Today, 1 April 2008, the IETF published RFC 5241, “Naming Rights in IETF Protocols”. Authored by Aaron Falk and Scott Bradner, of BBN Technologies and Harvard University, respectively, the document proposes protocol field naming rights as a new revenue source for the IETF.
The RFC suggests that the rental of naming rights could fetch one million USD (approximately 640 kEUR) yearly. This could allow the IETF to reduce meeting fees, or perhaps rent a bar when needed.
Examples of names suitable for rental include “White & Day Mortuary Time-to-live” (in IP), and “Princess Cruise Lines Port Number” (in TCP). In the future, such naming rights might also be extended to other protocol features, such as options and parameters.
The proposal, if adopted, will require the RFC Editor to update, both initially and regularly thereafter, all RFCs so that they reflect the current status of the protocol field licenses.
External links:
- RFC 5241 (“Naming Rights in IETF Protocols”)
- “IETF RFC Page”
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