IETF的问题中最恶名远扬和被充分记录的,可能是发生在蒂姆·伯纳斯-李任万维网联盟(World Wide Web Consortium,W3C)领导人期间,他试图个人领导Web标准的发展。按照他后来在《一千零一網》(Weaving the Web)一书的说法,在经历太多的每个人都想表述对自己的创新的未来的看法的IETF会议而又无所作为后,他失败了。
^"IAB and IESG Selection, Confirmation, and Recall Process: Operation of the Nominating and Recall Committees", RFC 3777, J. Galvin (Ed.), June 2004. Retrieved 21 July 2014.