RFC Streams, Headers, and Boilerplates
RFC 5741

Internet Architecture Board (IAB)                         L. Daigle, Ed.
Request for Comments: 5741                               O. Kolkman, Ed.
Updates: 2223, 4844                                          For the IAB
Category: Informational                                    December 2009
ISSN: 2070-1721

                 RFC Streams, Headers, and Boilerplates

Abstract

   RFC documents contain a number of fixed elements such as the title
   page header, standard boilerplates, and copyright/IPR statements.
   This document describes them and introduces some updates to reflect
   current usage and requirements of RFC publication.  In particular,
   this updated structure is intended to communicate clearly the source
   of RFC creation and review.

Status of This Memo

   This document is not an Internet Standards Track specification; it is
   published for informational purposes.

   This document is a product of the Internet Architecture Board (IAB)
   and represents information that the IAB has deemed valuable to
   provide for permanent record.  Documents approved for publication by
   the IAB are not a candidate for any level of Internet Standard; see
   Section 2 of RFC 5741.

   Information about the current status of this document, any errata,
   and how to provide feedback on it may be obtained at
   http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc5741.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (c) 2009 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the
   document authors.  All rights reserved.

   This document is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal
   Provisions Relating to IETF Documents
   (http://trustee.ietf.org/license-info) in effect on the date of
   publication of this document.  Please review these documents
   carefully, as they describe your rights and restrictions with respect
   to this document.  Code Components extracted from this document must
   include Simplified BSD License text as described in Section 4.e of
   the Trust Legal Provisions and are provided without warranty as
   described in the BSD License.

Daigle, et al.               Informational                      [Page 1]
RFC 5741           RFC Streams, Headers, Boilerplates      December 2009

Table of Contents

   1.  Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  2
   2.  RFC Streams and Internet Standards . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  3
   3.  RFC Structural Elements  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  3
     3.1.  The Title Page Header  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  3
     3.2.  The Status of this Memo  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  5
       3.2.1.  Paragraph 1  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  6
       3.2.2.  Paragraph 2  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  6
       3.2.3.  Paragraph 3  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  8
       3.2.4.  Noteworthy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  9
     3.3.  Additional Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  9
     3.4.  Other Structural Information in RFCs . . . . . . . . . . .  9
   4.  Security Considerations  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  9
   5.  RFC Editor Considerations  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
   6.  References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
     6.1.  Normative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
     6.2.  Informative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
   Appendix A.  Some Example 'Status of This Memo' Boilerplates . . . 12
     A.1.  IETF Standards Track . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
     A.2.  IETF Experimental, with Consensus Call . . . . . . . . . . 12
     A.3.  IETF Experimental, No Consensus Call . . . . . . . . . . . 13
     A.4.  IAB Informational  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
     A.5.  IRTF Experimental, No Consensus Call . . . . . . . . . . . 14
     A.6.  Independent Submission Informational . . . . . . . . . . . 15
   Appendix B.  IAB Members at Time of Approval . . . . . . . . . . . 15
   Appendix C.  Acknowledgements  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

1.  Introduction

   Previously, RFCs (e.g., [RFC4844]) contained a number of elements
   that were there for historical, practical, and legal reasons.  They
   also contained boilerplate material to clearly indicate the status of
   the document and possibly contained "Notes" to indicate how the
   document interacts with IETF Standards Track documents.

   As the RFC Series has evolved over the years, there has been
   increasing concern over appropriate labeling of the publications to
   make clear the status of each RFC and the status of the work it
   describes.  Chiefly, there is a requirement that RFCs published as
   part of the IETF's review process not be easily confused with RFCs
   that may have had a very different review and approval process.