If you're looking for internet standards, you should probably Google for "RFC".
The protocols for IRC, HTTP, FTP, POP3, IMAP, SMTP etc etc ad infinitum... are all RFC's (request for comments) which are detailed documents of exactly what needs to be transferred between server and client for things to work.
The protocols for IRC, HTTP, FTP, POP3, IMAP, SMTP etc etc ad infinitum... are all RFC's (request for comments) which are detailed documents of exactly what needs to be transferred between server and client for things to work.