RFC 8890: The Internet is for End Users | RFC EditorYour browser has JavaScript disabled. Most of this site works without JS, but some features require it. If something seems broken please try enabling JavaScript and reloading the page.<br>The JavaScript used by this site is served directly from IETF infrastructure and does not include any code that links to a third party service.
The RFC Series What is an RFC?<br>How can I use RFCs?<br>Tips for reading RFCs<br>Browse all RFCs<br>Download RFCs<br>Errata in RFCs<br>FAQ
For Authors How to write an RFC<br>Independent Submissions<br>Style Guide<br>RFC Publication Process<br>Document Queue
About Us About RFC Editor<br>Reports<br>Privacy Statement<br>Contact
Search<br>Your preferences Theme<br>RFC Info pages
Info<br>RFC 8890: The Internet is for End Users<br>M. Nottingham<br>Informational
Abstract
This document explains why the IAB believes that, when there is a<br>conflict between the interests of end users of the Internet and other<br>parties, IETF decisions should favor end users. It also explores how<br>the IETF can more effectively achieve this.¶
Status of This Memo
This document is not an Internet Standards Track specification; it is<br>published for informational purposes.¶
This document is a product of the Internet Architecture Board<br>(IAB) and represents information that the IAB has deemed valuable<br>to provide for permanent record. It represents the consensus of the Internet<br>Architecture Board (IAB). Documents approved for publication<br>by the IAB are not candidates for any level of Internet Standard; see<br>Section 2 of RFC 7841.¶
Information about the current status of this document, any<br>errata, and how to provide feedback on it may be obtained at<br>https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc8890.¶
Copyright Notice
Copyright (c) 2020 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the<br>document authors. All rights reserved.¶
This document is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal<br>Provisions Relating to IETF Documents<br>(https://trustee.ietf.org/license-info) in effect on the date of<br>publication of this document. Please review these documents<br>carefully, as they describe your rights and restrictions with<br>respect to this document.¶
1. Introduction
Many who participate in the IETF are most comfortable making what we<br>believe to be purely technical decisions; our process<br>favors technical merit through our well-known mantra of "rough consensus<br>and running code."¶
Nevertheless, the running code that results from our process (when<br>things work well) inevitably has an impact beyond technical<br>considerations, because the underlying decisions afford some uses while<br>discouraging others. While we believe we are making only technical<br>decisions, in reality, we are defining (in some degree) what is possible<br>on the Internet itself.¶
This impact has become significant. As the Internet increasingly<br>mediates essential functions in societies, it has unavoidably become<br>profoundly political; it has helped people overthrow governments,<br>revolutionize social orders, swing elections, control populations,<br>collect data about individuals, and reveal secrets. It has created<br>wealth for some individuals and companies while destroying that of others.¶
All of this raises the question: For whom do we go through the pain<br>of gathering rough consensus and writing running code?¶
After all, there are a variety of parties that standards can benefit,<br>such as (but not limited to) end users, network operators, schools,<br>equipment vendors, specification authors, specification implementers,<br>content owners, governments, nongovernmental organizations, social<br>movements, employers, and parents.¶
Successful specifications will provide some benefit to all the<br>relevant parties because standards do not represent a zero-sum<br>game. However, there are sometimes situations where there is a conflict<br>between the needs of two (or more) parties.¶
In these situations, when one of those parties is an "end user" of<br>the Internet -- for example, a person using a web browser, mail client,<br>or another agent that connects to the Internet -- the Internet<br>Architecture Board argues that the IETF should favor their interests<br>over those of other parties.¶
Section 2 explains what is meant by "end<br>users", Section 3 outlines why IETF work<br>should prioritize them, and Section 4<br>describes how we can do that.¶
2. Who Are "End Users"?
In this document, "end users" means human users whose activities<br>IETF standards support, sometimes<br>indirectly. Thus, the end user of a protocol to manage routers is not a<br>router administrator; it is the people using the network that the router<br>operates within.¶
End users are not necessarily a homogenous group; they might have<br>different views of how the Internet should work and might occupy<br>several roles, such as a seller, buyer, publisher, reader, service<br>provider, and consumer. An end user might browse the Web, monitor<br>remote equipment, play a game, videoconference with colleagues,<br>send messages to friends, or perform an operation in a remote<br>surgery theater. They might...