Internet DRAFT - draft-rfc4020bis

draft-rfc4020bis






Network Working Group                                          M. Cotton
Internet-Draft                                                     ICANN
Obsoletes: 4020 (if approved)                          September 4, 2012
Intended status: Informational
Expires: March 8, 2013


          Early IANA Allocation of Standards Track Code Points
                          draft-rfc4020bis-00

Abstract

   This memo describes a process for early allocation of code points by
   IANA from registries for which "Specification Required", "RFC
   Required", "IETF Review", or "Standards Action" policies apply.  This
   process can be used to alleviate the problem where code point
   allocation is needed to facilitate desired or required implementation
   and deployment experience prior to publication of an RFC that would
   normally trigger code point allocation.

   This document obsoletes RFC 4020.

Status of this Memo

   This Internet-Draft is submitted in full conformance with the
   provisions of BCP 78 and BCP 79.

   Internet-Drafts are working documents of the Internet Engineering
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   This Internet-Draft will expire on March 8, 2013.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (c) 2012 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the
   document authors.  All rights reserved.

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   (http://trustee.ietf.org/license-info) in effect on the date of
   publication of this document.  Please review these documents



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   carefully, as they describe your rights and restrictions with respect
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   described in the Simplified BSD License.


Table of Contents

   1.  Introduction  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
   2.  Conditions for Early Allocation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
   3.  Process for Early Allocation  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
     3.1.  Request . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
     3.2.  Follow-Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
     3.3.  Expiry  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
   4.  IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
   5.  Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
   6.  Normative References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
   Appendix A.  Acknowledgments  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
   Author's Address  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8































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1.  Introduction

   In protocol specifications documented in RFCs, there is often a need
   to allocate code points for various objects, messages, or other
   protocol entities so that implementations can interoperate.  Many of
   these code point spaces have registries handled by the Internet
   Assigned Number Authority (IANA).  Several IANA allocation policies
   are described in RFC 5226 [5226].  Some of them, such as "First Come
   First Served" or "Expert Review", do not require a formal IETF action
   before the IANA performs allocation.  However, in situations where
   code points are a scarce resource and/or the IETF community wishes to
   retain tight control of the protocol, policies such as "IETF Review"
   (formerly "IETF Consensus"), or "Standards Action" have been used.
   Such allocation policies represents a problem in situations where
   implementation and/or deployment experience are desired or required
   before the document becomes a RFC.

   To break the deadlock, document authors often choose some "seemingly
   unused" code points, often by selecting the next available value from
   the registry; these may turn out to be different from those later
   assigned by IANA.  To make this problem worse, "pre-RFC"
   implementations are often developed and deployed based on these code
   point selections.  This creates several potential interoperability
   problems between early implementations and implementations of the
   final standard, as described below:

   1.  IANA allocates code points different from those that early
       implementations assumed would be allocated.  Early
       implementations won't interoperate with standard ones.

   2.  IANA allocates code points for one extension while a "pre-RFC"
       implementation of a different extension chooses the same code
       point.  The different extensions will collide on the same code
       point in the field.

   This gets in the way of the main purpose of standards; namely, to
   facilitate interoperable implementations.

   It is easy to say that pre-RFC implementations should be kept private
   and should not be deployed; however, both the length of the standards
   process and the immense value of early implementations and early
   deployments suggest finding a better solution.  As an example, in the
   case of documents produced by Working Groups in the Routing Area, a
   pre-RFC implementation is highly desirable and sometimes even
   required [RFC4794], and early deployments provide useful feedback on
   the technical and operational quality of the specification.

   This memo addresses the early allocation of code points from spaces



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   whose allocation policy is "Specification Required" (where an RFC is
   used as the stable reference), "RFC Required", "IETF Review", and
   "Standards Action".  For an explanation of these allocation policies,
   see [RFC5226].

   A policy for IANA early allocations was previously described in
   [RFC4020].  This document obsoletes RFC 4020 and adds other
   registration procedures to the types of registries that can qualify
   for early allocation.


2.  Conditions for Early Allocation

   The following conditions must hold before a request may be made for
   early allocation of code points:

   a.  The code points must be from a space designated as "Specification
       Required" (where an RFC is used as the stable reference), "RFC
       Required", "IETF Review", or "Standards Action".

   b.  The format, semantics, processing, and other rules related to
       handling the protocol entities defined by the code points
       (henceforth called "specifications") must be adequately described
       in an Internet-Draft.

   c.  The specifications of these code points must be stable; i.e., if
       there is a change, implementations based on the earlier and later
       specifications must be seamlessly interoperable.

   d.  There is sufficient interest in early (pre-RFC) implementation
       and deployment in the community.

   If conditions (a) or (b) are not met, then the processes in this memo
   do not apply.


3.  Process for Early Allocation

   There are three processes associated with early allocation: making
   the request for code points; following up on the request; and
   revoking an early allocation.  It cannot be emphasized enough that
   these processes must have a minimal impact on IANA itself, or they
   will not be feasible.

   The processes described below assume that the document in question is
   the product of an IETF Working Group.  If this is not the case,
   replace "WG chairs" below with "Shepherding Area Director".




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3.1.  Request

   The process for requesting and obtaining early allocation of code
   points is as follows:

   1.  The authors (editors) of the document submit a request for early
       allocation to the Working Group chairs, specifying which code
       points require early allocation and which document they should be
       assigned to.

