Entities Involved in the IETF Standards ProcessAkamai Technologiesrsalz@akamai.comIESGRFC EditorIRTFIETF LLCISOCregistriesIANAThis document describes the individuals and organizations involved in
the IETF standards process, as described in BCP 9.
It includes brief descriptions of the entities involved
and the role they play in the standards process.The IETF and its structure have undergone many changes since RFC
2028 was published in 1996. This document reflects the changed organizational
structure of the IETF and obsoletes RFC 2028.Status of This Memo
This memo documents an Internet Best Current Practice.
This document is a product of the Internet Engineering Task Force
(IETF). It represents the consensus of the IETF community. It has
received public review and has been approved for publication by
the Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG). Further information
on BCPs is available in Section 2 of RFC 7841.
Information about the current status of this document, any
errata, and how to provide feedback on it may be obtained at
.
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Table of Contents
. Introduction
. Terminology
. Changes since RFC 2028
. Key Individuals in the Process
. Document Editor or Author
. Working Group Chair
. Area Director
. Key Organizations in the Process
. Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF)
. Working Groups (WGs)
. Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG)
. Internet Architecture Board (IAB)
. RFC Production Center (RPC)
. Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA)
. Internet Research Task Force (IRTF)
. IETF Trust
. IETF Administration LLC (IETF LLC)
. IETF Secretariat
. Internet Society (ISOC)
. Security Considerations
. IANA Considerations
. Informative References
Acknowledgements
Author's Address
IntroductionThe process used by the IETF community for the standardization of
protocols and procedures is described in BCP 9 .
BCP 9 defines
the stages in the standardization process, the requirements for
moving a document between stages, and the types of documents used
during this process.
This document identifies some of the key individual roles and organizations
in that process.TerminologyThis document refers to individual roles in the singular,
such as "a document editor."
In reality, many roles are filled by more than one person at the same
time.
For clarity, this document does not use phrases like "chair (or co-chair)."Changes since RFC 2028The following changes have been made, in no particular order:
Added the role of responsible area director (AD) and
reordered to follow the typical workflow.
Added the IETF Administration LLC and the IETF Trust to .
Changed "RFC Editor" to "RFC Production Center" to reflect the changes
made by .
Added the and sections.
Cleaned up some wording
throughout the document.
Key Individuals in the ProcessThis section describes the individual roles involved in the process.
It attempts to list the roles in the order in which they are involved
in the process, without otherwise expressing significance.Document Editor or AuthorMost working groups (WGs) focus their efforts on one or more documents
that capture their work results. The WG chair designates one or more people
to serve as the editor(s)
for a particular document. The editor is responsible for
ensuring that the contents of the document accurately reflect the
decisions that have been made by the WG.When a document is composed and edited mainly by one or more individuals,
they may be referred to as "document authors". The distinction is
not significant for the standards process.
This document uses the term "document editor".When a document editor is a chair of the same WG, another
chair should manage the process around the document. If another chair is not
available, the WG and AD must monitor the process especially carefully to ensure that the
resulting documents accurately reflect the consensus of the WG and
that all processes are followed. This is the collective obligation
of all parties involved in the document.Working Group ChairEach WG is headed by a chair who has
the responsibility for facilitating the group's activities, presiding
over the group's meetings, and ensuring that the commitments of the
group with respect to its role in the Internet standards process are
met. In particular, the WG chair is the formal point of contact
between the WG and the Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG), via the AD of the area to
which the WG belongs.The details on the selection and responsibilities of a WG
chair can be found in .Area DirectorEach WG is assigned a single responsible area director (AD).
The AD can
assist the WG chair in assessing consensus and executing process.
The AD also reviews documents after the WG has approved them, and
when satisfied, the AD
coordinates the IESG review and IETF Last Call of
the document.An AD can also sponsor an Internet-Draft directly, but this is not very common.
When this is done, a WG is not involved.Except for the General Area,
IETF areas traditionally have multiple ADs.Key Organizations in the ProcessThe following organizations and organizational roles are involved in
the Internet standards process.Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF)The IETF is an open international
community of network designers, operators, implementors, researchers,
and other interested parties who are
concerned with the evolution of the Internet architecture and the
smooth operation of the Internet. It is the principal body engaged
in the development of new Internet Standard specifications and related documents.Working Groups (WGs)The technical work of the IETF is done in its WGs, which
are organized by topics into several
areas,
each under the coordination of an AD.
