The Bodies of Internet Governance

These notes are a brief outline of the various bodies that govern the internet. Keep in mind the internet isn’t a clearly defined body, so governing it isn’t like governing a state. Rather, these bodies create standards that the companies who run internet businesses can implement.

The internet grew out of the ARPAnet, originally set up in 1969, consisting of four nodes: Stanford Research Institute, UCLA, UCSB, and the University of Utah. Here’s the original map:

Early map of the ARPAnet with four nodes.
Early map of the ARPAnet with four nodes. From Scientific American, Dec. 2009

The core process of internet governance is the Request for Comment (RFC) document. When you want to set a new standard, you write an RFC document and ask for comments. Then a bunch of people argue about it, re-write it, argue some more, re-write some more, until consensus emerges.  The bodies described below all exist to manage the process in some way or another.

Internet Society (ISOC)

  • A not-for-profit organization, based in Washington DC.
  • Funded by membership fees. Anyone can become a member.
  • Contains IETF, IAB, IESG, IRTF, IRSG, RFC Editor
  • The ISOC maintains a useful chart of the Internet ecosystem

Internet Activities Board (IAB)

  • Originally a DARPA advisory board
  • Nominated by the IETF
  • Considers the overall architecture of internet standards, at a more general level than IETF working groups.

Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF)

  • Reports to ISOC
  • Is an open body – has no formal membership
  • Funded by meeting fees
  • Most of the communication is through mailing lists
  • Is a collection of working groups which develop standards for various internet protocols and best practices

Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG)

  • Reports to ISOC
  • Made up of the area directors of IETF, nominated by the nominating committee (see RFC 2727) of the IETF
  • Vets and approves IETF standards that are ratified by ISOC

Internet Research Task Force (IRTF)

  • Parallel to the IETF, this group works on long-term internet standards research
  • Chair is appointed by the IAB
  • The IRTF has research groups that parallel the IETF’s working groups.

Internet Research Steering Group (IRSG)

  • Parallels the IESG
  • Reports to ISOC
  • Made up of the area directors of IRSG, nominated by the nominating committee
  • Reviews and approves IRTF documents

RFC Editor

Internet Corporation for Assigned Nam es and Numbers (ICANN)

  • Sets the policies for the assignment of internet names and numbers.
  • Not-for-profit, based in California
  • Has no regular members, but an invited board of 16 members
  • Has a government advisory committee made up of advisors from 111 countries.
  • Funded by domain name registry sales
  • Its executive branch is IANA.
  • ICANN’s Beginner’s Guides are helpful introductions to participating in ICANN, to IP addresses, and more.

Internet Assigned Names Authority (IANA)