Internet Standards Process

The IETF Internet Standards Process is followed by the Internet community as a way to standardize protocols and procedures. It also deals with the intellectual property rights issues and copyright issues associated with the standardization process.

The Internet Standards Process is quite simple: a specification goes through a series of developments and iterations of review by the Internet community and is revised based on experience. The standard is then adopted by the appropriate body and is finally published. Various complexities may arise during the implementation process which must also be considered, such as:

1. The specifications must be of high technical quality.
2. Interests of all the affected parties needs to be considered.
3. It should establish a widespread community consensus.
4. It is difficult to evaluate the utility of a specification for the Internet community.

The goals of the standards process are as follows:

• Technical excellence
• Thorough testing before implementation
• Short, simple and concise documentation
• Fairness and openness, and
• Timeliness

The Internet Standards Process is intended to balance these sometimes conflicting goals.

See also

• IETF
• IESG