WGs typically have a narrow focus and a lifetime bounded
by completion of specific tasks as defined in their charter
and milestones. Some WGs are long-lived and intended to conduct
ongoing maintenance on IETF protocol(s). There are also "dispatch" WGs
that assess where new work in the IETF should be done but do
not directly produce standards.For all purposes relevant to the Internet Standards development
process, membership in the IETF and its WGs is defined to
be established solely and entirely by individuals who
participate in
IETF and WG activities.
These individuals do not formally represent any organizations they may be affiliated with,
although affiliations are often used for identification.Anyone with the time and interest to do so is entitled and urged to
participate actively in one or more WGs and to attend
IETF meetings, which are usually held
three times a year .
A WG may also schedule interim meetings (virtual, in-person, or hybrid).
These are scheduled and announced to the entire WG.
Active WG participation is possible without attending
any in-person meetings.Participants in the IETF and its WGs must disclose
any relevant current or pending intellectual
property rights that are reasonably and personally known to the
participant if they participate in discussions about a specific
technology.
The full intellectual property policy is defined in and
.New WGs are established by the IESG
and almost always have a specific and explicit charter.
The charter can be modified as the WG progresses.
The guidelines and procedures for the formation and
operation of WGs are described in detail in .A WG is managed by a WG chair, as described in
. Documents produced by the group have an editor, as
described in . Further details of WG operation can
be found in .WGs ideally 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 excellent protocols and
services.Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG)The IESG is
responsible for the management of the IETF technical
activities. It administers the Internet Standards process according
to the rules and procedures defined in . The IESG is responsible
for the actions associated with the progression of documents
along the IETF Stream, including the initial
approval of new WGs, any subsequent
rechartering, and the final approval of
documents. The IESG is composed of the
ADs and the IETF Chair. The IETF Chair also chairs the IESG and
is the AD for the General Area.
The Chair of the Internet Architecture Board (IAB) is an ex officio member of the IESG.
Various other bodies have liaisons with the IESG;
the full list can be found at
.
All members of the IESG are nominated by a Nominations Committee
(colloquially, "NomCom")
and are confirmed by the IAB. See for a detailed
description of the NomCom procedures. Other matters concerning the
organization and operation of the NomCom are described in the IESG Charter .Internet Architecture Board (IAB)The IAB provides oversight of the architecture of the Internet and its
protocols. The IAB approves IESG candidates put forward by the
NomCom. It also reviews all proposed IETF WG charters.The IAB provides oversight of the standards process
and serves as an appeal board for related complaints about improper
execution . In general, it acts as a source
of advice about
technical, architectural, procedural, and policy matters
pertaining to the Internet and its enabling technologies.The members of the IAB are nominated by the NomCom
and are confirmed by the Board of the Internet Society (ISOC).
The IETF Chair is also a member of the IAB, and the
Chair of the Internet Research Task Force (IRTF) is an ex officio member.
Other
matters concerning the IAB's organization and operation are described in the IAB
Charter .RFC Production Center (RPC)Editorial preparation and publication of RFCs are handled by the RFC
Production Center (RPC).
RFC policy is defined by the RFC
Series Working Group (RSWG), an open group (similar to IETF WGs),
and approved by the RFC Series Advisory
Board (RSAB), which has appointed members. The RFC Series Consulting Editor
(RSCE) is a position funded by the IETF Administration LLC, with responsibilities defined in .Full details on the roles and responsibilities of the RPC are specified in
, in particular Section .Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA)Many protocol specifications include parameters that must be
uniquely assigned. Examples of this include port numbers, option
identifiers within a protocol, and so on. The Internet Assigned
Numbers Authority (IANA) is responsible for assigning values to these
protocol parameters and maintaining parameter registries online (). Assignments are coordinated
by writing an "IANA Considerations" section for a given document, as
described in . The IETF's
relationship with IANA is defined by formal agreements, including
.IANA is also responsible for operating and maintaining
several aspects of the DNS and
coordinating of IP address assignments.Internet Research Task Force (IRTF)The IRTF focuses on longer-term research issues related to the Internet as a
parallel organization to the IETF, which
focuses on the shorter-term issues of engineering, operations, and
specification of standards.The IRTF consists of a number of research groups (RGs) chartered to research
various aspects related to the broader Internet.
