
Network Working Group                                         D. Crocker
Internet-Draft                                    Brandenburg Consulting
Expires: May 2, 2001                                         A. Diacakis
                                                             F. Mazzoldi
                                                   Network Projects Inc.
                                                              C. Huitema
                                                   Microsoft Corporation
                                                                G. Klyne
                                                    Content Technologies
                                                                 M. Rose
                                                        Invisible Worlds
                                                            J. Rosenberg
                                                               R. Sparks
                                                             dynamicsoft
                                                               H. Sugano
                                               Fujitsu Laboratories Ltd.
                                                           November 2000


             A Common Profile for Instant Messaging (CPIM)
                        draft-ietf-impp-cpim-01

Status of this Memo

   This document is an Internet-Draft and is in full conformance with
   all provisions of Section 10 of RFC2026.

   Internet-Drafts are working documents of the Internet Engineering
   Task Force (IETF), its areas, and its working groups. Note that other
   groups may also distribute working documents as Internet-Drafts.

   Internet-Drafts are draft documents valid for a maximum of six months
   and may be updated, replaced, or obsoleted by other documents at any
   time. It is inappropriate to use Internet-Drafts as reference
   material or to cite them other than as "work in progress."

   The list of current Internet-Drafts can be accessed at
   http://www.ietf.org/ietf/1id-abstracts.txt.

   The list of Internet-Draft Shadow Directories can be accessed at
   http://www.ietf.org/shadow.html.

   This Internet-Draft will expire on May 2, 2001.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2000). All Rights Reserved.

Abstract



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   Semantics and data formats for common services of Instant Messaging
   and online Presence, independent of underlying transport
   infrastructure, are described. The CPIM profile meets the
   requirements specified in RFC 2779 using a minimalist approach
   allowing interoperation of a wide range of IM and Presence systems.

Table of Contents

   1.      Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  4
   1.1     Terminology  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  4
   1.2     A Note on The Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  4
   2.      Abstract Messaging Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  5
   2.1     Overview of the Messaging Service  . . . . . . . . . . . .  5
   2.2     Identification of INSTANT INBOXes  . . . . . . . . . . . .  6
   2.2.1   Address Resolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  6
   2.2.1.1 Domain Name Lookup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  6
   2.2.1.2 Processing SRV RRs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  7
   2.2.1.3 Processing Multiple Addresses  . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  7
   2.3     Format of Instant Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  8
   2.4     The Messaging Service  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  9
   2.4.1   The Message Operation  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  9
   2.4.2   Looping  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
   3.      Abstract Presence Service  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
   3.1     Overview of the Presence Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
   3.2     Identification of PRESENTITIES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
   3.3     Format of Presence Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
   3.4     The Presence Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
   3.4.1   The Subscribe Operation  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
   3.4.2   The Notify Operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
   3.4.3   The Unsubscribe Operation  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
   4.      Security Considerations  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
   4.1     Threats  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
   4.2     Hop-by-hop security  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
   4.3     End-to-end security  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
   4.3.1   Instant messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
   4.3.2   Presence service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
   5.      IANA Considerations  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
   5.1     The IM URI Scheme  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
   5.2     The PRES URI Scheme  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
   6.      The Common Service DTD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
   7.      The Messaging Service DTD  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
   8.      The Presence Service DTD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
   9.      The Presence Information DTD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
           References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
           Authors' Addresses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
   A.      IM URL IANA Registration Template  . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
   A.1     URL scheme name  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
   A.2     URL scheme syntax  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32



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   A.3     Character encoding considerations  . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
   A.4     Intended usage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
   A.5     Applications and/or protocols which use this URL scheme
           name . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
   A.6     Interoperability considerations  . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
   A.7     Security considerations  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
   A.8     Relevant publications  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
   A.9     Person & email address to contact for further  information 33
   A.10    Author/Change controller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
   A.11    Applications and/or protocols which use this URL scheme
           name . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
   B.      PRES URL IANA Registration Template  . . . . . . . . . . . 34
   B.1     URL scheme name  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
   B.2     URL scheme syntax  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
   B.3     Character encoding considerations  . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
   B.4     Intended usage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
   B.5     Applications and/or protocols which use this URL scheme
           name . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
   B.6     Interoperability considerations  . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
   B.7     Security considerations  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
   B.8     Relevant publications  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
   B.9     Person & email address to contact for further  information 35
   B.10    Author/Change controller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
   B.11    Applications and/or protocols which use this URL scheme
           name . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
   C.      Issues of Interest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
   C.1     Address Mapping  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
   C.1.1   Source-Route Mapping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
           Full Copyright Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37






















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1. Introduction

   To achieve interoperation of IM systems that are compliant with RFC
   2779[8], there must be a common agreement on both Instant Messaging
   and Presence services. This memo defines such an agreement according
   to the philosophy that there must be no loss of information between
   IM systems that are minimally conformant to RFC2779.

