About Us
The RFC series (ISSN 2070-1721) was originated in 1969 by Steve Crocker of UCLA, to organize the working notes of the new ARPAnet research program. For 28 years, this RFC series was managed and edited by the Internet pioneer Jon Postel. For the history of the series, see “30 Years of RFCs” and “40 Years of RFCs“.
RFC Editor operation was funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) of the US government until 1998. Since 1998, the RFC Editor has been funded by a contract with the Internet Society, to continue to edit, publish, and catalog RFCs. The RFC Editor was a project at the USC Information Sciences Institute in Marina del Rey, California, through 2009. Currently, the RFC Production Center and Publisher functions are provided by Association Management Solutions, LLC (AMS) under contract with the IETF Administrative Support Activity (IASA).
RFC 6635, “RFC Editor Model (Version 2)”, divides the responsibilities for the RFC series into several components:
- the RFC Series Editor (RSE),
- the RFC Production Center, and
- the RFC Publisher.
In addition, these groups are essential to the RFC series:
- the RFC Series Advisory Group provides “expert, informed guidance (chiefly, to the RSE) in matters affecting the RFC Series operation and development”.
- the RFC Series Oversight Committee provides operational oversight on behalf of the IAB.
RFC 6548, “Independent Submission Editor Model”, describes the roles of
- the Independent Submissions Editor (ISE) and
- the Independent Submissions Editorial Board, which provides review for the ISE.
For more information, see the list of RFCs that govern the RFC Editor function.
The RFC Editor regularly attends IETF meetings – see Office Hours.