RFC 8712

The IETF-ISOC Relationship

📅 published February 2020, from ietf

RFC 8712: The IETF-ISOC Relationship 🎀

Okay bestie, RFC 8712 is giving "the IETF and ISOC finally put their relationship in writing" 💅. G. Camarillo (Ericsson) and J. Livingood (Comcast) wrote it, and it was published in February 2020. It's Informational, so it's not a Standards Track spec, just a super useful summary 🦋. It obsoletes RFC 2031 and replaces it. The header doesn't have an Updates line.

   1.  Introduction and History
   2.  Philosophical Relationship with ISOC
   3.  Main Division of Responsibilities between IETF and ISOC
   4.  ISOC's Role in the IETF Standards Process
   5.  The IETF's Role in ISOC
   6.  Legal Relationship with ISOC
   7.  Financial and Administrative Relationship with ISOC
   8.  IANA Considerations
   9.  Security Considerations
   10. Privacy Considerations
   11. References
     11.1.  Normative References
     11.2.  Informative References
   Acknowledgements
   Authors' Addresses

Abstract

Okay so the abstract is the main-character summary 🎬. It covers the IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force) and the Internet Society (ISOC) relationship after the big 2018 glow-up of the IETF Administrative Support Activity (IASA) ✨. The IASA got revamped under a new "IASA 2.0" structure, handled by the IASA2 Working Group, and that changed the IETF's administrative, legal, and financial setup. Because of that, the IETF-ISOC relationship changed too, which is why RFC 2031 needed a revision 💜.

Status of This Memo

This doc is not an Internet Standards Track spec. It's published just for information 🌸.

It's a product of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), so it represents what the IETF community agreed on. It got public review and was approved for publication by the Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG). Not every IESG-approved doc is up for any level of Internet Standard, so check Section 2 of RFC 7841 for more on that 🧚.

For the latest status, errata, and how to send feedback, go to https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc8712.

The copyright here is Copyright (c) 2020 IETF Trust and the people listed as document authors, with all rights reserved 🔒.

This doc is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal Provisions Relating to IETF Documents (https://trustee.ietf.org/license-info) as they stand on the publication date. Please read those carefully, because they spell out your rights and restrictions for this doc 📜. If you pull Code Components out of this doc, they have to include the Simplified BSD License text described in Section 4.e of the Trust Legal Provisions, and they come without warranty, as the Simplified BSD License describes 💖.

Table of Contents

Here's the lineup of sections, just like the header laid it out 🍓. The table below is the same list you'll see in the code block above.

1. Introduction and History ✨

Okay, so the Internet Society is basically the corporate home for the administrative entity that supports the IETF, the Internet Architecture Board (IAB), and the Internet Research Task Force (IRTF). It backs their work through a bunch of programs 🏠.

The IETF is the body responsible for developing and maintaining the Internet Standards 💅. It's mostly run by volunteers, and the driving force is a crew of dedicated, high-quality engineers from all over the world 🌍. They work in working groups, swap ideas and experience, and collaborate both online and in person. The goal is rough consensus and implementing standards through running code 🫶.

As the Internet grew over several decades, so did the IETF. More people, orgs, and companies rely on Internet Standards now 📈. The nontechnical stuff, like legal, administrative, and financial issues, had been an undesirable but unavoidable part of the IETF for a long time 😭. To handle it, the IETF set up the Poised95 Working Group in 1995 🎀. Its job was to structure and document IETF processes so engineers kept as much flexibility and freedom as possible, letting them work the way the IETF had always been most successful. It also honored the IETF credo: "Rough consensus and running code" ⭐.

The Poised95 Working Group concluded that the Internet Society (ISOC), which was formed in 1992, was the best organization to take on all those legal, administrative, and financial tasks on behalf of the IETF, working closely with it 👑. That led to documenting things like the IETF standards process [RFC2026], the IETF organizational structure [RFC2028], the IETF Nominating Committee (NomCom) procedures [RFC2027], and the IETF-ISOC relationship [RFC2031] 📚.

As time passed and operational experience built up, the IETF needed more structure 🧩. So the Internet Administrative Support Activity (IASA) was defined in 2005 and documented in [RFC4071] and [RFC4371] 🦋.

In 2018, the IASA got revised under a new "IASA 2.0" structure by the IASA2 Working Group, which made big changes to the IETF's administrative, legal, and financial structure 🔥. One major outcome was the IETF Administration Limited Liability Company (IETF LLC), formed as a subsidiary of ISOC, in close cooperation between the IETF and ISOC 💅.

Because of the IASA 2.0 structure [RFC8711] and the formation of the IETF LLC, the IETF-ISOC relationship changed 🌈. This doc gives a high-level summary of where things stand now and replaces [RFC2031] ✨.

2. Philosophical Relationship with ISOC 💜

ISOC and the IETF have historically been philosophically aligned, and it's giving soulmates 🫶. ISOC's connection to the IETF community has always played a big role in its policy work, and that hasn't changed 🦋. ISOC has always been, and still is, an advocate for multistakeholder processes, which include the technical community 🌸. Open standards are an explicit part of one of ISOC's mission focus areas: advancing the development and application of Internet infrastructure, technologies, and open standards [ISOC-Mission] 🧚.

3. Main Division of Responsibilities between IETF and ISOC 🍓

The IETF is still responsible for the development and quality of the Internet Standards, full stop 👑. Apart from the roles described below, the IETF and ISOC both acknowledge that ISOC, as an organization, has no direct influence whatsoever on the technical content of Internet Standards. ISOC employees can still make technical contributions as individuals, though 🙈.

