standard level of maturity, or any
standards-related documentation made available under
the auspices of ISOC are provided on an "AS IS" basis
and ISOC DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESSED OR
IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY IMPLIED
WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A
PARTICULAR PURPOSE, OR THAT ANY STANDARD OR
DOCUMENTATION DOES NOT VIOLATE THE RIGHTS OF OTHERS.
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5.6. Assurances
The agreement on assurances set forth below will normally be
entered into between the owner of rights and ISOC at the time
a standards track document in which proprietary rights are
claimed reaches the "Proposed Standard" stage of maturity:
This is an agreement between ______________(hereinafter
called "Rights Holder") and the Internet Society on behalf of
itself and its trustees, officers, employees, contractors and
agents, the Internet Architecture Board, Internet Engineering
Steering Group, Internet Engineering Task Force, and other
task forces, committees and groups coordinated by the Internet
Society (hereinafter called "ISOC"), and for the benefit of
all users of the Internet and users of any other networks
which implement and use Internet Standards (hereinafter
together with ISOC called "Internet community"). This
agreement takes effect when signed on behalf of the Rights
Holder and the Internet Society.
The Rights Holder represents that it has or will have
rights in patent applications, patents, copyrights, trade
secrets, and other proprietary rights in various countries
(hereinafter called "Rights") which may block or impede the
ability of the Internet community to implement and operate
under the standards set forth in ISOC standards document
____,____, and ____(the listed standards and any similar or
related standards now existing or later developed are together
hereinafter called "Standards"). The Rights as they presently
exist are listed on attached Schedule A. The Rights Holder
further agrees to review the Rights listed in Schedule A from
time to time, and, in particular, immediately prior to the
elevation of the Standards to the Internet Standard level of
maturity in accordance with the Internet Standards Process,
and to inform the Executive Director of the Internet
Engineering Task Force Secretariat promptly upon learning of
any new Rights in the Standards that should be added to the
list in Schedule A.
The Rights Holder believes and affirms that it will
derive benefits by permitting ISOC and the Internet
community to implement and operate under the Standards without
interference of any of the Rights. The policy of ISOC is not
to propose, adopt, or continue to maintain the Standards
unless written assurances are given by the Rights Holder with
respect to proprietary rights. Accordingly, in consideration
of the benefits noted above and other good and valuable
consideration, the Rights Holder makes the assurances set
forth herein.
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The Rights Holder grants to ISOC a cost-free, perpetual,
non-exclusive, world-wide license under the Rights with
respect to implementing and operating under the Standards.
The license extends to all activities of ISOC involving the
Standards without limit, including the rights to reproduce,
distribute, propose, test, develop, analyze, enhance, revise,
adopt, maintain, withdraw, perform and display publicly, and
prepare derivative works in any form whatsoever and in all
languages, and to authorize others to do so. The Rights
Holder also grants ISOC permission to use the name and address
of Rights Holder in connection with the Standards.
The Rights Holder relinquishes any right or claim in any
trade secret which is part of the Rights, and makes the trade
secrets available without restriction to the Internet
community. The Rights Holder hereby acknowledges that ISOC
assumes no obligation to maintain any confidentiality with
respect to any aspect of the Standards, and warrants that
the Standards do not violate the rights of others.
The Rights Holder assures ISOC that the Rights Holder
shall grant to any member of the Internet community, as a
beneficiary of this agreement, a non-exclusive, perpetual,
world-wide license under the Rights, with respect to
operating under the Standards for a reasonable royalty and
under other terms which are reasonable considering the
objective of ISOC to assure that all members of the Internet
community will be able to operate under the Standards at a
minimal cost. The license discussed in this paragraph shall
permit the licensee to make, have made, test, enhance,
implement, and use methods, works, computer programs, and
hardware as needed or desirable for operating under the
Standards. Every license shall include a clause automatically
modifying the terms of the license to be as favorable as the
terms of any other license under the Rights previously or
later granted by the Rights Holder.
A form of the license shall always be publicly accessible
on the Internet, and shall become effective immediately when
the member of the Internet community executes it and posts
it for delivery to the Rights Holder either by mail or
electronically. The initial version of the license shall be
in the form attached as Schedule B.
