IETF(Internet Engineering Task Force)The IETF represents the protocol engineering and development leg of the Internet. The IETF is a large collaborative international group of network designers, users, vendors, and researchers concerned with the Internet's architecture and smooth operation. Some consider it to be the international standards body for the Internet even though the Internet is not controlled by any one group. The two other major groups that participate in guiding the direction of the Internet are the Internet Architecture Board (IAB) and the Internet Research Task Force (IRTF). The IETF is open to any interested persons.
The IETF has working groups (i.e., HTML working group) that focus their efforts on technical work. These groups are organized by topic into various areas (for example, routing, network management, and security). Because of the diversity in location of individuals and the nature of the Internet itself, much of IETF's work is handled via mailing lists. In addition to the mailing lists, the IETF holds meetings three times per year.