Making standards the IETF way

Abstract

The Internet began as a research activity by the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA) and has developed into a global data com- munications service, operated as a loose confederation of many different organizations. At the core of this service is a collection of networking technolo- gies that were originated by the DARPA- funded researchers but that now benefit from Improvements and additions by an equally loose international confederation drawn from research, academia, and industry. The Internet currently Is estimated to Include about 40,000 networks and 20 million users. It Is doubling approximately every year, so its technology Is reaching further into the general population.