4. ISOC's Role in the IETF Standards Process ⭐

ISOC plays a small role in the IETF standards process, but it's an important one 🎀. ISOC helps out by appointing the IETF NomCom chair and by confirming IAB candidates put forward by the IETF NomCom, as described in [RFC8713]. It also acts as the last resort in the appeals process, as described in [RFC2026] ⚖️.

ISOC keeps up liaison relationships and memberships in other Standards Development Organizations (SDOs) and related orgs, which directly benefits the IETF 🌐. For example, ISOC is a Sector Member of the ITU-T. As a result, ISOC delegates get the same rights as other ITU-T Sector Members [RFC6756] 💅.

ISOC also supports the IETF standards process indirectly, like by promoting it in relevant communities, through several programs 📣. For example, ISOC's Policymakers Programme to the IETF (usually just called ISOC's IETF Policy Program) gives policy experts a chance to interact directly with the IETF technical community 🫶. ISOC also does technical work using the standards developed in the IETF as its basis. One example is ISOC's work encouraging and supporting the deployment of IETF standards 🚀.

Otherwise, when ISOC's employees get involved in the IETF standards process, such as being document editors or in leadership positions, they do it as individual contributors and not on institutional grounds 🦋.

11.1. Normative References ✨

[RFC8711] Haberman, B., Hall, J., and J. Livingood, "Structure of the IETF Administrative Support Activity, Version 2.0", BCP 101, RFC 8711, DOI 10.17487/RFC8711, February 2020, https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc8711.

11.2. Informative References 📚

[ISOC-Mission] Internet Society, "Internet Society Mission", https://www.internetsociety.org/mission/.

[OpAgreement] "Limited Liability Company Agreement of IETF Administration LLC", August 2018, https://www.ietf.org/documents/180/IETF-LLC-Agreement.pdf.

[RFC2026] Bradner, S., "The Internet Standards Process -- Revision 3", BCP 9, RFC 2026, DOI 10.17487/RFC2026, October 1996, https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc2026.

[RFC2027] Galvin, J., "IAB and IESG Selection, Confirmation, and Recall Process: Operation of the Nominating and Recall Committees", RFC 2027, DOI 10.17487/RFC2027, October 1996, https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc2027.

[RFC2028] Hovey, R. and S. Bradner, "The Organizations Involved in the IETF Standards Process", BCP 11, RFC 2028, DOI 10.17487/RFC2028, October 1996, https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc2028.

[RFC2031] Huizer, E., "IETF-ISOC relationship", RFC 2031, DOI 10.17487/RFC2031, October 1996, https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc2031.

[RFC2850] Internet Architecture Board and B. Carpenter, Ed., "Charter of the Internet Architecture Board (IAB)", BCP 39, RFC 2850, DOI 10.17487/RFC2850, May 2000, https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc2850.

[RFC3677] Daigle, L., Ed. and Internet Architecture Board, "IETF ISOC Board of Trustee Appointment Procedures", BCP 77, RFC 3677, DOI 10.17487/RFC3677, December 2003, https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc3677.

[RFC4071] Austein, R., Ed. and B. Wijnen, Ed., "Structure of the IETF Administrative Support Activity (IASA)", BCP 101, RFC 4071, DOI 10.17487/RFC4071, April 2005, https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc4071.

[RFC4371] Carpenter, B., Ed. and L. Lynch, Ed., "BCP 101 Update for IPR Trust", BCP 101, RFC 4371, DOI 10.17487/RFC4371, January 2006, https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc4371.

[RFC5378] Bradner, S., Ed. and J. Contreras, Ed., "Rights Contributors Provide to the IETF Trust", BCP 78, RFC 5378, DOI 10.17487/RFC5378, November 2008, https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc5378.

[RFC6756] Trowbridge, S., Ed., Lear, E., Ed., Fishman, G., Ed., and S. Bradner, Ed., "Internet Engineering Task Force and International Telecommunication Union - Telecommunication Standardization Sector Collaboration Guidelines", RFC 6756, DOI 10.17487/RFC6756, September 2012, https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc6756.

[RFC8713] Kucherawy, M., Ed., Hinden, R., Ed., and J. Livingood, Ed., "IAB, IESG, IETF Trust, and IETF LLC Selection, Confirmation, and Recall Process: Operation of the IETF Nominating and Recall Committees", BCP 10, RFC 8713, DOI 10.17487/RFC8713, February 2020, https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc8713.

[RFC8714] Arkko, J. and T. Hardie, "Update to the Process for Selection of Trustees for the IETF Trust", BCP 101, RFC 8714, DOI 10.17487/RFC8714, February 2020, https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc8714.

[RFC8715] Arkko, J., "IETF Administrative Support Activity 2.0: Update to the Process for Selection of Trustees for the IETF Trust", RFC 8715, DOI 10.17487/RFC8715, February 2020, https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc8715.

Acknowledgements 💜

The authors would like to thank Erik Huizer for his contribution as the author of [RFC2031], which this document replaces. 🫶

Authors' Addresses 🦋

Gonzalo Camarillo Ericsson

Email: Gonzalo.Camarillo@ericsson.com

Jason Livingood Comcast

Email: jason_livingood@comcast.com

And that's the whole thing, bestie! 🌸 Every section, every reference, every address, all in order. ✨

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