RFC 2691

RFC 2691: A Memorandum of Understanding for an ICANN Protocol Support Organization 🦋

Okay bestie, let's get into RFC 2691 🎀. It was written by S. Bradner from Harvard University 🌸. It's marked Informational (so it's just sharing info, not a standard ✨) and it's dated September 1999 💜. It doesn't list any older RFCs that it obsoletes or updates, so there's no drama there 💅.

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Status of this Memo 🌈

This memo is here to share info with the Internet community 💖. It does not specify an Internet standard of any kind 🙈. Distribution of this memo is unlimited ✨.

Copyright Notice 🎀

Copyright (C) The Internet Society (1999). All Rights Reserved. 💅

Abstract 🌸

Okay so this is the text of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that ICANN, the IETF, the ITU-T, W3C and ETSI signed on July 14, 1999 in Oslo 🧚. This MoU creates the Protocol Support Organization (PSO) inside the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) 🔥. It was put together by reps from the IETF, ITU, W3C, ETSI, and ICANN, with help from Jorge Contreras of Hale and Dorr 🫶.

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MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING 👑

July 14, 1999 ✨

ICANN Protocol Supporting Organization 🦋

(1) Purpose and Scope 💖

• (a) Bestie, the Protocol Support Organization (PSO) is going to be a consensus-based advisory body within the ICANN framework 🌈.
• (b) The PSO is going to set up a "Protocol Council" and host an annual open meeting (the "General Assembly") 🎀.
• (c) The purpose of this Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) is to set up a group of principles that ICANN and the Standards Development Organizations who have signed below (the Signing SDOs) will use when forming and running the PSO 💅.

(2) Composition and Action of Protocol Council 👑

• (a) Size. Each Signing SDO will appoint two (2) members to the Protocol Council. Each member serves for a time period decided by that Signing SDO 🌸.
• (b) Each Signing SDO SHALL be responsible for choosing its members of the Protocol Council in a manner of its own choosing, and in accordance with its own open procedures 🧚. Each Signing SDO MAY remove or replace one or both of its members on the Protocol Council, at its own discretion 🔥. Each Signing SDO MUST notify the Protocol Council Secretary and ICANN whenever it changes its members, and on top of that, it MUST ratify its choices at least annually 🫶.
• (c) Selection and Appointment. At the same time that notice of the date of the annual PSO General Assembly meeting goes up on the PSO Web Site, ICANN and the Protocol Council SHALL make an open call for nominations to any potential vacancies on the Protocol Council 💜. Any nominations received will be forwarded to the Signing SDOs that are eligible to appoint members (i.e., they do not already have two members on the Protocol Council) so they can consider them 🌈.
• (d) Action by Protocol Council. Unless this MOU says otherwise, all actions of the Protocol Council SHALL be taken by majority vote of the total number of members 🎀. Action MAY be taken at any meeting of the Protocol Council, and that meeting MAY be a telephone conference where everyone can hear each other 🦋. Meetings of the Protocol Council MAY be called by request of any three members of the Protocol Council, with at least 45 days' prior written notice to each of the other members for physical meetings, or fifteen (15) days' prior written notice for telephonic or other electronic meetings 💅. To conduct business at any meeting of the Protocol Council, at least a quorum of members MUST be present. A quorum SHALL be present when at least majority of the members of the Protocol Council are present, and when those members represent at least 3/4ths of the Signing SDOs 👑.
• (e) Web Site. The Protocol Council will arrange for a Web site to be set up and kept up, devoted to PSO activities and news 🌸.
• (f) Secretary. The Protocol Council will have a Secretary to coordinate administrative matters relating to the PSO and the Protocol Council 🧚. The Secretary's term of office SHALL be one year. The Secretary role will rotate among the Signing SDOs. The IETF selects the initial Secretary, and later Secretaries are appointed by a randomly selected Signing SDO that has not appointed the Secretary in the current rotation 🔥.
• (g) No Compensation. Neither the Secretary, nor any Protocol Council member, nor any designated ICANN Board member, SHALL be entitled to any compensation or reimbursement of expenses from the PSO 🫶. The PSO SHALL NOT be required to get insurance coverage for, or to indemnify, the members of the Protocol Council or anyone acting in any other capacity by or for the PSO 💜.

