| Internet-Draft | HTTP Operator Impairment Status Code | November 2023 |
| Roda | Expires 29 May 2024 | [Page] |
This document specifies a Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) status code for use when an operation or resource is denied due to operator impairment.¶
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This document specifies a Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) status code for use when a request is denied because the operator is impaired.¶
This request code may be used to provide transparency in cases where one or more valid requests create a dangerous situation, there is a pattern of erratic requests with the potential for danger, or the operator is otherwise detected as impaired.¶
Network-controlled devices are being used for beneficial but potentially dangerous activities such as construction and remote surgery. Transparency of operator impairment is important for both accurately assessing the risk a given operator presents and preventing damage caused by a high-risk operator.¶
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.¶
The status code 420 indicates that the server is denying the request as a consequence of evidence of operator impairment.¶
The server in question might not be an origin server. An intermediate proxy closer to the operator may be in a better position to assess potential operator impairment. Such a proxy may refuse to forward the request and respond with this error code.¶
There is no requirement that the operator be human. Certain AI systems can exhibit behaviors such as giving fabricated, incorrect, and differing answers for a given input. Given the speed at which such AI operates, it is no less important to detect the impairment of AI operators as human operators.¶
Such responses MAY include the inputs or evidence used to determine impairment, but SHOULD NOT reveal information that an operator can use to evade impairment detection.¶
A 420 response is non-cacheable by default, i.e., unless otherwise indicated by the method definition or explicit cache controls; see [RFC9111].¶
HTTP/1.1 420 Operator Impaired
Content-Type: text/html</t>
<html>
<head>
<title>Operator Impaired</title>
</head>
<body>
<h1>Operator Impaired</h1>
<p>This request is denied due to detection
of operator impairment.</p>
</body>
</html>
IANA is asked to update the HTTP Status Codes Registry with the following entry¶
If the operator is identifiable because they have been authenticated and authorized, their authorization SHOULD be revoked until they have been determined to be not impaired. If the operators are unauthenticated, further requests SHOULD be denied until it can be determined that no impaired operators are using the system.¶