The products of these RGs are typically research results that are
often published in scholarly conferences and journals, but they can also be published
as RFCs on the IRTF Stream. RGs also
sometimes develop experimental protocols or technologies, some of which may be suitable
for possible standardization in IETF. Similarly, IETF WGs
sometimes ask RGs for advice or other input. However, contributions from
RGs generally
carry no more weight in the IETF than other community input
and go through the same standards-setting process as any other proposal.The IRTF is managed by the IRTF Chair in consultation with the Internet
Research Steering Group (IRSG). The IRSG membership includes the IRTF Chair,
the chairs of the various RGs, and possibly other individuals
("members at large") from the community. Details of the organization
and operation of the IRTF, the ISRG, and its RGs may be found in
, , , and .IETF TrustThe IETF Trust is the legal owner of intellectual
property for the IETF, IRTF, and IAB.
This includes their trademarks, the copyrights to RFCs and to works
of the IETF such as the IETF website, and
copyright licenses for IETF contributions including Internet-Drafts.
The principles for the copyright licenses granted to and from the
Trust are described in
and , and the licenses themselves are in the
Trust Legal Provisions.The Trust also currently owns IANA's domain names and trademarks through an
agreement with IANA.The Trustees that govern the Trust are selected from the IETF community, as
described in and the rationale given in .IETF Administration LLC (IETF LLC)The IETF Administration Limited Liability Company
(colloquially, the "IETF LLC") provides
the corporate legal home for the IETF, the IAB, and the IRTF.The IETF LLC is responsible for supporting the ongoing operations
of the IETF, managing its finances and budget, and raising money.
It regularly reports to the community.
The IETF LLC is the legal entity that signs contracts for the IETF
Secretariat, meeting hotels, tools development contractors, among many others.
The IETF LLC also responds to legal requests; these are often subpoenas
in patent lawsuits.Selection of the IETF LLC Board of Directors is defined in .The IETF Executive Director handles the IETF's daily tasks and management
and is overseen by the IETF LLC Board of Directors. describes the legal relationship between the IETF
LLC and the Internet Society.IETF SecretariatThe administrative functions necessary to support the activities of
the IETF and its various related boards and organizations
are performed by a Secretariat contracted by the IETF LLC.
The IETF Secretariat handles much of the logistics of running the in-person
meetings and is responsible for
maintaining the formal public record of the Internet standards
process .Internet Society (ISOC)ISOC plays an important role in the standards process.
In addition to being the legal entity that hosts the IETF LLC,
ISOC appoints the NomCom Chair, confirms IAB candidates selected by the NomCom,
and acts as the final authority in the appeals process.
This is described in .The way in which the ISOC leadership is
selected and other matters concerning the operation of the Internet
Society are described in .Security ConsiderationsThis document introduces no new security considerations.IANA ConsiderationsThis document has no IANA actions.Informative ReferencesAdvice to the Trustees of the IETF Trust on Rights to Be Granted in IETF DocumentsContributors grant intellectual property rights to the IETF. The IETF Trust holds and manages those rights on behalf of the IETF. The Trustees of the IETF Trust are responsible for that management. This management includes granting the licenses to copy, implement, and otherwise use IETF Contributions, among them Internet-Drafts and RFCs. The Trustees of the IETF Trust accept direction from the IETF regarding the rights to be granted. This document describes the desires of the IETF regarding outbound rights to be granted in IETF Contributions. This document obsoletes RFC 5377 solely for the purpose of removing references to the IETF Administrative Oversight Committee (IAOC), which was part of the IETF Administrative Support Activity (IASA).Charter of the Internet Architecture Board (IAB)Internet Architecture BoardThis memo documents the composition, selection, roles, and organization of the Internet Architecture Board. It replaces RFC 1601. This document specifies an Internet Best Current Practices for the Internet Community, and requests discussion and suggestions for improvements.IAB Thoughts on the Role of the Internet Research Task Force (IRTF)IABThis document is an Internet Architecture Board (IAB) report on the role of the Internet Research Task Force (IRTF), both on its own and in relationship to the IETF. This document evolved from a discussion within the IAB as part of a process of appointing a new chair of the IRTF. This memo provides information for the Internet community.Guidelines for Writing an IANA Considerations Section in RFCsMany protocols make use of points of extensibility that use constants to identify various protocol parameters. To ensure that the values in these fields do not have conflicting uses and to promote interoperability, their allocations are often coordinated by a central record keeper. For IETF protocols, that role is filled by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA).To make assignments in a given registry prudently, guidance describing the conditions under which new values should be assigned, as well as when and how modifications to existing values can be made, is needed. This document defines a framework for the documentation of these guidelines by specification authors, in order to assure that the provided guidance for the IANA Considerations