Network Working Group                                          L. Daigle
Internet-Draft                                                       Ed.
Expires: November 23, 2006            Internet Architecture Board. (IAB)
                                                            May 22, 2006


                             The RFC Editor
                          draft-iab-rfc-editor

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   This Internet-Draft will expire on November 23, 2006.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2006).

Abstract

   One of the responsibilities assigned to the IAB in its charter is
   oversight of the RFC Editor.  With this document, the IAB provides an
   explicit implementation of its oversight role, a model for defining
   (and updating) processes relating to the RFC Editor, and a brief
   charter for the RFC Editor.






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Table of Contents

   1.  Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  3
   2.  RFC Editor Charter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  4
   3.  RFC Approval Processes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  5
     3.1.  IETF Document Stream . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  5
     3.2.  IAB Document Stream  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  5
     3.3.  IRTF Document Stream . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  5
     3.4.  Independent Submission Stream  . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  6
   4.  RFC Technical Publication Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . .  7
     4.1.  IETF Documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  7
     4.2.  IAB Documents  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  7
     4.3.  IRTF Documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  7
     4.4.  Independent Submissions  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  7
   5.  Operational Oversight  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  8
   6.  Security Considerations  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  9
   7.  IAB members at the time of approval  . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
   8.  References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
   Authors' Addresses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
   Intellectual Property and Copyright Statements . . . . . . . . . . 12































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1.  Introduction

   As part of its charter ([1]), the IAB has oversight responsibility
   for the RFC Editor.  The IAB seeks to fulfill that role in a way that
   respects the long history of the RFC Series, while continuing to move
   forward in a way that successfully melds the requirements and
   expectations of the various contributors that provide regular input
   to the RFC Editor (streams).

   To that end, this document provides a brief charter for the RFC
   Editor activity, discusses the streams of input to the RFC Series,
   and defines the expected relationship between the IAB and its
   operational support from IASA.






































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2.  RFC Editor Charter

   The RFC Editor executes editorial management for the publication of
   the "Request for Comment" (RFC) document series.  The RFC series
   constitutes the archival publication channel for Internet Standards
   and for other contributions by the Internet research and engineering
   community.  RFCs are available free of charge to anyone via the
   Internet.

   The RFC Editor is expected to publish all approved documents.

   It is the responsibility of the IAB to approve the appointment of an
   organization to act as RFC Editor and the general policy followed by
   the RFC Editor.

   The rest of this document outlines the current set of policies and
   requirements, as well as the appropriate processes for extending or
   adjusting them.

































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3.  RFC Approval Processes

   Various contributors provide input to the RFC series.  These
   contributors come from several different communities, each wtih its
   own defined process for approving documents that will be published by
   the RFC Editor.  These are referred to as "streams".

   The subsections below identify the streams that exist today.
   Creation of new streams is subject to IAB approval.  Processes for
   the approval processes (or requirements) for each stream are defined
   by the community that defines the stream.  Except as noted, the IAB
   does not have final authority in approving such changes, but the IAB
   must agree that the changes are consistent with the RFC Editor scope.

   The RFC Editor is expected to publish all documents passed to it
   after appropriate review and approval in one of the identified
   streams.

3.1.  IETF Document Stream

   The IETF document stream includes IETF WG documents as well as
   "individual submissions" sponsored by an IESG area director.  Any
   document being published as part of the IETF standards track must
   follow this stream.

   Approval of documents in this stream is defined by the IETF standards
   process (RFC2026, [3], and its successors).

   Changes to the approval process for this stream are made by updating
   the IETF standards process documents.

3.2.  IAB Document Stream

   The IAB defines the processes by which it approves its documents.
   (This is currently defined on a web page.  Going forward, it will be
   published as an RFC.)

   Consistent with the above, any documents that the IAB wishes to
   publish as BCPs (part of the IETF standards track) are subject to the
   approval processes referred to in Section Section 3.1.

3.3.  IRTF Document Stream

   The IRTF is chartered as an activity of the IAB.  With the approval
   of the IAB, the IRTF may publish and update a process for publication
   of its own, non-IETF standards track, documents.

   Current document draft: draft-irtf-rfcs-00.txt



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3.4.  Independent Submission Stream

   The RFC series has traditionally served a broader Internet technical
   community than the IETF.  The "independent submission" stream is
   defined to provide review and (possible) approval of documents that
   are outside the scope of the streams identified above.

   Generally speaking, approval of documents in this stream falls under
   the purview of the RFC Editor.

   Consistent with the rest of the streams, there needs to be a
   community consensus document to define that process.  The IAB will
   establish a community forum for defining a community consensus based
   document to define the approval process for this stream.  The IAB
   will be responsible for gauging consensus on that document, as well
   as providing the forum for any needed future revisions of the
   document.


































