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Versions: (draft-nottingham-for-the-users) 00
01 02
Internet Architecture Board (IAB) M. Nottingham
Internet-Draft 22 January 2020
Intended status: Informational
Expires: 25 July 2020
The Internet is for End Users
draft-iab-for-the-users-02
Abstract
This document explains why the IAB believes the IETF should consider
end users as its highest priority concern, and how that can be done.
Note to Readers
The issues list for this draft can be found at
https://github.com/intarchboard/for-the-users/issues
(https://github.com/intarchboard/for-the-users/issues).
The most recent (often, unpublished) draft is at
https://intarchboard.github.io/for-the-users/
(https://intarchboard.github.io/for-the-users/).
Recent changes are listed at https://github.com/intarchboard/for-the-
users/commits/master (https://github.com/intarchboard/for-the-
users/commits/master).
See also the draft's current status in the IETF datatracker, at
https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/draft-iab-for-the-users/
(https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/draft-iab-for-the-users/).
Status of This Memo
This Internet-Draft is submitted in full conformance with the
provisions of BCP 78 and BCP 79.
Internet-Drafts are working documents of the Internet Engineering
Task Force (IETF). Note that other groups may also distribute
working documents as Internet-Drafts. The list of current Internet-
Drafts is at https://datatracker.ietf.org/drafts/current/.
Internet-Drafts are draft documents valid for a maximum of six months
and may be updated, replaced, or obsoleted by other documents at any
time. It is inappropriate to use Internet-Drafts as reference
material or to cite them other than as "work in progress."
This Internet-Draft will expire on 25 July 2020.
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Copyright Notice
Copyright (c) 2020 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the
document authors. All rights reserved.
This document is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal
Provisions Relating to IETF Documents (https://trustee.ietf.org/
license-info) in effect on the date of publication of this document.
Please review these documents carefully, as they describe your rights
and restrictions with respect to this document.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
2. What Are "End Users"? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
3. Why The IETF Should Prioritise End Users . . . . . . . . . . 4
4. How The IETF Can Prioritise End Users . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
4.1. Engaging the Internet Community . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
4.2. Creating User-Focused Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
4.3. Identifying Negative End User Impact . . . . . . . . . . 7
4.4. Handling Conflicting End User Needs . . . . . . . . . . . 8
4.5. Deprioritising Internal Needs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
5. IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
6. Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
7. Informative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Appendix A. Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Author's Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
1. Introduction
Many who participate in the IETF are most comfortable making what we
believe to be purely technical decisions; our process is defined to
favor technical merit, through our well-known mantra of "rough
consensus and running code."
Nevertheless, the running code that results from our process (when
things work well) inevitably has an impact beyond technical
considerations, because the underlying decisions afford some uses
while discouraging others. While we believe we are making only
technical decisions, in reality, we are defining (in some degree)
what is possible on the Internet itself.
This impact has become significant. As the Internet increasingly
mediates essential functions in societies, it has unavoidably become
profoundly political; it has helped people overthrow governments and
revolutionize social orders, swing elections, control populations,
collect data about individuals, and reveal secrets. It has created
wealth for some individuals and companies while destroying others'.
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All of this raises the question: Who do we go through the pain of
gathering rough consensus and writing running code for?
After all, there are a variety of parties that standards can benefit,
such as (but not limited to) end users, network operators, schools,
equipment vendors, specification authors, specification implementers,
content owners, governments, non-governmental organisations, social
movements, employers, and parents.
Successful specifications will provide some benefit to all of the
relevant parties because standards do not represent a zero-sum game.
However, there are sometimes situations where there is a need to
balance the benefits of a decision between two (or more) parties.
In these situations, when one of those parties is an "end user" of
the Internet - for example, a person using a Web browser, mail
client, or another agent that connects to the Internet - the Internet
Architecture Board argues that the IETF should favor their interests
over those of parties.
Section 2 explains what is meant by "end users"; Section 3 outlines
why IETF work should prioritise them, and Section 4 describes how we
can do that.
2. What Are "End Users"?
In this document, "end users," means non-technical users whose
activities IETF standards are designed to support, sometimes
indirectly. Thus, the end user of a protocol to manage routers is
not a router administrator; it is the people using the network that
the router operates within.