   2.  The WG chairs determine whether the conditions for early
       allocations described in section 2 are met; particularly,
       conditions (c) and (d).

   3.  The WG chairs gauge whether there is consensus within the WG that
       early allocation is appropriate in the case of the given
       document.

   4.  If steps 2) and 3) are satisfied, the WG chairs request approval
       of the Area Director(s).  The Area Director(s) may apply
       judgement to the request especially if there is a risk of
       registry depletion.

   5.  The WG chairs request IANA to make an early allocation.

   6.  IANA makes an allocation from the appropriate registry, marking
       it as "Temporary", valid for a period of one year from the date
       of allocation.  The date of first allocation the date of expiry
       should also be recorded in the registry and made visible to the
       public.

   Note that Internet Drafts should not include a specific value of a
   code point until this value has been formally allocated by IANA.

3.2.  Follow-Up

   It is the responsibility of the document authors and the Working
   Group chairs to review changes in the document, and especially in the
   specifications of the code points for which early allocation was
   requested, to ensure that the changes are backward compatible.  If at
   some point changes that are not backward compatible are nonetheless
   required, a decision needs to be made as to whether previously
   allocated code points must be deprecated (see section 3.3 for more
   information on code point deprecation).  The considerations include
   aspects such as the possibility of existing deployments of the older
   implementations and, hence, the possibility for a collision between
   older and newer implementations in the field.  If the document
   progresses to the point at which IANA normally makes code point



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   allocations, it is the responsibility of the authors and the WG
   chairs to remind IANA that there were early allocations, and of the
   code point values so allocated, in the IANA Considerations section of
   the RFC-to-be.  Allocation is then just a matter of removing the
   "temporary" tag from the allocation description.

3.3.  Expiry

   If early allocations expire before the document progresses to the
   point where IANA normally makes allocations, the authors and WG
   chairs may repeat the process in section 3.1 to request renewal of
   the code points.  At most, one renewal request may be made; thus,
   authors should choose carefully when the original request is to be
   made.

   As an exception to the above rule, under rare circumstances, more
   than one allocation renewal may be justified.  All such renewal
   requests must be reviewed by the IESG.  The renewal request to the
   IESG must include the reasons why such renewal is necessary, and the
   WG's plans regarding the specification.

   If a follow-up request is not made, or the document fails to progress
   to a RFC, the WG chairs are responsible for informing IANA that the
   code points are to be marked "deprecated" (and are not to be
   allocated).  The WG chairs are further responsible for informing IANA
   when the deprecated code points can be completely de-allocated (i.e.,
   made available for new allocations).  Implementers and deployers need
   to be aware that this deprecation and de-allocation could take place
   at any time after expiry, and an expired early allocation is
   therefore best considered as deprecated.

   In particular, it is not IANA's responsibility to track the status of
   allocations, their expiration, or when they may be re-allocated.

   Note that if a document is submitted for review to the IESG and at
   the time of submission some early allocations are valid (not
   expired), these allocations must not be expired while the document is
   under IESG consideration or waiting in the RFC Editor's queue after
   approval by the IESG.


4.  IANA Considerations

   This document defines procedures for early allocation of code points
   in the registries with the "Specification Required", "RFC Required",
   "IETF Review", and "Standards Action" policies and as such directly
   affects IANA.




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5.  Security Considerations

   It is important to keep in mind 'denial of service' attacks on IANA
   as a result of the processes in this memo.  There are two that are
   immediately obvious: depletion of code space by early allocations and
   process overloading of IANA itself.  The processes described here
   attempt to alleviate both of these, but they should be subject to
   scrutiny by IANA to ensure protection, and IANA may at any time
   request the IESG to suspend the procedures described in this
   document.

   There is a significant concern that the procedures in this document
   could be used as an end-run on the IETF process to achieve code point
   allocation when an RFC will not be published.  For example, a WG or a
   WG chair might be put under pressure to obtain an early allocation
   for a protocol extension for a particular company or for another SDO
   even though it might be predicted that an IETF LC or IESG Evaluation
   would reject the approach that is documented.  The requirement for AD
   consent of early review is an important safe-guard, and ADs with any
   concern are strongly recommended to escalate the issue for IESG-wide
   discussion.


6.  Normative References

   [RFC2119]  Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate
              Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119, March 1997.

   [RFC4020]  Kompella, K. and A. Zinin, "Early IANA Allocation of
              Standards Track Code Points", BCP 100, RFC 4020,
              February 2005.

   [RFC4794]  Fenner, B., "RFC 1264 Is Obsolete", RFC 4794,
              December 2006.

   [RFC5226]  Narten, T. and H. Alvestrand, "Guidelines for Writing an
              IANA Considerations Section in RFCs", BCP 26, RFC 5226,
              May 2008.


Appendix A.  Acknowledgments

   Many thanks to Bert Wijnen, Adrian Farrel, and Bill Fenner for their
   input on RFC 4020.  Thank you to Kireeti Kompella and Alex Zinin for
   authoring RFC4020.  Thank you to Adrian Farrel, Stewart Bryant, Leo
   Vegoda for their reviews of this document.





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Author's Address

   Michelle Cotton
   Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers
   12025 Waterfront Drive, Suite 300
   Los Angeles, CA  90094-2536
   United States of America

   Phone: +1-310-823-5800
   Email: michelle.cotton@icann.org
   URI:   http://www.icann.org/








































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