The Rights Holder represents and warrants that its rights
are sufficient to permit it to grant the licenses and give the
other assurances recited in this agreement. The Rights Holder
further represents and warrants that it does not know of any
rights of any other party in any country which would block or
impede the ability of ISOC and the Internet community to
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implement or operate under the Standards, or that would
prevent the Rights Holder from granting the licenses and other
assurances in this agreement.
This agreement shall not be construed to obligate the
ISOC to propose, adopt, develop, or maintain any of the
Standards or any other standard.
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6. REFERENCES
| [1] Postel, J., "Internet Official Protocol Standards", RFC 1500,
| August 1993.
[2] ANSI, Coded Character Set -- 7-Bit American Standard Code for
Information Interchange, ANSI X3.4-1986.
[3] Reynolds, J., and J. Postel, "Assigned Numbers", RFC 1340, ISI,
July 1992.
[4] Postel, J., "Introduction to the STD Notes", RFC 1311, ISI,
March 1992.
[5] Postel, J., "Request for Comments on Request for Comments", RFC
1111, August 1989.
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APPENDIX A: GLOSSARY OF ACRONYMS
ANSI: American National Standards Institute
ARPA: (U.S.) Advanced Research Projects Agency
AS: Applicability Statement
ASCII: American Standard Code for Information Interchange
| ITU-T: Telecommunications Standardization sector of the International
Telecommunications Union (ITU), a UN treaty organization;
| ITU-T was formerly called CCITT.
IAB: Internet Architecture Board
IANA: Internet Assigned Number Authority
ICMP: Internet Control Message Protocol
IEEE: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
IESG: Internet Engineering Steering Group
IETF: Internet Engineering Task Force
IP: Internet Protocol
IRTF: Internet Research Task Force
ISO: International Organization for Standardization
ISOC: Internet Society
MIB: Management Information Base
OSI: Open Systems Interconnection
RFC: Request for Comments
TCP: Transmission Control Protocol
TS: Technical Specification
APPENDIX B: CONTACT POINTS
To contact the RFC Editor, send an email message to:
| "rfc-editor@isoc.org".
To contact the IANA for information or to request a number, keyword
| or parameter assignment send an email message to: "iana@isoc.org".
| To contact the IESG, send an email message to: "iesg@isoc.org".
| To contact the IAB, send an email message to: "iab-contact@isoc.org"
To contact the Executive Director of the ISOC, send an email message
| to "Executive-Director@isoc.org".
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APPENDIX C: FUTURE ISSUES
It has been suggested that additional procedures in the following
areas should be considered.
o Policy Recommendations and Operational Guidelines
Internet standards have generally been concerned with the
technical specifications for hardware and software required for
computer communication across interconnected networks. The
Internet itself is composed of networks operated by a great
variety of organizations, with diverse goals and rules.
However, good user service requires that the operators and
administrators of the Internet follow some common guidelines for
policies and operations. While these guidelines are generally
different in scope and style from protocol standards, their
establishment needs a similar process for consensus building.
Specific rules for establishing policy recommendations and
operational guidelines for the Internet in an open and fair
fashion should be developed, published, and adopted by the
Internet community.
o Industry Consortia
The rules presented in Section 4 for external standards should
be expanded to handle industry consortia.
o Tracking Procedure
It has been suggested that there should be a formal procedure
for tracking problems and change requests as a specification
moves through the standards track. Such a procedure might
include written responses, which were cataloged and
disseminated, or simply a database that listed changes between
versions. At the present time, there are not sufficient
resources to administer such a procedure.
A simpler proposal is to keep a change log for documents.
o Time Limit
An explicit time limit (e.g., 3 months) has been suggested for
IESG resolution concerning a standards action under the rules of
Section 3.1.2. If it were necessary to extend the time for some
reason, the IETF would have to be explicitly notified.
o Bug Reporting
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There is no documented mechanism for an individual community
member to use to report a problem or bug with a standards-track
specification. One suggestion was that every standards RFC
should include an email list for the responsible Working Group.
Security Considerations
Security issues are not substantially discussed in this memo.
Authors' Addresses
Christian Huitema, IAB Chairman
INRIA, Sophia-Antipolis
2004 Route des Lucioles
BP 109
F-06561 Valbonne Cedex
France
Phone: +33 93 65 77 15
EMail: Christian.Huitema@MIRSA.INRIA.FR
Phill Gross, IESG Chairman
Advanced Network and Services
100 Clearbrook Road
Elmsford, NY 10523
Phone: 914-789-5335
EMail: pgross@nis.ans.net
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