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4.  RFC Technical Publication Requirements

   The community of effort behind each stream may have a set of
   requirements for the technical publication of their documents.

   As part of the RFC Editor oversight, the IAB must agree that the
   requirements are consistent with and implementable as part of the RFC
   Editor activity.

4.1.  IETF Documents

   These are defined in an IETF stream document.  The current proposed
   version is documented in draft-mankin-pub-req.

4.2.  IAB Documents

   Unless otherwise specified in a future document, the IAB will use the
   applicable requirements in Section 4.1.

   If the IAB elects to define other requirements, they should deviate
   minimally from those (in an effort to keep the collective technical
   publication requirements reasonably managed by one technical
   publisher).

4.3.  IRTF Documents

   Unless otherwise specified in a future document, the IRTF will use
   the applicable requirements in Section 4.1.

   If the IRTF elects to define other requirements, they should deviate
   minimally from those (in an effort to keep the collective technical
   publication requirements reasonably managed by one technical
   publisher).

4.4.  Independent Submissions

   Unless otherwise specified in a future document, the RFC Editor will
   use the applicable requirements in Section 4.1.

   If the RFC Editor elects to define other requirements, they should
   deviate minimally from those (in an effort to keep the collective
   technical publication requirements reasonably managed by one
   technical publisher).








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5.  Operational Oversight

   With the inception of the IETF Administrative Support Activity
   (BCP101, [2], which describes IASA's support for the IETF, the IAB,
   the IRTF), the operational oversight of the RFC Editor is shared with
   the IAOC.

   The IAOC works with the IAB to identify suitable persons or entities
   to carry out the work defined by the technical publication
   requirements defined for the various RFC input streams (see Section
   Section 4).

   The IAOC may define additional operational requirements and policies
   for management purposes, in order to meet the requirements defined by
   the various communities.  The IAOC establishes appropriate
   (contractual) agreements with the selected persons or entities for
   the RFC Editor.

   In accordance with BCP101, the IAOC provides oversight of the
   operation of the RFC Editor activity based on the established
   agreement(s).

   The IAB monitors the effectiveness of the policies in force and their
   implementation to ensure that the RFC Editor activity meets the
   editorial management and document publication needs as referenced in
   this document.  In the event of serious non-conformance, the IAB,
   either on its own initiative or at the request of the IAOC, may
   require the IAOC to vary or terminate and renegotiate the
   arrangements for the RFC Editor activity.






















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6.  Security Considerations

   The processes for the publication of documents must prevent the
   introduction of unapproved changes.  Since the IETF publisher
   maintains the index of publications, sufficient security must be in
   place to prevent these published documents from being changed by
   external parties.












































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7.  IAB members at the time of approval

   To be filled in.

8.  References

   [1]  Carpenter, B., "Charter of the Internet Architecture Board
        (IAB)", RFC 2850, May 2000.

   [2]  Austein, R. and B. Wijnen, "Structure of the IETF Administrative
        Support Activity (IASA)", BCP 101, April 2005.

   [3]  Bradner, S., "The Internet Standards Process -- Revision 3",
        RFC 2026, October 1996.





































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Authors' Addresses

   Leslie L. Daigle
   Ed.

   Email: ledaigle@cisco.com, leslie@thinkingcat.com


   Internet Architecture Board

   Email: iab@iab.org
   URI:   http://www.iab.org/







































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Intellectual Property Statement

   The IETF takes no position regarding the validity or scope of any
   Intellectual Property Rights or other rights that might be claimed to
   pertain to the implementation or use of the technology described in
   this document or the extent to which any license under such rights
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   made any independent effort to identify any such rights.  Information
   on the procedures with respect to rights in RFC documents can be
   found in BCP 78 and BCP 79.

   Copies of IPR disclosures made to the IETF Secretariat and any
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   http://www.ietf.org/ipr.

   The IETF invites any interested party to bring to its attention any
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Disclaimer of Validity

   This document and the information contained herein are provided on an
   "AS IS" basis and THE CONTRIBUTOR, THE ORGANIZATION HE/SHE REPRESENTS
   OR IS SPONSORED BY (IF ANY), THE INTERNET SOCIETY AND THE INTERNET
   ENGINEERING TASK FORCE DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED,
   INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTY THAT THE USE OF THE
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   WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.


Copyright Statement

   Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2006).  This document is subject
   to the rights, licenses and restrictions contained in BCP 78, and
   except as set forth therein, the authors retain all their rights.


Acknowledgment

   Funding for the RFC Editor function is currently provided by the
   Internet Society.




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