   This memo focuses on interoperation.  Accordingly only those aspects
   of IM that require interoperation are discussed. For example, the
   "open instant inbox" operation is not applicable as this operation
   occurs within a single IM system and not across systems.

   Service behavior is described abstractly in terms of operations
   invoked between the consumer and provider of a service. Accordingly,
   each IM service must specify how this behavior is mapped onto its own
   protocol interactions. The choice of strategy is a local matter,
   providing that there is a clear relation between the abstract
   behavior of the service (as specified in this memo) and how it is
   faithfully realized by a particular IM service.

   The parameters for each operation are defined using an abstract
   syntax. Although the syntax specifies the range of possible data
   values, each IM service must specify how well-formed instances of the
   abstract representation are encoded as a concrete series of bits.

   For example, one strategy might transmit presence information as
   key/value pairs, another might use a compact binary representation,
   and a third might use nested containers. The choice of strategy is a
   local matter, providing that there is a clear relation between the
   abstract syntax (as specified in this memo) and how it is faithfully
   encoded by an particular IM service.

1.1 Terminology

   This memos makes use of the vocabulary defined in RFC 2778[7]. Terms
   such as as CLOSED, INSTANT INBOX, INSTANT MESSAGE, OPEN, PRESENCE
   SERVICE, PRESENTITY, SUBSCRIPTION, and WATCHER are used in the same
   meaning as defined therein.

1.2 A Note on The Examples

   In the examples which follow, this memo uses time-sequence diagrams
   annotated with XML fragments to illustrate operations and their
   parameters. The use of XML is an artifact of this memo's presentation
   style and does not imply any requirement for the use of XML in an IM
   system.




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2. Abstract Messaging Service

2.1 Overview of the Messaging Service

   When an application wants to send a message to an INSTANT INBOX, it
   invokes the message operation, e.g.,

       +-------+                    +-------+
       |       |                    |       |
       | appl. | -- message ------> |  IM   |
       |       |                    |  svc. |
       +-------+                    +-------+

        <message source='im:fred@example.com'
                 destination='im:barney@example.com'
                 transID='1' />
            ...
        Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

        Yabba, dabba, doo!

   The service immediately responds by invoking the response operation
   containing the same transaction-identifier, e.g.,

       +-------+                    +-------+
       |       |                    |       |
       | appl. | <----- response -- |  IM   |
       |       |                    |  svc. |
       +-------+                    +-------+

        <response status='success' transID='1' />




















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2.2 Identification of INSTANT INBOXes

   An INSTANT INBOX is specified using the IM  URI (Section 5.1)f RFC
   822[1] (i.e., "local@domain") is used, where the local-part MUST be
   interpreted and assigned semantics only by the system specified in
   the domain part of the identifier. Representation of non-ASCII
   character sets in local-part strings is limited to the standard
   methods provided as extensions to RFC 822[1]

2.2.1 Address Resolution

   A client determines the address of an appropriate system running a
   server by resolving the destination domain name that is part of the
   identifier to either an intermediate relay system or a final target
   system.

   Only resolvable, fully-qualified, domain names (FQDNs) are permitted
   when domain names are used in the messaging service (i.e., domain
   names that can be resolved to SRV[9] or A RRs).

2.2.1.1 Domain Name Lookup

   A client lexically identifies a domain to which instant messages will
   be delivered for processing, a DNS lookup MUST be performed to
   resolve the domain[2]. The names MUST be fully-qualified domain names
   (FQDNs) Γω mechanisms for inferring FQDNs from partial names or local
   aliases are a local matter.

   The lookup first attempts to locate SRV RRs associated with the
   domain. If a CNAME RR is found instead, the resulting domain is
   processed as if it were the initial domain.

   If one or more SRV RRs are found for a given domain, a sender MUST
   NOT utilize any A RRs associated with that domain unless they are
   located using the SRV RRs; otherwise, if no SRV RRs are found, but an
   A RR is found, then the A RR is treated as if it was associated with
   an implicit SRV RR, with a preference of 0, pointing to that host.














