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Network Working Group B. Carpenter Request for Comments: 2860 IAB Category: Informational F. Baker

        Memorandum of Understanding Concerning the Technical
          Work of the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority

Status of this Memo

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

Copyright Notice

 Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2000).  All Rights Reserved.

Abstract

 This document places on record the text of the Memorandum of
 Understanding concerning the technical work of the IANA that was
 signed on March 1, 2000 between the IETF and ICANN, and ratified by
 the ICANN Board on March 10, 2000.

MoU text as signed

 MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING CONCERNING THE TECHNICAL WORK OF THE
 INTERNET ASSIGNED NUMBERS AUTHORITY

 1. This Memorandum of Understanding ("MOU") defines an agreement
 between the Internet Engineering Task Force and the Internet
 Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. Its intent is exclusively
 to define the technical work to be carried out by the Internet
 Assigned Numbers Authority on behalf of the Internet Engineering Task
 Force and the Internet Research Task Force.  It is recognized that
 ICANN may, through the IANA, provide similar services to other
 organisations with respect to protocols not within IETF's scope (i.e.
 registries not created by IETF or IRTF action); nothing in this MOU
 limits ICANN's ability to do so.

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 2. This MOU will remain in effect until either modified or cancelled
 by mutual consent of the Internet Engineering Task Force and the
 Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, or cancelled by
 either party with at least six (6) months notice.

 3. Definition of terms and abbreviations used in this document.

 ICANN - Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, a
 California non-profit corporation.

 IANA - Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (a traditional name, used
 here to refer to the technical team making and publishing the
 assignments of Internet protocol technical parameters). The IANA
 technical team is now part of ICANN.

 IETF - the Internet Engineering Task Force, the unincorporated
 association operating under such name that creates Internet Standards
 and related documents.

 IAB -  the Internet Architecture Board, an oversight committee of the
 IETF. The IAB is chartered to designate the IANA on behalf of the
 IETF.

 IESG - the Internet Engineering Steering Group, a management
 committee of the IETF.

 IRTF - the Internet Research Task Force, an unincorporated
 association also overseen by the IAB.

 IRSG - the Internet Research Steering group, a management committee
 of the IRTF.

 RFC -  "Request For Comments", the archival document series of the
 IETF, also used by the IRTF and by third parties.

 ISOC - the Internet Society, a not-for-profit corporation that
 supports the IETF.

 4. Agreed technical work items.  ICANN agrees that during the term of
 this MOU it shall cause IANA to comply,  for protocols within IETF's
 scope, with the following requirements, which ICANN and IETF
 acknowledge reflect the existing arrangements under which the IANA is
 operated:

 4.1. The IANA will assign and register Internet protocol parameters
 only as directed by the criteria and procedures specified in RFCs,
 including Proposed, Draft and full Internet Standards and Best
 Current Practice documents, and any other RFC that calls for IANA

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 assignment. If they are not so specified, or in case of ambiguity,
 IANA will continue to assign and register Internet protocol
 parameters that have traditionally been registered by IANA, following
 past and current practice for such assignments, unless otherwise
 directed by the IESG.

 If in doubt or in case of a technical dispute, IANA will seek and
 follow technical guidance exclusively from the IESG. Where
 appropriate the IESG will appoint an expert to advise IANA.

 The IANA will work with the IETF to develop any missing criteria and
 procedures over time, which the IANA will adopt when so instructed by
 the IESG.

 4.2. In the event of technical dispute between the IANA and the IESG,
 both will seek guidance from the IAB whose decision shall be final.

 4.3. Two particular assigned spaces present policy issues in addition
 to the technical considerations specified by the IETF: the assignment
 of domain names, and the assignment of IP address blocks. These
 policy issues are outside the scope of this MOU.

 Note that (a) assignments of domain names for technical uses (such as
 domain names for inverse DNS lookup), (b) assignments of specialised
 address blocks (such as multicast or anycast blocks), and (c)
 experimental assignments are not considered to be policy issues, and
 shall remain subject to the provisions of this Section 4.  (For
 purposes of this MOU, the term "assignments" includes allocations.)
 In the event ICANN adopts a policy that prevents it from complying
 with the provisions of this Section 4 with respect to the assignments
 described in (a) - (c) above, ICANN will notify the IETF, which may
 then exercise its ability to cancel this MOU under Section 2 above.

 4.4. The IANA shall make available to the public, on-line and free of
 charge, information about each current assignment, including contact
 details for the assignee.  Assignments published in RFCs by the RFC
 Editor and available publicly will be deemed to meet the requirements
 of this Section 4.4.