is clear and addresses the various issues that are likely in the operation of a registry.This is the third edition of this document; it obsoletes RFC 5226.Memorandum of Understanding Concerning the Technical Work of the Internet Assigned Numbers AuthorityThis document places on record the text of the Memorandum of Understanding concerning the technical work of the IANA that was signed on March 1, 2000 between the IETF and ICANN, and ratified by the ICANN Board on March 10, 2000. This memo provides information for the Internet community.An IESG charterThis memo provides a charter for the Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG), a management function of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). It is meant to document the charter of the IESG as it is presently understood. This memo provides information for the Internet community.The Internet Standards Process -- Revision 3This memo documents the process used by the Internet community for the standardization of protocols and procedures. It defines the stages in the standardization process, the requirements for moving a document between stages and the types of documents used during this process. This document specifies an Internet Best Current Practices for the Internet Community, and requests discussion and suggestions for improvements.Guidance on Interoperation and Implementation Reports for Advancement to Draft StandardAdvancing a protocol to Draft Standard requires documentation of the interoperation and implementation of the protocol. Historic reports have varied widely in form and level of content and there is little guidance available to new report preparers. This document updates the existing processes and provides more detail on what is appropriate in an interoperability and implementation report. This document specifies an Internet Best Current Practices for the Internet Community, and requests discussion and suggestions for improvements.Reducing the Standards Track to Two Maturity LevelsThis document updates the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) Standards Process defined in RFC 2026. Primarily, it reduces the Standards Process from three Standards Track maturity levels to two. This memo documents an Internet Best Current Practice.Retirement of the "Internet Official Protocol Standards" Summary DocumentThis document updates RFC 2026 to no longer use STD 1 as a summary of "Internet Official Protocol Standards". It obsoletes RFC 5000 and requests the IESG to move RFC 5000 (and therefore STD 1) to Historic status.Characterization of Proposed StandardsRFC 2026 describes the review performed by the Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG) on IETF Proposed Standard RFCs and characterizes the maturity level of those documents. This document updates RFC 2026 by providing a current and more accurate characterization of Proposed Standards.Increasing the Number of Area Directors in an IETF AreaThis document removes a limit on the number of Area Directors who manage an Area in the definition of "IETF Area". This document updates RFC 2026 (BCP 9) and RFC 2418 (BCP 25).IETF Stream Documents Require IETF Rough ConsensusThis document requires that the IETF never publish any IETF Stream RFCs without IETF rough consensus. This updates RFC 2026.Rights Contributors Provide to the IETF TrustThe IETF policies about rights in Contributions to the IETF are designed to ensure that such Contributions can be made available to the IETF and Internet communities while permitting the authors to retain as many rights as possible. This memo details the IETF policies on rights in Contributions to the IETF. It also describes the objectives that the policies are designed to meet. This memo obsoletes RFCs 3978 and 4748 and, with BCP 79 and RFC 5377, replaces Section 10 of RFC 2026. This document specifies an Internet Best Current Practices for the Internet Community, and requests discussion and suggestions for improvements.Intellectual Property Rights in IETF TechnologyThe IETF policies about Intellectual Property Rights (IPR), such as patent rights, relative to technologies developed in the IETF are designed to ensure that IETF working groups and participants have as much information as possible about any IPR constraints on a technical proposal as early as possible in the development process. The policies are intended to benefit the Internet community and the public at large, while respecting the legitimate rights of IPR holders. This document sets out the IETF policies concerning IPR related to technology worked on within the IETF. It also describes the objectives that the policies are designed to meet. This document updates RFC 2026 and, with RFC 5378, replaces Section 10 of RFC 2026. This document also obsoletes RFCs 3979 and 4879.IRTF Research Group Guidelines and ProceduresThis document describes the guidelines and procedures for formation and operation of IRTF Research Groups. It describes the relationship between IRTF participants, Research Groups, the Internet Research Steering Group (IRSG) and the Internet Architecture Board (IAB). This document specifies an Internet Best Current Practices for the Internet Community, and requests discussion and suggestions for improvements.The Role of the IRTF ChairThis document briefly describes the role of the Chair of the Internet Research Task Force (IRTF), discusses its duties, and outlines the skill set a candidate for the role should ideally have.An IRTF Primer for IETF ParticipantsThis document provides a high-level description of things for Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) participants to consider when bringing proposals for new research groups (RGs) into the Internet Research Task Force (IRTF). This document emphasizes differences in