IAB B. Carpenter
Internet Draft
March 2000
Charter of the Internet Architecture Board (IAB)
Copyright Notice
Placeholder for ISOC copyright
Abstract
draft-iab-rfc1601bis-03.txt
This memo documents the composition, selection, roles, and
organization of the Internet Architecture Board. It replaces
RFC 1601.
Status of this Memo
This document is an Internet-Draft and is in full conformance with
all provisions of Section 10 of RFC2026.
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
and may be updated, replaced, or obsoleted by other documents at any
time. It is inappropriate to use Internet- Drafts as reference
material or to cite them other than as "work in progress."
The list of current Internet-Drafts can be accessed at
http://www.ietf.org/ietf/1id-abstracts.txt
The list of Internet-Draft Shadow Directories can be accessed at
http://www.ietf.org/shadow.html.
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Table of Contents:
Status of this Memo.............................................1
1. IAB Membership...............................................3
1.1 Selection of voting IAB members............................3
1.2 Ex-Officio and Liaison members..............................3
2. The Role of the IAB.........................................3
2.1 Architectural oversight in more detail......................5
3. IAB Organization.............................................5
3.1 IAB chair...................................................5
3.2 Executive Director..........................................6
3.3 Selection of the IRTF chair.................................6
3.4 Liaisons within the IETF....................................6
3.5 Voting rule.................................................6
3.6 Openness and confidentiality................................7
Security Considerations.........................................7
Summary of Changes from RFC 1601................................7
References......................................................7
Full Copyright Statement........................................7
Author's Address................................................8
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1. IAB Membership
The Internet Architecture Board (IAB) shall consist of thirteen
voting members, composed of the chair of the Internet Engineering
Task Force (IETF), and of twelve full members. The IETF chair, who
is also the chair of the Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG),
may vote on all official IAB actions except the approval of IESG
members and appeals against IESG decisions. Ex-officio and liaison
members of the IAB may also attend IAB meetings but shall have no
vote on official actions.
In the event that the number of voting members temporarily falls
below thirteen for any reason, the IAB may function as normal subject
to the voting rule of Section 3.5.
Members of the IAB shall serve as individuals, and not as
representatives of any company, agency, or other organization.
Members of the IAB shall owe no fiduciary duty of loyalty or care to
IAB, IETF, IRTF or IESG.
1.1 Selection of voting IAB members
Voting IAB members, including the IETF chair, are selected and
appointed according to the procedures defined in [BCP 10] . Normally,
six full members are appointed each year to sit for two years, and
the IETF chair is appointed every two years.
There is no limit to the number of terms that a member of the IAB may
serve, subject to the process defined by [BCP 10].
1.2 Ex-Officio and Liaison members
Ex-officio and liaison members of the IAB have no vote but
participate in IAB discussions. However, an ex-officio position may
be held by a voting member, who does not thereby lose his or her
vote. Liaison positions may not be held by a voting member.
The chair of the Internet Research Task Force (IRTF) is an ex-officio
member of the IAB. The IAB has an Executive Director who is an ex-
officio member of the IAB.
The Internet Society, the RFC Editor, the IANA and the IESG each
appoints a liaison member to the IAB.
2. The Role of the IAB
The IAB is chartered both as a committee of the IETF and as an
advisory body of the Internet Society. Its responsibilities include:
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(a) IESG Appointment
The IAB appoints a new IETF chair and all other IESG candidates, from
a list provided by the IETF nominating committee established under
[BCP 10].
(b) Architectural Oversight
The IAB provides oversight of the architecture for the protocols and
procedures used by the Internet. This point is expanded in Section
2.1 below.
(c) Standards Process Oversight and Appeal
The IAB provides oversight of the process used to create Internet
Standards [BCP 9].
The IAB serves as an appeal board for complaints of improper
execution of the standards process, with powers defined in [BCP 9].
(d) RFC Series and IANA
The RFC Editor executes editorial management and publication of the
IETF "Request for Comment" (RFC) document series, which is the
permanent document repository of the IETF. 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 IAB must approve the appointment of an organization to
act as RFC Editor and the general policy followed by the RFC Editor.
The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) administers various
protocol parameters used by IETF protocols, delegating this
administration as appropriate. The IAB must approve the appointment
of an organization to act as IANA on behalf of the IETF. The IANA
takes technical direction on IETF protocols from the IESG.
(e) ISOC Liaison
The IAB acts as a source of advice and guidance to the Board of
Trustees and Officers of the Internet Society concerning technical,
architectural, procedural, and (where appropriate) policy matters
pertaining to the Internet and its enabling technologies. If
necessary the IAB may convene panels of knowledgeable people, hold
hearings, and otherwise pursue the investigation of specific
questions or topics presented to it by the Internet Society.