(3) ICANN Directors 🌈

• (a) The Protocol Council will appoint Directors to the ICANN Board of Directors in accordance with the By-laws of ICANN, for the terms those By-laws specify 🎀. ICANN will tell the Protocol Council about any vacancies on the ICANN Board that MAY be filled by the Protocol Council 🦋.
• (b) The Protocol Council will run an open call for nominations for any open PSO seats on the ICANN Board 💅. Each Signing SDO is entitled to nominate candidates through its own procedures. Members of the public at large can also nominate people, under conditions the Protocol Council sets 👑. The Protocol Council will pick the PSO nominees to the ICANN Board from among these nominees 🌸. ICANN Directors selected by the Protocol Council MAY, but need not, be members of the Protocol Council or of any SDO 🧚.
• (c) No more than 2 PSO-nominated Directors MAY be residents of the same Geographic Region (as defined in the ICANN By-laws) 🔥.
• (d) The ICANN Directors appointed by the Protocol Council will not represent the PSO on the ICANN Board. They'll function as full Directors of ICANN 🫶.

(4) Duties of Protocol Council 💜

• (a) Advisory Role. The Protocol Council will advise the ICANN Board on matters the ICANN Board refers to it that relate to the assignment of parameters for Internet protocols 🌈.
• (b) Policy Development
  • (i) Bestie, this is very Internet: standards development policies and conflict resolution mechanisms SHOULD be created and used by the institutions most directly involved, without undue interference from centralized bodies 🎀.
  • (ii) The ICANN By-laws give the PSO the main responsibility for developing and recommending substantive policies in the area of protocol parameter assignment 🦋.
  • (iii) The PSO is committed to the idea that policies for parameter assignments for particular protocols are the responsibility of the individual Signing SDO that developed the protocol 💅.
  • (iv) The Protocol Council, and ICANN when asked, will be available as needed to help the Signing SDOs develop policies and procedures for conflict resolution between Signing SDOs 👑.
  • (v) Any such policies and procedures will only be adopted with the agreement of all SDOs 🌸.

(5) Annual Open Meeting 🧚

• (a) The Protocol Council will periodically hold an open meeting ("General Assembly") to promote discussion and take in input about the work of the PSO 🔥.
• (b) A General Assembly will be held at least once per year, and it will allow open participation by all interested individuals 🫶.
• (c) Each annual General Assembly will be hosted by a Signing SDO, alongside one of its major meetings, as the Protocol Council decides. The Protocol Council will try to avoid holding two General Assemblies in a row in the same Geographic Region 💜.
• (d) The major organizations in the Internet protocol standards development community are expected to make up the constituency of the General Assembly 🌈.

(6) Open Proceedings and Documents 🎀

• (a) Communications between ICANN and the Protocol Council. All official communications between ICANN and the Protocol Council will be made public on the PSO web site 🦋. If ICANN asks for a communication to be kept confidential, the Protocol Council will honor that for a fixed period that cannot go past one year, and then it'll make the communication public 💅.
• (b) Protocol Council Proceedings. All meetings of the Protocol Council, and all official discussions of Protocol Council business, will be held in or reported on a publicly-archived mailing list that you can reach through the PSO web site 👑.
• (c) Meeting Announcements. The schedule and agenda for the PSO General Assembly will be posted on the PSO Web Site at least 90 days before the meeting date 🌸. Notice of Protocol Council meetings will be posted on the PSO Web at least 45 days before each physical meeting, or fifteen (15) days before any telephonic or other electronic meeting, or for a shorter time if all the Signing SDOs agree 🧚. The minutes from all PSO meetings will be posted publicly on the PSO web site within 30 days of the meeting 🔥.

(7) Review and Modification of MOU 🫶

ICANN and the Signing SDOs will regularly look over the results and consequences of their cooperation under this MOU 💜. When it makes sense, the signatories will think about how the MOU could be improved, and they'll make proposals for changing and updating the arrangements and scope of the MOU 🌈. Any modification to the MOU MUST be approved by all signatories 🎀.

(8) Standards Development Organizations 🦋

• (a) The initial signatories to this MOU SHALL include ICANN and the Signing SDOs who have signed below. Each Signing SDO MUST be an international, Internet-related standards development organization that shows it meets the SDO criteria set out below 💅.
  • (i) SDOs MUST be open, international, voluntary technical standard and technical specification development organizations which:
    • (A) Develop standards and/or specifications for use over the public Internet 👑.
    • (B) Can show active membership in the IP-related standards and/or specification development process of more than 800 individuals (if the organization uses individual memberships), or 80 companies (if the organization uses corporate memberships) 🌸.
    • (C) Has been in operation for 3 or more years at the time of their application 🧚.