 4.5. The IANA shall provide on-line facilities for the public to
 request Internet protocol parameter assignments and shall either
 execute such assignments, or deny them for non- conformance with
 applicable technical requirements, in a timely manner. There shall be
 no charge for assignments without the consent of the IAB. Requests
 shall only be denied on legitimate technical grounds.

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 For protocols within the IETF scope (i.e., registries created by IETF
 action), appeals against such denials may be made to the IESG and
 subsequently to the IAB as provided in 4.2 above.

 4.6. The IANA shall have non-voting liaison seats on appropriate IETF
 committees as determined by the IETF, and may participate in all IETF
 discussions concerning technical requirements for protocol parameter
 assignment through such liaisons.

 4.7. The IANA shall review all documents in IETF Last Call to
 identify any issues of concern to the IANA, and shall raise these
 issues with the IESG.

 5.  Application to IRTF/IRSG.  The parties understand that certain of
 the protocol parameters to be assigned by IANA will be relevant to
 IRTF, rather than IETF. With respect to these protocol parameters,
 IANA will comply with the procedures set forth in Section 4, with the
 understanding that IRTF and IRSG shall be substituted for IETF and
 IESG, respectively, in such procedures. In the event of any question
 as to whether a particular protocol parameter relates principally to
 IETF or IRTF, the IAB shall have the authority to answer such
 question in its discretion.

 6.  General.  This MOU does not constitute any of the parties as a
 partner, joint venturer, agent, principal or franchisee of any other
 party. The waiver of any provision of this MOU on any occasion shall
 not constitute a waiver for purposes of any other occasion.  No party
 may transfer or assign any interest, right or obligation arising
 under this MOU without the prior written consent of each other party
 to this MOU.

 7.  Effectiveness of MOU.  This Agreement requires the approval or
 ratification of the ICANN Board of Directors.  The signatory for
 ICANN shall use his best efforts to secure and deliver to IETF such
 approval or ratification within two months of signing.

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 IN WITNESS WHEREOF, this Memorandum of Understanding is executed as
 of this first day of March 2000 by the undersigned, acting through
 their duly authorized representatives:

 INTERNET ENGINEERING TASK FORCE

 By: __________________________ Fred Baker, IETF Chair

 Approved by:

 INTERNET ARCHITECTURE BOARD

 By: __________________________ Brian Carpenter, IAB Chair

 INTERNET CORPORATION FOR ASSIGNED NAMES AND NUMBERS

 By:___________________________ Mike Roberts, President

Security considerations

 This document does not directly impact the security of the Internet.

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Acknowledgements

 The technical heart of this document was discussed in the IETF
 POISSON working group in 1998 and 1999 and reviewed by the IESG and
 IAB. Jorge Contreras, Joyce K. Reynolds, and Louis Touton assisted in
 its finalisation.

Authors' Addresses

 Brian E. Carpenter
 iCAIR
 Suite 150
 1890 Maple Avenue
 Evanston IL 60201
 USA

 EMail: brian@icair.org

 Fred Baker
 519 Lado Drive
 Santa Barbara, CA 93111
 USA

 EMail: fred@cisco.com

 Michael M. Roberts
 Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)
 4676 Admiralty Way, Suite 330
 Marina del Rey, CA 90292
 USA

 EMail: roberts@icann.org

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Full Copyright Statement

 Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2000).  All Rights Reserved.

 This document and translations of it may be copied and furnished to
 others, and derivative works that comment on or otherwise explain it
 or assist in its implementation may be prepared, copied, published
 and distributed, in whole or in part, without restriction of any
 kind, provided that the above copyright notice and this paragraph are
 included on all such copies and derivative works.  However, this
 document itself may not be modified in any way, such as by removing
 the copyright notice or references to the Internet Society or other
 Internet organizations, except as needed for the purpose of
 developing Internet standards in which case the procedures for
 copyrights defined in the Internet Standards process must be
 followed, or as required to translate it into languages other than
 English.

 The limited permissions granted above are perpetual and will not be
 revoked by the Internet Society or its successors or assigns.

 This document and the information contained herein is provided on an
 "AS IS" basis and THE INTERNET SOCIETY AND THE INTERNET ENGINEERING
 TASK FORCE DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING
 BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTY THAT THE USE OF THE INFORMATION
 HEREIN WILL NOT INFRINGE ANY RIGHTS OR ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF
 MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

Acknowledgement

 Funding for the RFC Editor function is currently provided by the
 Internet Society.

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