Internet Messaging RFCs

Say “Internet messaging” and it may mean a lot of different things to
a lot of different people. To me, it means email and Usenet
news. Period. Which still takes in a lot of ground. But to other
people, it means any application that uses Internet email or Usenet
technologies, such as MIME or the basic message formats or even the
delivery protocols. So that includes the newer calendaring and
scheduling protocols.

But Internet messaging can be even more than that: add Internet fax,
for one. And there is a lot happening around Internet telephony. And
in the news of late has been a lot of controversy over instant
messaging with Microsoft taking the open standard stance (!) against
AOL and its AOL Instant Messenger. When the instant messaging RFCs
start hitting, I’ll include them here; in the meantime, I consider IP
telephony to be a form of voice over IP, which (to me, anyway) is not
obviously an Internet messaging application so much as a different
type of animal entirely.

I’ve broken down and split this page into several different tables to
keep these things separate. The categories include:

• Internet email, including message formats, SMTP,
  POP, IMAP, and some others.
• Multipurpose Internet Mail Extension (MIME)
• Internet news, including Usenet news and
  associated specifications.
• Calendaring and scheduling applications, including
  ICAL, ICAP, and others.
• Internet fax

Email RFCs

Number	Title	More Info (Obs & Upd)	Status
RFC1339	Remote Mail Checking Protocol		EXPERIMENTAL
RFC1343	A User Agent Configuration Mechanism for Multimedia Mail Format Information		INFORMATIONAL
RFC1344	Implications of MIME for Internet Mail Gateways		INFORMATIONAL
RFC1506	A Tutorial on Gatewaying between X.400 and Internet Mail		INFORMATIONAL
RFC1524	A User Agent Configuration Mechanism For Multimedia Mail Format Information		INFORMATIONAL
RFC1615	Migrating from X.400(84) to X.400(88)		INFORMATIONAL
RFC1616	X.400(1988) for the Academic and Research Community in Europe		INFORMATIONAL
RFC1664	Using the Internet DNS to Distribute RFC1327 Mail Address Mapping Tables	Obsoleted by RFC2163	EXPERIMENTAL
RFC1685	Writing X.400 O/R Names		INFORMATIONAL
RFC1711	Classifications in E-mail Routing		INFORMATIONAL
RFC1725	Post Office Protocol – Version 3	Obsoletes RFC1460, Obsoleted by RFC1939, STD0053	DRAFT STANDARD
RFC1730	Internet Message Access Protocol – Version 4	Obsoleted by RFC2060, RFC2061	PROPOSED STANDARD
RFC1731	IMAP4 Authentication Mechanisms		PROPOSED STANDARD
RFC1732	IMAP4 Compatibility with IMAP2 and IMAP2bis		INFORMATIONAL
RFC1733	Distributed Electronic Mail Models in IMAP4		INFORMATIONAL
RFC1734	POP3 AUTHentication command		PROPOSED STANDARD
RFC1739	A Primer On Internet and TCP/IP Tools	Obsoleted by RFC2151, FYI0030	INFORMATIONAL
RFC1801	MHS use of the X.500 Directory to support MHS Routing		EXPERIMENTAL
RFC1802	Introducing Project Long Bud		INFORMATIONAL
RFC1806	Communicating Presentation Information in Internet Messages	Updated by RFC2183	EXPERIMENTAL
RFC1807	A Format for Bibliographic Records	Obsoletes RFC1357	INFORMATIONAL
RFC1864	The Content-MD5 Header Field	Obsoletes RFC1544	DRAFT STANDARD
RFC2076	Common Internet Message Headers		INFORMATIONAL
RFC2142	Mailbox Names for Common Services, Roles and Functions		PROPOSED STANDARD
RFC2183	Communicating Presentation Information in Internet Messages	Updates RFC1806, Updated by RFC2184, RFC2231	PROPOSED STANDARD
RFC2184	MIME Parameter Value and Encoded Word Extensions	Obsoleted by RFC2231, Updates RFC2045, RFC2047, RFC2183	PROPOSED STANDARD
RFC2231	MIME Parameter Value and Encoded Word Extensions	Obsoletes RFC2184, Updates RFC2045, RFC2047 RFC2183	PROPOSED STANDARD
RFC2369	The Use of URLs as Meta-Syntax for Core Mail List Commands and their Transport through Message Header Fields		PROPOSED STANDARD
RFC2635	DON’T SPEW A Set of Guidelines for Mass Unsolicited Mailings and Postings (spam*)		FYI35

Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME)

