IETF | Internet standards process

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However, this document has been amended several times. The intellectual property rules are now separate, in聽RFC 5378 (BCP 78)聽(rights in contributions) and聽<a href="https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/bcp79/">RFC 8179 (BCP 79)</a>聽(rights in technology). Another update is聽<a href="https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/bcp92/">RFC 5742 (BCP 92)</a>聽(independent submissions to the RFC Editor).</p><p data-block-key="ikv7l">From聽RFC 2026, section 1.2:</p><p data-block-key="8y4t8">In outline, the process of creating an Internet Standard is straightforward: a specification undergoes a period of development and several iterations of review by the Internet community and revision based upon experience, is adopted as a Standard by the appropriate body... and is published. In practice, the process is more complicated, due to (1) the difficulty of creating specifications of high technical quality; (2) the need to consider the interests of all of the affected parties; (3) the importance of establishing widespread community consensus; and (4) the difficulty of evaluating the utility of a particular specification for the Internet community.</p><p data-block-key="be5q8">The goals of the Internet Standards Process are:</p><ul><li data-block-key="4ibef">technical excellence;</li><li data-block-key="pxd7q">prior implementation and testing;</li><li data-block-key="e3sc7">clear, concise, and easily understood documentation;</li><li data-block-key="ufpmp">openness and fairness; and</li><li data-block-key="lg8db">timeliness.</li></ul><p data-block-key="488rf">... The goal of technical competence, the requirement for prior implementation and testing, and the need to allow all interested parties to comment all require significant time and effort. On the other hand, today's rapid development of networking technology demands timely development of standards. The Internet Standards Process is intended to balance these conflicting goals. The process is believed to be as short and simple as possible without sacrificing technical excellence, thorough testing before adoption of a standard, or openness and fairness. The IETF welcomes the critical evaluation of protocols and has provided guidance on <a href="/process/rfcs/vulnerabilities/">how to report vulnerabilities</a>.</p></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div></div> <div class="bg-white"> <div class="container"> <ul class="row list-unstyled pt-5 pb-4 mb-0"> <li class="col-12 col-lg-6 mb-4"> <h2 class="h3"><a href="/process/process/informational-vs-experimental/">Choosing between Informational and Experimental Status<i class="bi bi-chevron-right ps-2"></i></a></h2> <p>This document reproduces the rules for classifying documents as Informational and Experimental from RFC 2026, and amplifies those rules with guidelines relevant to ongoing IESG evaluations. It is not intended to change any of the underlying principles.</p> </li> <li class="col-12 col-lg-6 mb-4"> <h2 class="h3"><a href="/process/process/role-iesg-standards-process/">The role of the IESG in the Standards process<i class="bi bi-chevron-right ps-2"></i></a></h2> <p>The IESG reviews and approves working group documents and candidates for the IETF standards track, and reviews other candidates for publication in the RFC series</p> </li> <li class="col-12 col-lg-6 mb-4"> <h2 class="h3"><a href="/process/process/iesg-ballots/">IESG ballot procedures<i class="bi bi-chevron-right ps-2"></i></a></h2> <p>This document describes the IESG ballot procedures. Three cases are described. 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