End users are not necessarily a homogenous group; they might have
different views of how the Internet should work, and might occupy
several roles, such as a seller, buyer, publisher, reader, service
provider and consumer. An end user might be browsing the Web,
monitoring remote equipment, playing a game, video conferencing with
colleagues, sending messages to friends, or performing an operation
in a remote surgery theatre. They might be "at the keyboard", or
represented by software indirectly (e.g., as a daemon).
Likewise, an individual end user might have many interests (e.g.,
privacy, security, flexibility, reachability) that are sometimes in
tension.
A person whose interests we need to consider might not directly be
using a specific system connected to the Internet. For example, if a
child is using a browser, the interests of that child's parents or
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guardians may be relevant. A person pictured in a photograph may
have an interest in systems that process that photograph; a person
entering a room with sensors that send data to the Internet has
interests that may be involved in our deliberations about how those
sensor readings are handled.
While such less-direct interactions between people and the Internet
may be harder to evaluate, this document's concept of end-user
nonetheless includes such people.
3. Why The IETF Should Prioritise End Users
Even before the IETF was established, the Internet technical
community has focused on user needs since at least [RFC0001], which
stated that "One of our goals must be to stimulate the immediate and
easy use by a wide class of users."
And, while we specialise in technical matters, the IETF is not
neutral about the purpose of its work in developing the Internet; in
"A Mission Statement for the IETF" [RFC3935], the definitions
include:
The IETF community wants the Internet to succeed because we
believe that the existence of the Internet, and its influence on
economics, communication, and education, will help us to build a
better human society.
Later in Section 2.1, "The Scope of the Internet" it says:
The Internet isn't value-neutral, and neither is the IETF. We
want the Internet to be useful for communities that share our
commitment to openness and fairness. We embrace technical
concepts such as decentralized control, edge-user empowerment and
sharing of resources, because those concepts resonate with the
core values of the IETF community. These concepts have little to
do with the technology that's possible, and much to do with the
technology that we choose to create.
In other words, the IETF is concerned with developing and maintaining
the Internet to promote the social good, and the society that the
IETF is attempting to improve is composed of end users, along with
groups of them forming businesses, governments, clubs, civil society
organizations, and other institutions.
Merely advancing the measurable success of the Internet (e.g.,
deployment size, bandwidth, latency, number of users) is not an
adequate goal; doing so ignores how technology is so often used as a
lever to assert power over users, rather than empower them.
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Beyond fulfilling the IETF's mission, prioritising end users also
helps to ensure the long-term health of the Internet and the IETF's
relevance to it. Perceptions of capture by vendors or other
providers harm both; the IETF's work will (deservedly) lose end
users' trust if it prioritises (or is perceived to prioritise)
others' interests over them.
Ultimately, the Internet will succeed or fail based upon the actions
of its users, because they are the driving force behind its growth to
date. Not prioritising them jeopardizes the network effect which the
Internet relies upon to provide so much value.
4. How The IETF Can Prioritise End Users
There are a few ways that the IAB believes the IETF community can
prioritise end users, based upon our observations. By its nature,
this is not a complete list.
4.1. Engaging the Internet Community
The IETF community does not have any unique insight into what is
"good for end users," and it is not uncommon for us to be at a
further disadvantage because of our close understanding of some - but
not all - aspects of the Internet.
At the same time, we do have a culture of considerable deference to a
broader "Internet community" in our decision-making processes. Mere
deference, however, is not adequate; even with the best intentions,
we cannot assume that our experiences of the Internet are those of
all of its end users, or that our decisions have a positive impact
upon them.
Therefore, we have not only a responsibility to analyse and consider
the impacts of the IETF's work, but also a responsibility to consult
with that greater Internet community. We should enter into a
dialogue about not only the technical concerns that are well-
represented in the IETF but also the political, social and economic
concerns that it engenders, and that are better represented
elsewhere.
The IETF community faces significant hurdles in doing so. Our work
is specialised and often esoteric, and standard processes often occur
on very long timescales. Affected parties are rarely technical
experts, and their experience of the Internet is often based upon
incomplete (and sometimes inaccurate) models. Often, even when we
try to engage a broader audience, their participation is minimal -
until a change affects someone in a way they don't like. Surprising
the Internet community is rarely a good outcome.