Number	Title	More Info (Obs & Upd)	Status
RFC1344	Implications of MIME for Internet Mail Gateways		INFORMATIONAL
RFC1428	Transition of Internet Mail from Just-Send-8 to 8bit-SMTP/MIME		INFORMATIONAL
RFC1437	The Extension of MIME Content-Types to a New Medium		INFORMATIONAL
RFC1496	Rules for downgrading messages from X.400/88 to X.400/84 when MIME content-types are present in the messages		PROPOSED STANDARD
RFC1524	A User Agent Configuration Mechanism For Multimedia Mail Format Information		INFORMATIONAL
RFC1556	Handling of Bi-directional Texts in MIME		INFORMATIONAL
RFC1641	Using Unicode with MIME		EXPERIMENTAL
RFC1652	SMTP Service Extension for 8bit-MIMEtransport	Obsoletes RFC1426	DRAFT STANDARD
RFC1740	MIME Encapsulation of Macintosh Files – MacMIME		PROPOSED STANDARD
RFC1741	MIME Content Type for BinHex Encoded Files		INFORMATIONAL
RFC1767	MIME Encapsulation of EDI Objects		PROPOSED STANDARD
RFC1806	Communicating Presentation Information in Internet Messages	Updated by RFC2183	EXPERIMENTAL
RFC1830	SMTP Service Extensions for Transmission of Large and Binary MIME Messages		EXPERIMENTAL
RFC1844	Multimedia E-mail (MIME) User Agent Checklist	Obsoletes RFC1820	INFORMATIONAL
RFC1847	Security Multiparts for MIME		PROPOSED STANDARD
RFC1848	MIME Object Security Services		PROPOSED STANDARD
RFC1864	The Content-MD5 Header Field	Obsoletes RFC1544	DRAFT STANDARD
RFC1867	Form-based File Upload in HTML		EXPERIMENTAL
RFC1892	The Multipart/Report Content Type for the Reporting of Mail System Administrative Messages		PROPOSED STANDARD
RFC1895	The Application/CALS-1840 Content-type		INFORMATIONAL
RFC1896	The text/enriched MIME Content-type	Obsoletes RFC1523, RFC1563	INFORMATIONAL
RFC1927	Suggested Additional MIME Types for Associating Documents		INFORMATIONAL
RFC1947	Greek Character Encoding for Electronic Mail Messages		INFORMATIONAL
RFC2015	MIME Security with Pretty Good Privacy (PGP)		PROPOSED STANDARD
RFC2017	Definition of the URL MIME External-Body Access-Type		PROPOSED STANDARD
RFC2045	Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) Part One	Obsoletes RFC1521, RFC1522, RFC1590, Updated by RFC2184, RFC2231	DRAFT STANDARD
RFC2046	Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) Part Two	Obsoletes RFC1521, RFC1522, RFC1590, Updated by RFC2646	DRAFT STANDARD
RFC2047	MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) Part Three	Obsoletes RFC1521, RFC1522, RFC1590, Updated by RFC2184, RFC2231	DRAFT STANDARD
RFC2048	Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) Part Four	Obsoletes RFC1521, RFC1522, RFC1590	BEST CURRENT PRACTICE
RFC2049	Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) Part Five	Obsoletes RFC1521, RFC1522, RFC1590	DRAFT STANDARD
RFC2077	The Model Primary Content Type for Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions		PROPOSED STANDARD
RFC2156	MIXER (Mime Internet X.400 Enhanced Relay)	Obsoletes RFC0987, RFC1026, RFC1138, RFC1148, RFC1327, RFC1495, Updates RFC0822	PROPOSED STANDARD
RFC2157	Mapping between X.400 and RFC-822/MIME Message Bodies		PROPOSED STANDARD
RFC2159	A MIME Body Part for FAX		PROPOSED STANDARD
RFC2160	Carrying PostScript in X.400 and MIME		PROPOSED STANDARD
RFC2161	A MIME Body Part for ODA		EXPERIMENTAL
RFC2162	MaXIM-11 – Mapping between X.400 / Internet mail and Mail-11 mail	Obsoletes RFC1405	EXPERIMENTAL
RFC2163	Using the Internet DNS to Distribute MIXER Conformant Global Address Mapping (MCGAM)	Obsoletes RFC1664	PROPOSED STANDARD
RFC2164	Use of an X.500/LDAP directory to support MIXER address mapping	Obsoletes RFC1838	PROPOSED STANDARD
RFC2183	Communicating Presentation Information in Internet Messages	Updates RFC1806, Updated by RFC2184, RFC2231	PROPOSED STANDARD
RFC2231	MIME Parameter Value and Encoded Word Extensions	Obsoletes RFC2184, Updates RFC2045, RFC2047 RFC2183	PROPOSED STANDARD
RFC2278	IANA Charset Registration Procedures		BEST CURRENT PRACTICE
RFC2298	An Extensible Message Format for Message Disposition Notifications		PROPOSED STANDARD
RFC2301	File Format for Internet Fax		PROPOSED STANDARD
RFC2302	Tag Image File Format (TIFF) – image/tiff MIME Sub-type Registration		PROPOSED STANDARD
RFC2311	S/MIME Version 2 Message Specification		INFORMATIONAL
RFC2312	S/MIME Version 2 Certificate Handling		INFORMATIONAL
RFC2318	The text/css Media Type		INFORMATIONAL
RFC2387	The MIME Multipart/Related Content-type	Obsoletes RFC2112	PROPOSED STANDARD
RFC2392	Content-ID and Message-ID Uniform Resource Locators	Obsoletes RFC2111	PROPOSED STANDARD
RFC2421	Voice Profile for Internet Mail – version 2	Obsoletes RFC1911	PROPOSED STANDARD
RFC2422	Toll Quality Voice – 32 kbit/s ADPCM MIME Sub-type Registration	Obsoletes RFC1911	PROPOSED STANDARD
RFC2423	VPIM Voice Message MIME Sub-type Registration	Obsoletes RFC1911	PROPOSED STANDARD
RFC2424	Content Duration MIME Header Definition		PROPOSED STANDARD
RFC2425	A MIME Content-Type for Directory Information		PROPOSED STANDARD
RFC2426	vCard MIME Directory Profile		PROPOSED STANDARD
RFC2442	The Batch SMTP Media Type		INFORMATIONAL
RFC2445	Internet Calendaring and Scheduling Core Object Specification (iCalendar)		PROPOSED STANDARD
RFC2480	Gateways and MIME Security Multiparts		PROPOSED STANDARD
RFC2503	MIME Types for Use with the ISO ILL Protocol		INFORMATIONAL
RFC2557	MIME Encapsulation of Aggregate Documents, such as HTML (MHTML)	Obsoletes RFC2110	PROPOSED STANDARD
RFC2586	The Audio/L16 MIME content type		INFORMATIONAL
RFC2632	S/MIME Version 3 Certificate Handling		PROPOSED STANDARD
RFC2633	S/MIME Version 3 Message Specification		PROPOSED STANDARD
RFC2634	Enhanced Security Services for S/MIME		PROPOSED STANDARD
RFC2646	The Text/Plain Format Parameter	Updates 2046	PROPOSED STANDARD
RFC2652	MIME Object Definitions for the Common Indexing Protocol (CIP)		PROPOSED STANDARD

