Editing Registration authority (section)

{{Short description|Responsible party for keeping authoritative list of items}}
{{For|the concept in cryptography|Public key infrastructure}}

'''Registration authorities''' ('''RAs''') exist for many standards organizations, such as [[ISO]], the [[Object Management Group]], [[W3C]],  and others. In general, registration authorities all perform a similar function, in promoting the use of a particular standard through facilitating its use. This may be by applying the standard, where appropriate, or by verifying that a particular application satisfies the standard's tenants. Maintenance agencies, in contrast, may change an element in a standard based on set rules – such as the creation or change of a currency code when a currency is created or revalued (i.e. TRL to TRY for [[Turkish lira]]). The [[Object Management Group]] has an additional concept of [[certified provider]], which is deemed an entity permitted to perform some functions on behalf of the registration authority, under specific processes and procedures documented within the standard for such a role.

An [[ISO]] registration authority is not authorized to update standards but provides a registration function to facilitate implementation of an International Standard (e.g. [[ISBN]] for books). Frequently, facilitating the implementation of an ISO standard's requirements is best suited, by its nature, to one entity, an RA. This, de facto, creates a monopoly situation and this is why care needs to be taken with respect to the functions carried out and the fees charged to avoid an abuse of such a situation.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.iso.org/iso/registration_authorities_guidelines_for_committees.pdf |title=Registration Authorities – Guidelines for committees |date=October 2013 |website=ISO |access-date=2016-06-30 |archive-date=2016-03-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160322121351/http://www.iso.org/iso/registration_authorities_guidelines_for_committees.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>  In most cases, there is a formal legal contract in place between the standards body, such as the ISO General Secretariat, and the selected registration authority.

ISO registration authorities differ from a [[maintenance agency]].  Maintenance agencies are authorized to update particular elements in an International Standard and as a matter of policy, the secretariats of MAs are assigned to bodies forming part of the ISO system (member bodies or organizations to which a member body delegates certain tasks in its country). The membership of MAs and their operating procedures are subject to approval by the Technical Management Board.

While registration authorities for a particular standard typically do not change, the position is not formally guaranteed and is subject to review and reassignment to a different firm or organization. In some cases, the concept of a registration authority may not exist for a standard at all.

By further example, the equivalent registration authority organization for [[Internet standard]]s is the [[Internet Assigned Numbers Authority]].<ref>{{cite IETF
| rfc         = 2028
| bcp         = 11
| title       = The Organizations Involved in the IETF Standards Process
| author1     = R. Hovey
| author2     = S. Bradner
| date        = October 1996
| sectionname = Internet Assigned Numbers Authority
| section     = 3.7
| page        = 4
| publisher   = [[Internet Engineering Task Force|IETF]]
}}</ref>