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RFC 4844

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• 04

Network Working Group                                     L. Daigle, Ed.
Request for Comments: 4844
Category: Informational                      Internet Architecture Board
                                                                   (IAB)
                                                               July 2007

                     The RFC Series and RFC Editor

Status of This Memo

   This memo provides information for the Internet community.  It does
   not specify an Internet standard of any kind.  Distribution of this
   memo is unlimited.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (C) The IETF Trust (2007).

Abstract

   This document describes the framework for an RFC Series and an RFC
   Editor function that incorporate the principles of organized
   community involvement and accountability that has become necessary as
   the Internet technical community has grown, thereby enabling the RFC
   Series to continue to fulfill its mandate.

Daigle & IAB                 Informational                      [Page 1]
RFC 4844             The RFC Series and RFC Editor             July 2007

Table of Contents

   1.  Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  3
   2.  RFC Series Mission . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  4
   3.  Roles and Responsibilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  5
     3.1.  RFC Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  5
     3.2.  IAB  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  5
     3.3.  Operational Oversight  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  5
     3.4.  Policy Oversight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  6
   4.  Framework  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  6
     4.1.  Document Approval  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  7
       4.1.1.  Definition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  7
       4.1.2.  Operational Implementation . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  7
       4.1.3.  Process Change . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  8
       4.1.4.  Existing Approval Process Documents  . . . . . . . . .  8
     4.2.  Editing, Processing, and Publication of Documents  . . . .  8
       4.2.1.  Definition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  8
       4.2.2.  Operational Implementation . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  8
       4.2.3.  Process Change . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  9
       4.2.4.  Existing Process Documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  9
     4.3.  Archiving, Indexing, and Accessibility . . . . . . . . . .  9
       4.3.1.  Definition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  9
       4.3.2.  Operational Implementation . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  9
       4.3.3.  Process Change . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
       4.3.4.  Existing Process Documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
     4.4.  Series-Wide Guidelines and Rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
       4.4.1.  Definition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
       4.4.2.  Operational Implementation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
       4.4.3.  Process Change . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
       4.4.4.  Existing Process Documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
   5.  RFC Streams  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
     5.1.  RFC Approval Processes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
       5.1.1.  IETF Document Stream . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
       5.1.2.  IAB Document Stream  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
       5.1.3.  IRTF Document Stream . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
       5.1.4.  Independent Submission Stream  . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
     5.2.  RFC Technical Publication Requirements . . . . . . . . . . 13
       5.2.1.  IETF Documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
       5.2.2.  IAB Documents  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
       5.2.3.  IRTF Documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
       5.2.4.  Independent Submissions  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
   6.  Security Considerations  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
   7.  IAB Members at the Time of Approval  . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
   8.  Informative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
   Appendix A.  A Retrospective of IAB Charters and RFC Editor  . . . 17
     A.1.  1992 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
     A.2.  1994 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
     A.3.  2000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Daigle & IAB                 Informational                      [Page 2]
RFC 4844             The RFC Series and RFC Editor             July 2007

1.  Introduction

   The first Request for Comments (RFC) document was published in April
   of 1969 as part of the effort to design and build what we now know of
   as the Internet.  Since then, the RFC Series has been the archival
   series dedicated to documenting Internet technical specifications,
   including both general contributions from the Internet research and