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Government representatives sometimes participate in the IETF
community. While this is welcome, it should not be taken as
automatically representative of end users elsewhere, or even all end
users in the relevant jurisdiction. Furthermore, what is desirable
in one jurisdiction (or at least to its administrators) might be
detrimental in others (see Section 4.4).
While some civil society organisations specialise in technology and
Internet policy, they typically do not have the capacity to
participate broadly, nor are they necessarily representative of the
larger Internet community. Nevertheless, their understanding of end
user needs is often profound, and they are in many ways the most
representative advocates for end user concerns; they should be
considered a primary channel for engaging the broader Internet
community.
A promising approach to help fill these gaps is to identify and
engage with specifically affected communities; for example, one or
more industry associations, user groups, or a set of individuals,
though we can't of course formally ensure that they are appropriately
representative.
In doing so, we should not require them to "come to us"; unless a
stakeholder community is already engaged in the IETF process
effectively, the IETF community should explore how to meet with them
on their terms - taking the initiative to contact them, explain our
work, and solicit their feedback.
In particular, while IAB workshops, BoFs and Bar BoFs can be an
effective mechanism to gather input within our community, they often
do not have the visibility in other communities that is required to
solicit input, much less effective participation.
Instead, an event like a workshop should be co-located - and ideally
hosted or co-hosted - by a forum that's familiar to that stakeholder
community. We should also take the opportunity to raise the
visibility of IETF work (or potential IETF work) in such fora through
conference talks, panels, newsletter articles, etc.
When we engage with the Internet community, we should also clearly
identify tailored feedback mechanisms (e.g., subscribing to a mailing
list may not be appropriate), and assure that they are well-known in
those communities.
Finally, we should remember that the RFC series are Requests For
Comments; if there are serious implications of our work, we should
document them and ask for feedback from the Internet Community.
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4.2. Creating User-Focused Systems
We should pay particular attention to the kinds of architectures we
create, and whether they encourage or discourage an Internet that
works for end users.
For example, one of the most successful Internet applications is the
Web. One of its key implementation roles is that of the Web browser -
called the User Agent in [RFC7230] and other specifications. Because
there are multiple interoperable implementations, users can switch
with relatively low costs, and as a result there is a natural
tendency to more carefully consider the user's needs as an agent.
This leads to Web browsers' interests being better aligned with those
of their users, creating an ecosystem that is more user-focused (even
if there are serious challenges in it regarding the balance of power
between implementations and the barrier to entry for new
implementations).
In contrast, the Internet of Things (IoT) has not yet seen the
emergence of a natural role for representing the needs of the end
user. Perhaps as a result of this, that ecosystem and its users face
serious challenges.
We should also create explicit roles for users in our protocols where
appropriate, and respect them.
4.3. Identifying Negative End User Impact
At its best, our work will unambiguously promote the collective
social good. In some cases, we will consciously decide to be neutral
and open-ended, allowing the "tussle" among stakeholders to produce a
range of results (see [TUSSLE] for further discussion).
At the very least, however, we must examine our work for negative
impact on end users, and take steps to mitigate it where encountered.
In particular, when we've identified a conflict between the interests
of end users and other stakeholders, we should err on the side of
protecting end users.
Note that "negative impact on end users" is not defined in this
document; that is something that the relevant body (e.g., Working
Group) needs to discuss and come to consensus on. Merely asserting
that something is harmful is not adequate. The converse is also
true, though; it's not permissible to avoid identifying harms, nor is
it acceptable to ignore them when brought to our attention.
The IAB and IETF have already established a body of guidance for
situations where this sort of conflict is common, including (but not
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limited to) [RFC7754] on filtering, [RFC7258] and [RFC7624] on
pervasive surveillance, [RFC7288] on host firewalls, and [RFC6973]
regarding privacy considerations.
Much of that advice has focused on maintaining the end-to-end
properties of a connection [RFC3724]. This does not mean that our
responsibility to users stops there; decisions might affect users in
other ways. For example, data collection by various applications
even inside otherwise secure connections is a major problem on the
Internet today. Also, inappropriate concentration of power on the
Internet has become a concerning phenomenon - one that protocol
design might have some influence upon.
