Layer 8

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Layer 8 is internet jargon which is used to refer to the "user" or "political" layer.^[1]^[2]

The term refers to the OSI model, a 7-layer abstract model which describes communication of computers in a network. The layers build upon each other, allowing for more abstraction and complexity in each one, until the 7th and final layer is reached. It is then held that the user itself must be the 8th layer.

Since the OSI layer numbers are commonly used to describe to communicate between people while troubleshooting, a troubleshooter may describe an issue caused by a user to be "a layer 8 issue", similar to the PEBKAC acronym and the ID-Ten-T Error.

In the less-popular TCP/IP model, a 4-layer networking model, the 5th layer is described as the political layer (and the 6th as the religious layer). This appears in official the Internet Society documentation RFC 2321^[3].

Political economic theory^[4] holds that the 8th layer is equitably important to understanding the OSI Model. Political policies such as network neutrality, spectrum management, and digital inclusion all shape the technologies comprising layers 1-7 of the OSI Model.

Layer 8 is actually sometimes implemented in industrial networks usually containing device profiles or communication interface (i.e., ALI in Profibus)^{[verification needed]}.

In a similar vein, "Layer 9" is jokingly considered to be the religious layer of the OSI model.