RFC1601

Network Working Group C. Huitema Request for Comments: 1601 Internet Architecture Board Obsoletes: 1358 March 1994 Category: Informational

        Charter of the Internet Architecture Board (IAB)

Status of this Memo

This memo provides information for the Internet community. This memo does not specify an Internet standard of any kind. Distribution of this memo is unlimited.

Abstract

This memo documents the composition, selection, roles, and organization of the Internet Architecture Board and its subsidiary organizations.

IAB Membership

The Internet Architecture Board (IAB) shall consist of 13 voting members, composed of the IETF chair and 12 full members. The IETF chair, who is also the chair of the IESG, may vote on all official IAB actions except the approval of IESG members. Ex-officio members and a liaison from the IESG may also attend IAB meetings but shall have no vote on official actions.

Voting IAB members shall serve for a term of two years, but may serve any number of terms.

Members of the IAB shall serve as individuals, and not as representatives of any company, agency, or other organization.

1.1 Selection of voting IAB members

  Voting IAB members shall be nominated by the nominating committee
  of the IETF and appointed by an appropriate group.  The 12 full
  members shall be approved by vote of the Board of Trustees of the
  Internet Society (ISOC), while the IETF chair shall be approved by
  vote of the 12 full IAB members then sitting.  Normally, six new
  full members are nominated each year.

  The IETF nomination committee is formed every year and consists of
  a non-voting chair designated by the Internet Society and seven
  members picked at random from a pool of volunteers.  Any person
  who took part in two IETF meetings in the last two years may

  volunteer for this pool.  The nomination committee also includes
  four non-voting liaison members, one designated by each of the
  Board of Trustees of the Internet Society, the IAB, the IESG, and
  the IRSG.

  New IAB members shall be selected each year to replace those whose
  terms have expired or been vacated.  The nomination committee
  shall prepare a list containing at least one candidate for each
  open position, and present this list to the ISOC Board of
  Trustees.  The Board of Trustees will by a vote appoint IAB
  members from the list of nominees to fill the open positions.

  There is no limit to the number of terms that a member of the IAB
  may serve.  A member that wishes to be re-nominated at the end of
  a term simply notifies the nomination committee.  However, there
  is no obligation for renomination.

1.2 Ex-Officio Members

  The IRSG chair and the RFC Editor shall be Ex-officio members of
  the IAB, with no vote in official actions.  An ex-officio position
  may be held by a voting member.

The Role of the IAB:

The IAB was chartered as a component of the Internet Society in June of 1992. Its responsibilities under this charter include:

(a) IESG Selection

  The IAB appoints a new IETF chair and all other IESG candidates,
  from a list provided by the IETF nominating committee.

(b) Architectural Oversight

  The IAB provides oversight of the architecture for the protocols
  and procedures used by the Internet.

(c) Standards Process Oversight and Appeal

  The IAB provides oversight of the process used to create Internet
  Standards.

  The IAB serves as an appeal board for complaints of improper
  execution of the standards process.

(d) RFC Series and IANA

  The IAB is responsible for editorial management and publication of
  the Request for Comments (RFC) document series, and for
  administration of the various Internet assigned numbers.

(e) External Liaison

  The IAB acts as representative of the interests of the Internet
  Society in liaison relationships with other organizations
  concerned with standards and other technical and organizational
  issues relevant to the world-wide Internet.

(f) Advice to ISOC

  The IAB acts as a source of advice and guidance to the Board of
  Trustees and Officers of the Internet Society concerning
  technical, architectural, procedural, and (where appropriate)
  policy matters pertaining to the Internet and its enabling
  technologies.

The following is an expanded discussion of these IAB functions.

2.1 IESG Selection

  Members of the IESG are nominated for a period of two years by the
  IETF nomination committee, and are appointed by approval from the
  IAB.  The committee shall select at least one nominee for each
  vacant IESG position, i.e., chair of the IESG or chair of a
  specific area.  The nomination committee may present several
  candidates for an available position, in which case the IAB will
  select one of the nominees for that position.

  The nominating committee shall present the IESG nomination list to
  the IAB for approval.  Within two weeks of receiving the list, the
  IAB shall approve or disapprove of the nominations, by voting
  among the full members of the IAB.  At least 8 affirmative votes,
  and no more than one negative vote, are required to approve an
  IESG appointment.

  Should the IAB fail to approve a particular nomination, the
  nomination committee shall present a new nomination for that
  position.  Should this process fail to converge rapidly, the
  sitting IESG is permitted to make a temporary appointment to one
  of their own positions whenever there is no IAB-selected person
  with an unexpired term filling that slot.