Internet and Usenet News RFCs

Number	Title	More Info (Obs & Upd)	Status
RFC0850	Standard for interchange of USENET messages	Obsoleted by RFC1036	UNKNOWN
RFC0977	Network News Transfer Protocol		PROPOSED STANDARD
RFC1036	Standard for interchange of USENET messages	Obsoletes RFC0850	UNKNOWN
RFC1739	A Primer On Internet and TCP/IP Tools	Obsoleted by RFC2151, FYI0030	INFORMATIONAL

Calendaring and Scheduling RFCs

Number	Title	More Info (Obs & Upd)	Status
RFC2426	vCard MIME Directory Profile		PROPOSED STANDARD
RFC2445	Internet Calendaring and Scheduling Core Object Specification (iCalendar)		PROPOSED STANDARD
RFC2446	iCalendar Transport-Independent Interoperability Protocol (iTIP) Scheduling Events, BusyTime, To-dos and Journal Entries		PROPOSED STANDARD
RFC2447	iCalendar Message-Based Interoperability Protocol (iMIP)		PROPOSED STANDARD

Internet Fax RFCs

Number	Title	More Info (Obs & Upd)	Status
RFC1528	Principles of Operation for the TPC.INT Subdomain	Obsoletes RFC1486	EXPERIMENTAL
RFC1529	Principles of Operation for the TPC.INT Subdomain	Obsoletes RFC1486	INFORMATIONAL
RFC1530	Principles of Operation for the TPC.INT Subdomain		INFORMATIONAL
RFC2159	A MIME Body Part for FAX		PROPOSED STANDARD
RFC2301	File Format for Internet Fax		PROPOSED STANDARD
RFC2304	Minimal FAX address format in Internet Mail		PROPOSED STANDARD
RFC2531	Content Feature Schema for Internet Fax		PROPOSED STANDARD
RFC2532	Extended Facsimile Using Internet Mail		PROPOSED STANDARD
RFC2534	Media Features for Display, Print, and Fax		PROPOSED STANDARD
RFC2542	Terminology and Goals for Internet Fax		INFORMATIONAL