RFC 54: The Open Review Process that Shaped Internet Protocols

On June 29, 1970, RFC 54 was published. It contained the first complete draft of the Network Control Protocol (NCP), the first host-to-host protocol used on the ARPANET and the predecessor to TCP/IP. The document was prepared by Steve Crocker, Jon Postel, John Newkirk, and Mike Kraley.

What made RFC 54 remarkable wasn’t just the protocol itself, but the way it was developed. The document did not declare a new standard. Instead, its authors explicitly described it as a proposal, asked their colleagues to review it, send comments, and attend meetings to discuss possible improvements. Only after that process would the specification be finalized.

That approach proved to be just as important as NCP itself. Rather than developing standards behind closed doors, the ARPANET community created an open review process in which engineers worked together to refine the future of networking. This is also where the RFC series got its name: Request for Comments.

That tradition continues today. New Internet protocols, as well as extensions to HTTP, DNS, TLS, IPv6, and many other technologies, are first published as Internet-Drafts and RFCs. They are discussed by engineers around the world through the IETF, revised based on feedback, and only then adopted as official standards. It all began with documents like RFC 54, where key technical decisions were made not by a single company, but by a community of engineers.

Interesting Links

• RFC 54 — An Official Protocol Proffering

See also RFC 3514 and the Evil Bit: A Humorous Take on Network Security Standards.