4.4. Handling Conflicting End User Needs
When the needs of different end users conflict (for example, two sets
of end users both have reasonable desires) we again should try to
minimise negative impact.
For example, when a decision improves the Internet for end users in
one jurisdiction, but at the cost of potential harm to others
elsewhere, that is not a good tradeoff. As such, we effectively
design the Internet for the pessimal environment; if a user can be
harmed, they probably will be, somewhere.
There may be cases where genuine technical need requires compromise.
However, such tradeoffs are carefully examined and avoided when there
are alternate means of achieving the desired goals. If they cannot
be, these choices and reasoning ought to be thoroughly documented.
4.5. Deprioritising Internal Needs
There are a number of needs that are very visible to us as
specification authors, but should explicitly not be prioritised over
the needs of end users.
These include: convenience for document editors, IETF process
matters, and "architectural purity" for its own sake.
5. IANA Considerations
This document does not require action by IANA.
6. Security Considerations
This document does not have any direct security impact; however,
failing to prioritise end users might well affect their security
negatively in the long term.
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7. Informative References
[RFC0001] Crocker, S., "Host Software", RFC 1, DOI 10.17487/RFC0001,
April 1969, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc1>.
[RFC3724] Kempf, J., Ed., Austein, R., Ed., and IAB, "The Rise of
the Middle and the Future of End-to-End: Reflections on
the Evolution of the Internet Architecture", RFC 3724,
DOI 10.17487/RFC3724, March 2004,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc3724>.
[RFC3935] Alvestrand, H., "A Mission Statement for the IETF",
BCP 95, RFC 3935, DOI 10.17487/RFC3935, October 2004,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc3935>.
[RFC6973] Cooper, A., Tschofenig, H., Aboba, B., Peterson, J.,
Morris, J., Hansen, M., and R. Smith, "Privacy
Considerations for Internet Protocols", RFC 6973,
DOI 10.17487/RFC6973, July 2013,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc6973>.
[RFC7230] Fielding, R., Ed. and J. Reschke, Ed., "Hypertext Transfer
Protocol (HTTP/1.1): Message Syntax and Routing",
RFC 7230, DOI 10.17487/RFC7230, June 2014,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc7230>.
[RFC7258] Farrell, S. and H. Tschofenig, "Pervasive Monitoring Is an
Attack", BCP 188, RFC 7258, DOI 10.17487/RFC7258, May
2014, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc7258>.
[RFC7288] Thaler, D., "Reflections on Host Firewalls", RFC 7288,
DOI 10.17487/RFC7288, June 2014,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc7288>.
[RFC7624] Barnes, R., Schneier, B., Jennings, C., Hardie, T.,
Trammell, B., Huitema, C., and D. Borkmann,
"Confidentiality in the Face of Pervasive Surveillance: A
Threat Model and Problem Statement", RFC 7624,
DOI 10.17487/RFC7624, August 2015,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc7624>.
[RFC7754] Barnes, R., Cooper, A., Kolkman, O., Thaler, D., and E.
Nordmark, "Technical Considerations for Internet Service
Blocking and Filtering", RFC 7754, DOI 10.17487/RFC7754,
March 2016, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc7754>.
[TUSSLE] Clark, D., Sollins, K., Wroclawski, J., and R. Braden,
"Tussle in Cyberspace: Defining Tomorrow's Internet",
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2002,
<http://groups.csail.mit.edu/ana/Publications/PubPDFs/
Tussle2002.pdf>.
Appendix A. Acknowledgements
This document was influenced by many discussions, both inside and
outside of the IETF and IAB. In particular, Edward Snowden's
comments regarding the priority of end users at IETF 93 and the HTML5
Priority of Constituencies were both influential.
Many people gave feedback and input, including Harald Alvestrand,
Mohamed Boucadair, Stephen Farrell, Joe Hildebrand, Lee Howard, Russ
Housley, Niels ten Oever, Mando Rachovitsa, Martin Thomson, Brian
Trammell, John Klensin, Eliot Lear, Ted Hardie, and Jari Arkko.
Author's Address
Mark Nottingham
Email: mnot@mnot.net
URI: https://www.mnot.net/
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