Governing RFCs

The RFC Editor function is currently defined and governed by the following RFCs:

  • RFC 2026: Bradner, S., “The Internet Standards Process — Revision 3”, BCP 9, RFC 2026, October 1996.
  • RFC 4846: Klensin, J., Ed., and D. Thaler, Ed., “Independent Submissions to the RFC Editor”, RFC 4846, July 2007.
  • RFC 6410: Housley, R., Crocker, D., and E. Burger, “Reducing the Standards Track to Two Maturity Levels”, BCP 9, RFC 6410, October 2011.
  • RFC 8711: Haberman, B., Hall, J., and J. Livingood, “Structure of the IETF Administrative Support Activity, Version 2.0”, BCP 101, RFC 8711, February 2020.
  • RFC 8729: Housley, R., Ed., and L. Daigle, Ed., “The RFC Series and RFC Editor”, RFC 8729, February 2020.
  • RFC 8730: Brownlee, N., Ed., and B. Hinden, Ed., “Independent Submission Editor Model”, RFC 8730, February 2020.
  • RFC 9280: Saint-Andre, P., Ed., “RFC Editor Model (Version 3)” RFC 9280, June 2022.
  • RFC 9281: Salz, R., “Entities Involved in the IETF Standards Process”, BCP 11, RFC 9281, June 2022.
  • RFC 9282: Rosen, B., “Responsibility Change for the RFC Series”, RFC 9282, June 2022.
  • RFC 9283: Carpenter, B., Ed., “IAB Charter Update for RFC Editor Model”, BCP 39, RFC 9283, June 2022.

The following RFCs define particular RFC contents:

The following RFCs govern intellectual property issues related to RFCs:

  • RFC 5378: Bradner, S., Ed., and J. Contreras, Ed., “Rights Contributors Provide to the IETF Trust”, BCP 78, RFC 5378, November 2008.
  • RFC 5743: Falk, A., “Definition of an Internet Research Task Force (IRTF) Document Stream”, RFC 5743, December 2009.
  • RFC 5744: Braden, R. and J. Halpern, “Procedures for Rights Handling in the RFC Independent Submission Stream”, RFC 5744, December 2009.
  • RFC 5745: Malis, A., Ed., and IAB, “Procedures for Rights Handling in the RFC IAB Stream”, RFC 5745, December 2009.
  • RFC 8179: Bradner, S. and J. Contreras, “Intellectual Property Rights in IETF Technology”, BCP 79, RFC 8179, May 2017.
  • RFC 9280 (Editorial Stream): Saint-Andre, P., Ed., “RFC Editor Model (Version 3)”, RFC 9280, June 2022.

In addition to RFC 8126, the following RFCs govern RFC Editor actions with respect to particular IANA registrations:

  • RFC 4289: Freed, N. and J. Klensin, “Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) Part Four: Registration Procedures”, BCP 13, RFC 4289, December 2005.
  • RFC 6838: Freed, N., Klensin, J., and T. Hansen, “Media Type Specifications and Registration Procedures”, BCP 13, RFC 6838, January 2013.
  • RFC 7595: Thaler, D., Ed., Hansen, T., and T. Hardie, “Guidelines and Registration Procedures for URI Schemes”, BCP 35, RFC 7595, June 2015.
  • RFC 8141: Saint-Andre, P. and J. Klensin, “Uniform Resource Names (URNs)”, RFC 8141, April 2017.

Advanced Search