



AI Preferences                                               T. R. Zehta
Internet-Draft                                          Creative Commons
Intended status: Informational                              6 April 2026
Expires: 8 October 2026


                      AIPREF Vocabulary Exclusions
                    draft-zehta-aipref-exclusions-00

Abstract

   This document proposes an update to the AI preferences vocabulary
   [VOCAB] in order to establish protected uses (exclusions).

About This Document

   This note is to be removed before publishing as an RFC.

   The latest revision of this draft can be found at
   https://TimidRobot.github.io/ietf-aipref-exclusions/draft-zehta-
   aipref-exclusions.html.  Status information for this document may be
   found at https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/draft-zehta-aipref-
   exclusions/.

   Discussion of this document takes place on the AI Preferences Working
   Group mailing list (mailto:ai-control@ietf.org), which is archived at
   https://mailarchive.ietf.org/arch/browse/ai-control/.  Subscribe at
   https://www.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/ai-control/.

   Source for this draft and an issue tracker can be found at
   https://github.com/TimidRobot/ietf-aipref-exclusions.

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-
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   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 8 October 2026.



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Copyright Notice

   Copyright (c) 2026 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.  Code Components
   extracted from this document must include Revised BSD License text as
   described in Section 4.e of the Trust Legal Provisions and are
   provided without warranty as described in the Revised BSD License.

Table of Contents

   1.  Introduction  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   2
   2.  Conventions and Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   2
   3.  Statements of Preference  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
     3.1.  Conformance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
     3.2.  Public Interest Exclusions  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
     3.3.  Applicability and Effect  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
   4.  Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
   5.  IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
   6.  References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
     6.1.  Normative References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
     6.2.  Informative References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
   Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
   Author's Address  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5

1.  Introduction

   This proposal establishes exclusions within the AI preferences to
   protect public interest activities.  These exclusions help balance
   content holder agency, end user priority, and public interest
   activities that remain essential for the open web.  Creating explicit
   exclusions from AI preferences for public interest activities will
   create certainty and, therefore, strengthen their position.

   This proposal can also be viewed as a [DIFF].

2.  Conventions and Definitions

   The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT",
   "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "NOT RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and
   "OPTIONAL" in this document are to be interpreted as described in
   BCP 14 [RFC2119] [RFC8174] when, and only when, they appear in all
   capitals, as shown here.



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3.  Statements of Preference

   See [VOCAB].

3.1.  Conformance

   See [VOCAB].

3.2.  Public Interest Exclusions

   Regardless of the preferences expressed, the following public
   interest uses are excluded:

   *  Anyone can use the assets for malicious content detection

      -  For example: A website that permits user uploads may use the
         assets to develop or use tools that detect harmful content
         according to established terms of use.

   *  Any end user can use the assets for internationalization and
      localization, and for accessibility tools to aid individuals with
      accessibility needs

      -  For example: Individuals with accessibility needs may utilize
         software that uses the assets to access automated captions or
         generate accessible formats.

   *  Organizations that preserve expressed preferences can use the
      assets for public archiving

      -  For example: An archive that preserves preferences may use the
         assets to improve the metadata associated with assets or help
         with discoverability.

   *  Cultural heritage institutions and not-for-profit research and/or
      educational organizations can use the assets for analysis and
      research

      -  For example: A cultural heritage organization may use the
         assets to provide more useful, reliable, or discoverable access
         to historical web collections.

3.3.  Applicability and Effect

   This specification provides a set of definitions for different
   categories of use, plus a system for associating simple preferences
   to each (allow, disallow, or unknown; see Section 3).




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   This specification does not provide any enforcement mechanism for
   those preferences, and conformance to it does not encompass whether
   preferences are actually respected during data processing.

   Preferences do not themselves create rights or prohibitions, either
   in the positive or the negative.  Other mechanisms—technical, legal,
   contractual, or otherwise—might enforce stated preferences and
   thereby determine the consequences of following or not following a
   stated preference.

   An entity that receives usage preferences MAY choose to respect those
   preferences it has discovered, according to an understanding of how
   the asset is used, how that usage corresponds to the usage categories
   where preferences have been stated, and the applicable legal context.

   Usage preferences can be ignored due to express agreements between
   relevant parties, explicit provisions of law, or the exercise of
   discretion in situations where widely recognized priorities justify
   doing so.  Priorities that could justify ignoring preferences
   include—but are not limited to—free expression, safety, education,
   scholarship, research, preservation, interoperability, and
   accessibility.

   Because enforcement is not provided by this specification, the
   consequences of ignoring preferences could vary depending upon how a
   given legal jurisdiction recognizes preferences.

4.  Security Considerations

   See [VOCAB].

5.  IANA Considerations

   This document has no IANA actions.

6.  References

6.1.  Normative References

   [RFC2119]  Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate
              Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC2119, March 1997,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2119>.

   [RFC8174]  Leiba, B., "Ambiguity of Uppercase vs Lowercase in RFC
              2119 Key Words", BCP 14, RFC 8174, DOI 10.17487/RFC8174,
              May 2017, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc8174>.




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   [VOCAB]    Keller, P. and M. Thomson, Ed., "A Vocabulary For
              Expressing AI Usage Preferences", Work in Progress,
              Internet-Draft, draft-ietf-aipref-vocab-05, April 2026,
              <https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/draft-ietf-aipref-
              vocab-05>.

6.2.  Informative References

   [AIPREF-IMPACT]
              Badii, F., Bailey, L., and J. Levy, "AI Preferences
              Signaling: End User Impact", Work in Progress, Internet-
              Draft, draft-farzdusa-aipref-enduser-00, 26 November 2025,
              <https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/draft-farzdusa-
              aipref-enduser-00>.

   [DIFF]     "Proposal as diff · Issue #1 · TimidRobot/ietf-aipref-
              exclusions", n.d., <https://github.com/TimidRobot/ietf-
              aipref-exclusions/issues/1>.

   [ENDUSERS] Nottingham, M., "The Internet is for End Users", RFC 8890,
              August 2020,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc8890.html>.

Acknowledgments

   The following individuals made significant contributions to this
   document:

   *  Diyana Noory

   *  Sarah Pearson

   *  Vito Quaglia

Author's Address

   Timid Robot Zehta
   Creative Commons
   Email: timid@creativecommons.org












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