Internet Communications Using SIP : Delivering VoIP and Multimedia Services With Session Initiation Protocol {2Nd Ed.}

The Internet Standards Process

How are the so-very-successful Internet standards produced?

The success of the Internet is attributable to its excellent standards, and this

excellence is the result of a standards process that has been carefully devel-

oped over the years, starting with Request for Comments (RFC) number 1,

“Host Software,” by Steve Crocker published on April 7, 1969.

One notable distinction of the Internet standards process is its complete

openness—everything is available online at all times and without cost to

everyone who may be interested. Online participation in the standards’ devel-

opment is open to anyone who feels qualified to contribute.

Another notable distinction is that standards are proposed and developed

by individual contributors and not by organizations or corporate entities. To

quote freely Fred Baker from Cisco, a former chair of the IETF:

Make sure you represent your own opinion, so that you don’t have to change it if

you change jobs.

We also observe the predominance of computer scientists from research and

academia in the Internet standards community, people who are less process-

oriented, but have a keen sense and hands-on knowledge of networks and

computing.

The Internet standards process at present is best described in reference [7].

In a nutshell, the goals of the Internet standards process are as follows:

■■ Technical excellence

■■ Prior implementation and testing

■■ Clear documentation

■■ Openness and fairness with regards to intellectual property

■■ Timelines from birth to obsolescence of Internet standards

Internet standards fall into the categories of technical specifications and

associated applicability statements. There are several requirement levels, such

as Required, Recommended, Elective, Limited Use (such as Experimental),

and Not Recommended [any more for various reasons].

Of special interest is the Internet standards track that is defined by several

maturity levels:

1. Proposed Standards—Further experience may result in changes or even
   retraction of the specification.


2. Draft Standards—Specifications for which at least two independent and
   interoperable implementations from different code bases have been
   developed and tested for interoperability.

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