Clarifying Registry Procedures

for the WebSocket Subprotocol Name Registry

Abstract

This document clarifies the instructions to IANA for the subprotocol registry set up for WebSockets in RFC 6455.

Status of This Memo

This is an Internet Standards Track document.

This document is a product of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). It represents the consensus of the IETF community. It has received public review and has been approved for publication by the Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG). Further information on Internet Standards is available in Section 2 of RFC 7841.

Information about the current status of this document, any errata, and how to provide feedback on it may be obtained at http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc7936.

Copyright Notice

Copyright © 2016 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 (http://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. Code Components extracted from this document must include Simplified BSD License text as described in Section 4.e of the Trust Legal Provisions and are provided without warranty as described in the Simplified BSD License.

Table of Contents

   1. Introduction ................................................... 2
   2. Clarified Instructions ......................................... 2
   3. Security Considerations ........................................ 2
   4. IANA Considerations ............................................ 2
   5. Normative References ........................................... 3
   Acknowledgements .................................................. 3
   Author's Address .................................................. 3

1. Introduction

Section 11.5 of [RFC6455] sets up a WebSocket Subprotocol Name Registry at IANA and directs IANA to use First Come First Serve registration procedures as set out in [RFC5226]. The reuse of this registry by other protocols has indicated that some clarification of the instructions to IANA would be useful.

2. Clarified Instructions

The tokens registered in the WebSocket Subprotocol Name Registry created by Section 11.5 of RFC 6455 are matched using case-sensitive string match. IANA is, however, instructed to decline registrations in the registry which differ only as to case, in order to minimize potential confusion among different registered versions. For other useful advice on avoiding collision, registrants are encouraged to consult the non-normative Section 1.9 of RFC 6455.

3. Security Considerations

This document describes an update to registry policy, not a protocol.

4. IANA Considerations

This document is, in its entirety, a clarification of the registry policy for the WebSocket Subprotocol Name Registry. As part of this clarification, IANA has listed both this document and RFC 6455 as references for the WebSocket Subprotocol Name Registry. In addition, IANA has included the following note under the registry's Registration Procedures: "Please see Section 2 of RFC 7936, which clarifies that registrations which differ from existing registrations only by case will be refused."

5. Normative References

   [RFC6455]  Fette, I. and A. Melnikov, "The WebSocket Protocol",
              RFC 6455, DOI 10.17487/RFC6455, December 2011,
              <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc6455>.
   
   [RFC5226]  Narten, T. and H. Alvestrand, "Guidelines for Writing an
              IANA Considerations Section in RFCs", BCP 26, RFC 5226,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC5226, May 2008,
              <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc5226>.

Acknowledgements

Takeshi Yoshino, Anne Van Kesteren, Julian Reshke, Barry Leiba, and Alexey Melnikov reviewed this update. Harald Alvestrand acted as document shepherd.

Author's Address

   Ted Hardie
   
   Email: ted.ietf@gmail.com