(f) External Liaison
The IAB acts as representative of the interests of the IETF and the
Internet Society in technical liaison relationships with other
organizations concerned with standards and other technical and
organizational issues relevant to the world-wide Internet. Liaisons
are kept as informal as possible and must be of demonstrable value in
improving the quality of IETF specifications. Individual members of
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the IETF are appointed as liaisons to other organizations by the IAB
or IESG as appropriate.
2.1 Architectural oversight in more detail
A major role of the IAB is long range planning and coordination
between different areas of IETF activity. The IAB, both collectively
and on an individual basis, is expected to pay attention to important
long-term issues in the Internet, and to make sure that these issues
are brought to the attention of the group(s) that are in a position
to address them. It is also expected to play a role in assuring that
the people responsible for evolving the Internet and its technology
are aware of the essential elements of the Internet architecture.
IAB members pay special attention to emerging activities in the IETF
and to "Birds of a Feather" sessions at IETF meetings. The IAB
assists the IESG in evaluating such activities and in determining
whether an IETF or an IRTF group is more appropriate. When a new
IETF working group is proposed, the IESG will forward a preliminary
version of the charter to the IAB for review of architectural
consistency and integrity. The IAB shall review these proposed
charters and give feedback to the IESG as appropriate.
Pursuant to the architectural oversight function, the IAB sponsors
and organizes the Internet Research Task Force (IRTF) [BCP 8]. The
IAB reviews proposed IRTF groups.
The IAB will convene invitational workshops to perform in-depth
reviews of particular architectural issues. Such reviews may include
consideration of relevant IETF and IRTF activities, and of work in
other organizations, and for this purpose the workshop may invite
presentations by qualified parties on the design goals and decisions,
technology choices, and other pertinent aspects of these activities.
The results of such a review will be a report which may give advice
to the IETF community and the IESG.
The IAB may organize ad hoc bodies of independent technical experts
to adjudicate technical disputes.
3. IAB Organization
3.1 IAB chair
The members of the IAB shall select one of its full members to serve
as the chair of the IAB, with all of the duties and responsibilities
normally associated with such a position. The term of the IAB chair
shall be one year, with no restriction on renewal. The chair of the
IAB may be removed at any time by the affirmative vote of two-thirds
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of the members of the IAB, or as a result of his or her departure
from the IAB.
The chair of the IAB shall have the authority to manage the
activities and meetings of the IAB.
3.2 Executive Director
The chair of the IAB shall have the authority to appoint an honorary
Executive Director (ExecD) for a one-year renewable term, and to
remove him or her. The ExecD shall administer the internal operation
of the IAB, e.g., organization of meetings and reporting of their
results.
The ExecD is an ex-officio member as defined in Section 1.2.
3.3 Selection of the IRTF chair
The IAB shall have the authority to appoint the chair of the Internet
Research Task Force (IRTF) for a two-year renewable term, and to
remove him or her. The IRTF chair shall be responsible for the
management and organization of the IRTF according to [BCP 8].
The IRTF chair is an ex-officio member as defined in Section 1.2.
3.4 Liaisons within the IETF
The chair of the IAB and another voting IAB member (other than the
IETF chair), to be selected by the IAB, shall serve as liaisons to
the IESG. In addition, the IESG will appoint one of its members
(other than the IETF chair) to serve as a liaison to the IAB. The
IESG liaison may attend IAB meetings but shall have no vote.
3.5 Voting rule
The IAB attempts to reach all decisions by unanimous consensus. If
consensus cannot be reached, meaning that a vote is required, a
motion passes if there are not fewer than seven votes in favour and
not more than two against.
IAB votes may be taken by face to face meeting, teleconference,
Internet communication, or any combination of the above.
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3.6 Openness and confidentiality
The IAB publishes minutes of all its meetings on the Internet, and
conducts an open meeting at every IETF meeting. It publishes all its
findings as RFCs, Internet Drafts or messages to the IETF mailing
list. However, discussion of personnel matters and possibly legal and
financial matters may sometimes be required to be kept confidential.
Specifically, the IAB makes use of the second level domain iab.org
and the URL http://www.iab.org to publish information.
Security Considerations
This memo does not raise any known security threats.
Summary of Changes from RFC 1601
This document replaces [RFC 1601]. The principal change is the
removal of material now covered in [BCP 8], [BCP 9] and [BCP 10],
with many consequent editorial changes. Additional changes are:
- description of a voting rule
- note on openness and confidentiality
- addition of liaison seats for the Internet Society and the IANA
- revised text concerning the IANA and the RFC Editor
- clarifications following legal review
References
[RFC 1601]
[BCP 8] RFC 2014 or its replacement
[BCP 9] RFC 2026 or its replacement
[BCP 10] RFC 2282 or its replacement
Full Copyright Statement
PLACEHOLDER for full ISOC Copyright Statement if needed.
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Author's Address
Brian E. Carpenter
IBM
c/o iCAIR
Suite 150
1890 Maple Avenue
Evanston IL 60201
USA
email: brian@icair.org
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