Technical Summary
Many protocols make use of identifiers consisting of constants and
other well-known values. Even after a protocol has been defined and
deployment has begun, new values may need to be assigned (e.g., for a
new option type in DHCP, or a new encryption or authentication
transform for IPsec). To ensure that such quantities have consistent
values and interpretations in different implementations, their
assignment must be administered by a central authority. For IETF
protocols, that role is provided by the Internet Assigned Numbers
Authority (IANA).
In order for IANA to manage a given name space prudently, it needs
guidelines describing the conditions under which new values can be
assigned, or when modifications to existing values can be made. If
IANA is expected to play a role in the management of a name space, the
IANA must be given clear and concise instructions describing that
role. This document discusses issues that should be considered in
formulating a policy for assigning values to a name space and provides
guidelines to document authors on the specific text that must be
included in documents that place demands on IANA.
Working Group Summary
This document is not the product of any IETF Working Group.
Protocol Quality
This document will obsolete RFC 2434 once it is approved. It
incorporates lessons learned from using RFC 2434 for many years.
This document was reviewed by Russ Housley for the IESG.
Note to RFC Editor
The final word of the first paragraph on page 8 is missing.
Please add the missing word as follows:
OLD:
responsibility of the pool's chair to resolve the issue and provide
IANA with clear
NEW:
responsibility of the pool's chair to resolve the issue and provide
IANA with clear instructions.