2.2 Architectural oversight

  A major role of the IAB is long range planning.  The IAB is
  expected to "pay attention" to important long-term issues in the
  Internet, and to make sure that these issues are brought to the
  attention of the group(s) that are in a position to address them.
  It is also expected to play a role in assuring that the people
  responsible for evolving the Internet and its technology are aware
  of the essential elements of the Internet architecture.

  When a new IETF working group is proposed, the IESG will forward a
  preliminary version of the charter to the IAB for review of
  architectural consistency and integrity.  The IAB shall review
  these proposed charters and give feedback to the IESG as
  appropriate.

  Pursuant to the architectural oversight function, the IAB sponsors
  and organizes the Internet Research Task Force (IRTF).

  On occasion, the IAB will convene panels to perform in-depth
  reviews of particular architectural issue.  Such reviews may
  include consideration of relevant IETF Working Group activities,
  and for this purpose the panel may invite presentations by
  qualified parties on the design goals and decisions, technology
  choices, and other pertinent aspects of these IETF activities.
  The results of such a review will be a report which may give
  advice to the community and the IESG.

  The IAB may organize ad hoc bodies of independent technical
  experts to adjudicate technical disputes.

2.3 Standards Process Oversight and Appeal

  The development, review, and approval of Internet Standards is the
  responsibility of the Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG)
  of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF).  The standards
  process executed by the IESG is established and documented by the
  IAB, in consultation with the IESG and with the concurrence of the
  IETF.

2.4 RFC Series and Assigned Numbers

  The RFC series constitutes the archival publication channel for
  Internet Standards and for other contributions by the Internet
  research and engineering community.  The IAB shall select an RFC
  Editor, who shall be responsible for the editorial management and
  publication of the RFC series.

  The IAB shall also designate an Internet Assigned Numbers
  Authority (IANA) to administer the assignment of Internet protocol
  numbers.

2.5 External Liaison

  The IAB is responsible for relationships between the Internet
  technical groups working under the auspices of ISOC and other
  interested parties such as the US Federal Networking Council
  (FNC); various organs of the European Commission (EC); the
  Coordinating Committee for Intercontinental Research Networking
  (CCIRN); standards bodies such as the International Organization
  for Standardization (ISO), the International Electrotechnical
  Commission (IEC), and the International Telecommunication Union
  (ITU); and other professional societies such as the Institute of
  Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) and the Association for
  Computing Machinery (ACM).

2.6 Advice to ISOC

  The IAB may convene panels of knowledgeable people, hold hearings,
  and otherwise pursue the investigation of specific questions or
  topics presented to it by the Internet Society.

IAB Organization

3.1 IAB chair

  The members of the IAB shall select one of its full members to
  serve as the chair of the IAB, with all of the duties and
  responsibilities normally associated with such a position.  The
  term of the IAB chair shall be one year, with no restriction on
  renewal.  The chair of the IAB may be removed at any time by the
  affirmative vote of two-thirds of the members of the IAB, or as a
  result of his or her departure from the IAB.

  The chair of the IAB shall have the authority to organize the IAB.

3.2 Executive Director

  The chair of the IAB hall have the authority to appoint or remove
  an Executive Director (ExecD).  The ExecD shall administer the
  internal operation of the IAB, e.g., organization of conferences
  and meetings and reporting of their results.

  The ExecD may be chosen among the full IAB members with voting
  rights; otherwise, the ExecD shall be an ex-officio non-voting
  member.

3.3 Selection of the IRSG chair

  The chair of the IAB shall have the authority to appoint or remove
  the chair of the Internet Research Steering Group (IRSG).  The
  IRSG chair shall be responsible for the management and
  organization of the IRSG.

  The IRSG chair may be chosen among the full IAB member with voting
  rights; otherwise, the IRSG chair shall be an ex-officio non-
  voting member.

3.4 Liaisons

  The chair of the IAB and another IAB member, to be selected by the
  chair, shall serve as liaisons to the IESG.  The selected liaison
  may be a full member or an ex-officio member.

  In addition, the IESG will appoint one of its members to serve as
  a liaison to the IAB.  The IESG liaison may attend IAB meetings
  but shall have no vote.

Security Considerations

Security issues are not discussed in this memo.

Author's Address

Christian Huitema INRIA 2004 Route des Lucioles BP 93 06092 SOPHIA-ANTIPOLIS Cedex France

EMail: [email protected]