expectations between the two organizations.Amended and restated By-Laws of the Internet SocietyInternet SocietyThe IETF-ISOC RelationshipThis document summarizes the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) - Internet Society (ISOC) relationship, following a major revision to the structure of the IETF Administrative Support Activity (IASA) in 2018. The IASA was revised under a new "IASA 2.0" structure by the IASA2 Working Group, which changed the IETF's administrative, legal, and financial structure. As a result, it also changed the relationship between the IETF and ISOC, which made it necessary to revise RFC 2031.High-Level Guidance for the Meeting Policy of the IETFThis document describes a meeting location policy for the IETF and the various stakeholders required to realize this policy.IAB, IESG, IETF Trust, and IETF LLC Selection, Confirmation, and Recall Process: Operation of the IETF Nominating and Recall CommitteesThe process by which the members of the IAB and IESG, some Trustees of the IETF Trust, and some Directors of the IETF Administration LLC (IETF LLC) are selected, confirmed, and recalled is specified in this document. This document is based on RFC 7437. Only those updates required to reflect the changes introduced by IETF Administrative Support Activity (IASA) 2.0 have been included. Any other changes will be addressed in future documents.This document obsoletes RFC 7437 and RFC 8318.Eligibility for the 2020-2021 Nominating CommitteeThe 2020-2021 Nominating Committee (NomCom) is to be formed between the IETF 107 and IETF 108 meetings, and the issue of eligibility of who can serve on that NomCom needs clarification. This document provides a one-time interpretation of the eligibility rules that is required for the exceptional situation of the cancellation of the in-person IETF 107 meeting. This document only affects the seating of the 2020-2021 NomCom and any rules or processes that relate to NomCom eligibility before IETF 108; it does not set a precedent to be applied in the future.The Organizations Involved in the IETF Standards ProcessThis document describes the individuals and organizations involved in the IETF. This includes descriptions of the IESG, the IETF Working Groups and the relationship between the IETF and the Internet Society. This document specifies an Internet Best Current Practices for the Internet Community, and requests discussion and suggestions for improvements.RFC Editor Model (Version 3)Update to the Process for Selection of Trustees for the IETF TrustThis memo updates the process for selection of Trustees for the IETF Trust. Previously, the IETF Administrative Oversight Committee (IAOC) members also acted as Trustees, but the IAOC has been eliminated as part of an update to the structure of the IETF Administrative Support Activity (IASA). This memo specifies that the Trustees shall be selected separately.This memo obsoletes RFC 4371. The changes relate only to the selection of Trustees. All other aspects of the IETF Trust remain as they are today.IETF Administrative Support Activity 2.0: Update to the Process for Selection of Trustees for the IETF TrustThis document captures the rationale for the changes introduced in RFC 8714, "Update to the Process for Selection of Trustees for the IETF Trust".At the time RFC 8714 was published, the changes to the IETF Administrative Support Activity, Version 2.0 (IASA 2.0) had an impact on the IETF Trust because members of the IETF Administrative Oversight Committee (IAOC), which was being phased out, had served as Trustees of the IETF Trust. This document provides background on the past IETF Trust arrangements, explains the effect of the rules in the founding documents during the transition to the new arrangement, and provides a rationale for the update.IETF Working Group Guidelines and ProceduresThis document describes the guidelines and procedures for formation and operation of IETF working groups. This document specifies an Internet Best Current Practices for the Internet Community, and requests discussion and suggestions for improvements.Updates to RFC 2418 Regarding the Management of IETF Mailing ListsThis document is an update to RFC 2418 that gives WG chairs explicit responsibility for managing WG mailing lists. In particular, it gives WG chairs the authority to temporarily suspend the mailing list posting privileges of disruptive individuals. This document specifies an Internet Best Current Practices for the Internet Community, and requests discussion and suggestions for improvements.IETF Anti-Harassment ProceduresIETF Participants must not engage in harassment while at IETF meetings, virtual meetings, or social events or while participating in mailing lists. This document lays out procedures for managing and enforcing this policy.This document updates RFC 2418 by defining new working group guidelines and procedures. This document updates RFC 7437 by allowing the Ombudsteam to form a recall petition without further signatories.Update to the IETF Anti-Harassment Procedures for the Replacement of the IETF Administrative Oversight Committee (IAOC) with the IETF Administration LLCThe IETF Anti-Harassment Procedures are described in RFC 7776.The IETF Administrative Oversight Committee (IAOC) has been replaced by the IETF Administration LLC, and the IETF Administrative Director has been replaced by the IETF LLC Executive Director. This document updates RFC 7776 to amend these terms.RFC 7776 contained updates to RFC 7437. RFC 8713 has incorporated those updates, so this document also updates RFC 7776 to remove those updates.AcknowledgementsWe are grateful to the authors of -- and ., , , , and
provided useful feedback and corrections to this document.Author's AddressAkamai Technologiesrsalz@akamai.com