OpenStand: Affirmation of the Modern Paradigm for Standards

Internet Architecture Board (IAB)                             R. Housley
Request for Comments: 6852                                    IETF Chair
Category: Informational                                         S. Mills
ISSN: 2070-1721                                        IEEE-SA President
                                                                J. Jaffe
                                                                 W3C CEO
                                                                B. Aboba
                                                               IAB Chair
                                                             L. St.Amour
                                                  ISOC President and CEO
                                                            January 2013


            Affirmation of the Modern Paradigm for Standards

Abstract

   On 29 August 2012, the leaders of the IEEE Standards Association, the
   IAB, the IETF, the Internet Society, and the W3C signed a statement
   affirming the importance of a jointly developed set of principles
   establishing a modern paradigm for global, open standards.  These
   principles have become known as the "OpenStand" principles.  This
   document contains the text of the affirmation that was signed.

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.  It represents the consensus of the
   Internet Architecture Board (IAB).  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/rfc6852.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (c) 2013 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the
   document authors.  All rights reserved.

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   to this document.

1.  Introduction

   On 29 August 2012, the leaders of the IEEE Standards Association, the
   IAB, the IETF, the Internet Society, and the W3C signed a statement
   affirming the importance of a jointly developed set of principles
   establishing a modern paradigm for global, open standards.  These
   principles have become known as the "OpenStand" principles.

   Section 2 of this document describes the five OpenStand principles.
   Section 3 of this document contains the text of the signed
   affirmation of the five OpenStand principles.  Section 4 contains a
   call for others to support the five OpenStand principles.

2.  Modern Paradigm for Standards

   Over the past several decades, the global economy has realized a huge
   bounty due to the Internet and the World Wide Web.  These could not
   have been possible without the innovations and standardization of
   many underlying technologies.  This standardization occurred with
   great speed and effectiveness only because of key characteristics of
   a modern global standards paradigm.  The affirmation below
   characterizes the principles that have led to this success as a means
   to ensure acceptance of standards activities that adhere to the
   principles.

   We embrace a modern paradigm for standards where the economics of
   global markets, fueled by technological advancements, drive global
   deployment of standards regardless of their formal status.

   In this paradigm standards support interoperability, foster global
   competition, are developed through an open participatory process, and
   are voluntarily adopted globally.  These voluntary standards serve as
   building blocks for products and services targeted at meeting the
   needs of the market and consumer, thereby driving innovation.
   Innovation in turn contributes to the creation of new markets and the
   growth and expansion of existing markets.

   Participation in the modern paradigm demands:

   1. Cooperation.  Respectful cooperation between standards
      organizations, whereby each respects the autonomy, integrity,
      processes, and intellectual property rules of the others.

   2. Adherence to principles.  Adherence to the five fundamental
      principles of standards development:

      * Due process.  Decisions are made with equity and fairness among
        participants.  No one party dominates or guides standards
        development.  Standards processes are transparent and
        opportunities exist to appeal decisions.  Processes for periodic
        standards review and updating are well defined.

      * Broad consensus.  Processes allow for all views to be considered
        and addressed, such that agreement can be found across a range
        of interests.

      * Transparency.  Standards organizations provide advance public
        notice of proposed standards development activities, the scope
        of work to be undertaken, and conditions for participation.
        Easily accessible records of decisions and the materials used in
        reaching those decisions are provided.  Public comment periods
        are provided before final standards approval and adoption.

      * Balance.  Standards activities are not exclusively dominated by
        any particular person, company or interest group.

      * Openness.  Standards processes are open to all interested and
        informed parties.

   3. Collective empowerment.  Commitment by affirming standards
      organizations and their participants to collective empowerment by
      striving for standards that:

      * are chosen and defined based on technical merit, as judged by
        the contributed expertise of each participant;

      * provide global interoperability, scalability, stability, and
        resiliency;

      * enable global competition;

      * serve as building blocks for further innovation; and

      * contribute to the creation of global communities, benefiting
        humanity.

   4. Availability.  Standards specifications are made accessible to all
      for implementation and deployment.  Affirming standards
      organizations have defined procedures to develop specifications
      that can be implemented under fair terms.  Given market diversity,
      fair terms may vary from royalty-free to fair, reasonable, and
      non-discriminatory terms (FRAND).

   5. Voluntary adoption.  Standards are voluntarily adopted and success
      is determined by the market.

3.  Affirmation

   We embrace a modern paradigm for standards where the economics of
   global markets, fueled by technological advancements, drive global
   deployment of standards regardless of their formal status.

   In this paradigm standards support interoperability, foster global
   competition, are developed through an open participatory process, and
   are voluntarily adopted globally.  These voluntary standards serve as
   building blocks for products and services targeted at meeting the
   needs of the market and consumer, thereby driving innovation.
   Innovation in turn contributes to the creation of new markets and the
   growth and expansion of existing markets.

   By signing this statement, we affirm our support for and adherence to
   these principles.

      Lynn St.Amour
      President and CEO
      Internet Society

      Russ Housley
      Chair
      Internet Engineering Task Force

      Bernard Aboba
      Chair
      Internet Architecture Board

      Jeff Jaffe
      CEO
      W3C

      Steve Mills
      President
      IEEE Standards Association

4.  Call for Endorsement

   We invite other standards organizations, governments, corporations
   and technology innovators globally to support these principles.  You
   can publicly show your support at <http://www.open-stand.org>.

5.  Security Considerations

   Nothing in this document directly affects the security of the
   Internet.

6.  IAB Members at Time of Approval

   Internet Architecture Board Members at the time this document was
   approved were:

      Bernard Aboba
      Jari Arkko
      Marc Blanchet
      Ross Callon
      Alissa Cooper
      Spencer Dawkins
      Joel Halpern
      Russ Housley
      David Kessens
      Danny McPherson
      Jon Peterson
      Dave Thaler
      Hannes Tschofenig

Authors' Addresses

   Russ Housley
   EMail: housley@vigilsec.com

   Steve Mills
   EMail: s.mills@ieee.org

   Jeff Jaffe
   EMail: jeff@w3.org

   Bernard Aboba
   EMail: bernard_aboba@hotmail.com

   Lynn St.Amour
   EMail: st.amour@isoc.org