
Technology and Standards ◾ 291
in turn oversees the development of key Internet technologies such as the TCP/IP proto-
col. It facilitates the publication of Requests for Comments (RFCs): technical memos by
working engineers and researchers, which detail a development in the way the Internet
operates. Most of these come from working groups set up by the IETF, but some can come
from independent groups or lone engineers who happen to have a new idea. In a nutshell,
when an RFC is issued, others comment on it and based on this feedback, it is revised
and reissued. Aer a period of time, this iterative process may lead to a formal standa ...