(D) okay so the org has to be able to show its standards are actually getting deployed on the Internet. Like, not just vibes, receipts 🧾✨

(E) and the significant protocols it controls have to be implementable WITHOUT paying the org a licensing fee. Free to build = iconic 🎀

(ii) now the big one 🌸 "Open, international, voluntary standards organizations" are international orgs that plan, develop or establish voluntary standards. An org counts as open and international if its standards and/or specifications development process is open to any person or organization of any nationality on equitable terms. An org counts as voluntary if it makes no claim to compel use of its standards and specifications. And to be considered 'international' 🌍, its voting (or other "full") membership has to include individuals or companies primarily located in at least three different Geographic Regions, with at least two different countries inside each of those Regions. Not a small ask, bestie 💅

(b) New Signatories

(i) any org that thinks it meets the SDO qualifications above can apply in writing to the Protocol Council to become a party to this MOU. Then, for it to actually join, ALL the MOU signatories that already exist have to agree that the org qualifies as an SDO. Group vote energy 🗳️

(ii) if you get rejected, you can appeal to the ICANN Board. The Board may override the rejection, but only if it finds, by at least a two-thirds vote, that the org meets the SDO criteria above. Dramatic, I know 😭

(iii) once an org is accepted as an SDO under this MOU, it must sign a copy of this MOU and agree to be bound by all of its terms and conditions. After that it gets to be called a Signing SDO for all purposes under this MOU. Welcome to the squad 🫶

(9) General. This MOU does not make any of the parties a partner, joint venture, agent, principal or franchisee of any other party. Waiving a provision on one occasion does not count as a waiver for any other occasion, so no sneaky loopholes 🙅‍♀️. And no party may transfer or assign any interest, right or obligation arising under this MOU without the prior written consent of each other party to this MOU. Hands off each other's stuff 🦋

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, this Memorandum of Understanding is executed this 14 day of July 1999 by the undersigned, acting through their duly authorized representatives. The signing crew 👑:

INTERNET CORPORATION FOR ASSIGNED NAMES AND NUMBERS
  By: (signature)
  Name: Michael W. Roberts
  Title: Interim President / CEO

INTERNET ENGINEERING TASK FORCE
  By: (signature)
  Name: Fredrick J.  Baker
  Title: Chair, IETF

INTERNATIONAL TELECOMMUNATIONS UNION
  By: (signature)
  Name: Houlin Zhao, on behalf of Secretary-General of ITU
  Title: Director, TSB

WORLD WIDE WEB CONSORTIUM
  By: (signature)
  Name: Henrik Frystyk Nielsen
  Title: HTTP Activity Lead

EUROPEAN TELECOMMUNICATIONS STANDARDS INSITITUTE
  By: (signature)
  Name: Bridget Cosgrave
  Title: Deputy Director General

Security Considerations

This type of non-protocol document does not directly effect the security of the Internet. Not gonna lie, this one is a chill read 🧘‍♀️🌈

Editor's Address

Scott Bradner
Harvard University
1350 Mass Ave, rm 876
Cambridge, MA
02138
USA

Phone: +1 617 495 3864
EMail: sob@harvard.edu

Full Copyright Statement

Copyright (C) The Internet Society (1999). All Rights Reserved. 💜

This document and translations of it may be copied and furnished to others, and derivative works that comment on or otherwise explain it or assist in its implementation may be prepared, copied, published and distributed, in whole or in part, without restriction of any kind, provided that the above copyright notice and this paragraph are included on all such copies and derivative works. However, this document itself may not be modified in any way, such as by removing the copyright notice or references to the Internet Society or other Internet organizations, except as needed for the purpose of developing Internet standards in which case the procedures for copyrights defined in the Internet Standards process must be followed, or as required to translate it into languages other than English. Main character energy: you can share it, remix the commentary, but don't edit the original itself 💅

The limited permissions granted above are perpetual and will not be revoked by the Internet Society or its successors or assigns. Forever and ever ✨

This document and the information contained herein is provided on an "AS IS" basis and THE INTERNET SOCIETY AND THE INTERNET ENGINEERING TASK FORCE DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTY THAT THE USE OF THE INFORMATION HEREIN WILL NOT INFRINGE ANY RIGHTS OR ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. Okay the legal part is a lot, but it's giving "use at your own risk" 🙈

Acknowledgement

Funding for the RFC Editor function is currently provided by the Internet Society. Thank you to the people keeping the lights on 🌟