rfc2026.txt

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Network Working Group                                         S. Bradner
Request for Comments: 2026                            Harvard University
BCP: 9                                                      October 1996
Obsoletes: 1602
Category: Best Current Practice


              The Internet Standards Process -- Revision 3


Status of this Memo

   This document specifies an Internet Best Current Practices for the
   Internet Community, and requests discussion and suggestions for
   improvements.  Distribution of this memo is unlimited.

Abstract

   This 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.  It also addresses the intellectual property rights and
   copyright issues associated with the standards process.

Table of Contents

   1.  INTRODUCTION....................................................2
     1.1  Internet Standards...........................................3
     1.2  The Internet Standards Process...............................3
     1.3  Organization of This Document................................5
   2.  INTERNET STANDARDS-RELATED PUBLICATIONS.........................5
     2.1  Requests for Comments (RFCs).................................5
     2.2  Internet-Drafts..............................................7
   3.  INTERNET STANDARD SPECIFICATIONS................................8
     3.1  Technical Specification (TS).................................8
     3.2  Applicability Statement (AS).................................8
     3.3  Requirement Levels...........................................9
   4.  THE INTERNET STANDARDS TRACK...................................10
     4.1  Standards Track Maturity Levels.............................11
       4.1.1  Proposed Standard.......................................11
       4.1.2  Draft Standard..........................................12
       4.1.3  Internet Standard.......................................13
     4.2  Non-Standards Track Maturity Levels.........................13
       4.2.1  Experimental............................................13
       4.2.2  Informational...........................................14
       4.2.3  Procedures for Experimental and Informational RFCs......14
       4.2.4  Historic................................................15



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   5.  Best Current Practice (BCP) RFCs...............................15
     5.1  BCP Review Process..........................................16
   6.  THE INTERNET STANDARDS PROCESS.................................17
     6.1  Standards Actions...........................................17
       6.1.1  Initiation of Action....................................17
       6.1.2  IESG Review and Approval................................17
       6.1.3  Publication.............................................18
     6.2  Advancing in the Standards Track............................19
     6.3  Revising a Standard.........................................20
     6.4  Retiring a Standard.........................................20
     6.5  Conflict Resolution and Appeals.............................21
       6.5.1 Working Group Disputes...................................21
       6.5.2 Process Failures.........................................22
       6.5.3 Questions of Applicable Procedure........................22
       6.5.4 Appeals Procedure........................................23
   7.  EXTERNAL STANDARDS AND SPECIFICATIONS..........................23
     7.1  Use of External Specifications..............................24
       7.1.1  Incorporation of an Open Standard.......................24
       7.1.2  Incorporation of a Other Specifications.................24
       7.1.3  Assumption..............................................25
   8. NOTICES AND RECORD KEEPING......................................25
   9. VARYING THE PROCESS.............................................26
     9.1 The Variance Procedure.......................................26
     9.2 Exclusions...................................................27
   10.  INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS..................................27
     10.1.  General Policy............................................27
     10.2   Confidentiality Obligations...............................28
     10.3.  Rights and Permissions....................................28
       10.3.1. All Contributions......................................28
       10.3.2. Standards Track Documents..............................29
       10.3.3  Determination of Reasonable and
              Non-discriminatory Terms................................30
     10.4.  Notices...................................................30
   11. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS................................................32
   12. SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS........................................32
   13. REFERENCES.....................................................33
   14. DEFINITIONS OF TERMS...........................................33
   15. AUTHOR'S ADDRESS...............................................34
   APPENDIX A: GLOSSARY OF ACRONYMS...................................35












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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 (IESG).

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 interconnected networks, which are not connected to the
   global Internet but use the Internet Standards.

   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 normally applies 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.

1.2  The Internet Standards Process

   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.





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   The goals of the Internet Standards Process are:
   o  technical excellence;
   o  prior implementation and testing;
   o  clear, concise, and easily understood documentation;
   o  openness and fairness;  and
   o  timeliness.

   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
      must be 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
      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
   demands timely development of standards.  The Internet Standards
   Process is intended to balance these conflicting goals.  The process
   is believed to be as short and simple as possible without sacrificing
   technical excellence, thorough testing before adoption of a standard,
   or openness and fairness.

   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.



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   The procedures described in this document are the result of a number
   of years of evolution, driven both by the needs of the growing and
   increasingly diverse Internet community, and by experience.
















































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1.3  Organization of This Document

   Section 2 describes the publications and archives of the Internet
   Standards Process.  Section 3 describes the types of Internet