14. Definitions of Terms

IETF Area - A management division within the IETF. An Area consists of Working Groups related to a general topic such as routing. An Area is managed by one or two Area Directors.
Area Director - The manager of an IETF Area. The Area Directors along with the IETF Chair comprise the Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG).
File Transfer Protocol (FTP) - An Internet application used to transfer files in a TCP/IP network.
gopher - An Internet application used to interactively select and retrieve files in a TCP/IP network.
Internet Architecture Board (IAB) - An appointed group that assists in the management of the IETF standards process.
Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG) - A group comprised of the IETF Area Directors and the IETF Chair. The IESG is responsible for the management, along with the IAB, of the IETF and is the standards approval board for the IETF.
interoperable - For the purposes of this document, "interoperable" means to be able to interoperate over a data communications path.
Last-Call - A public comment period used to gage the level of consensus about the reasonableness of a proposed standards action. (see section 6.1.2)
online - Relating to information made available over the Internet. When referenced in this document material is said to be online when it is retrievable without restriction or undue fee using standard Internet applications such as anonymous FTP, gopher or the WWW.
Working Group - A group chartered by the IESG and IAB to work on a specific specification, set of specifications or topic.