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2.2.1.2 Processing SRV RRs

   To process an IM URI, a lookup is performed for SRVs for the target
   domain and a desired IM transport protocol.

   For example, if the destination INSTANT INBOX is
   "im:fred@example.com", and the sender wishes to use an IM transport
   protocol called "SIP", then a SRV lookup is performed for:

       _im._sip.example.com.

   The returned RRs, if any, specify the next-hop server.

   The choice of IM transport protocol is a local configuration option
   for each system.

   Using this mechanism, seamless routing of IM traffic is possible,
   regardless of whether a gateway is necessary for interoperation. To
   achieve this transparency, a seperate RR for a gateway must be
   present for each transport protocol and domain pair that it serves.

2.2.1.3 Processing Multiple Addresses

   When the lookup succeeds, the mapping can result in a list of
   alternative delivery addresses rather than a single address, because
   of multiple SRV records, multihoming, or both. For reliable
   operations, the client MUST be able to try each of the relevant
   addresses in this list in order, until a delivery attempt succeeds.
   However, there MAY also be a configurable limit on the number of
   alternate addresses that can be tried. In any case, the client SHOULD
   try at least two addresses. Two types of information are used to rank
   the host addresses: multiple SRV records, and multihomed hosts.

   Multiple SRV records contain a preference indication that MUST be
   used in sorting. Lower numbers are preferrable to higher ones. If
   there are multiple destinations with the same preference, and there
   is no clear reason to favor one (e.g., by recognition of an easily-
   reached address), then the sender MUST randomize them to spread the
   load across multiple servers for a specific destination.

   The destination host (perhaps taken from the preferred SRV record)
   may be multihomed, in which case the resolver will return a list of
   alternative IP addresses. It is the responsibility of the resolver to
   have ordered this list by decreasing preference if necessary, and the
   sender MUST try them in the order presented.






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2.3 Format of Instant Messages

   An INSTANT MESSAGE comprises a MIME Multipart/Related,
   Type=message/RFC822+XML object, as defined in XML/MIME[5].
   Representation of non-ASCII character sets in MIME is a standard
   feature of MIME.

   Note that the IETF provides numerous technologies that allow end-
   users to exchange authenticated and private messages formatted as
   MIME objects, c.f., PGP-MIME[4] and S/MIME[6].









































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2.4 The Messaging Service

   Section 6 and Section 7 define the abstract syntax of the operations
   invoked with the service.

   Note that the transaction-identifier parameters used with the service
   are potentially long-lived. Accordingly, the values of transaction-
   identifiers should appear to be unpredictable.

2.4.1 The Message Operation

   When an application wants to send an INSTANT MESSAGE, it invokes the
   message operation.

   The message operation has these parameters:

   o  the source parameter specifies the INSTANT INBOX on whose behalf
      this message is sent (using an IM URI);

   o  the destination parameter specifies the INSTANT INBOX that the
      message should be delivered to (using an IM URI);

   o  the transID parameter specifies the transaction-identifier
      associated with this operation; and,

   o  the message to be sent.

























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   When the service is informed of the message operation, it performs
   these steps:

   1.  If the source or destination does not refer to a valid INSTANT
       INBOX, a response operation having status "failure" is invoked.

   2.  If access control does not permit the application to request this
       operation, a response operation having status "failure" is
       invoked.

   3.  Otherwise:

       1.  If the service is able to successfully deliver the message, a
           response operation having status "success" is invoked.

       2.  If the service is unable to successfully deliver the message,
           a response operation having status "failure" is invoked.

       3.  If the service must delegate responsibility for delivery, and
           if the delegation will not result in a future authoritative
           indication to the service, a response operation having status
           "indeterminant" is invoked.

       4.  If the service must delegate responsibility for delivery, and
           if the delegation will result in a future authoritative
           indication to the service, then a response operation is
           invoked immediately after the indication is received.

   When the service invokes the response operation, the transID
   parameter is identical to the value found in the message operation
   invoked by the application.

2.4.2 Looping

   The dynamic routing of instant messages can result in looping of a
   message through a relay.  Detection of loops is not always obvious,
   since aliasing and group list expansions can legitimately cause a
   message to pass through a relay more than one time.

   [[[ In Internet Mail, counting the number of Received headers is the
   accepted technique for guessing that looping is occurring.  Use of
   this technique will require Instant Messaging to support Received
   headers. /editor ]]]








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3. Abstract Presence Service

3.1 Overview of the Presence Service

   When an application wants to (periodically) receive the presence
   information associated with a PRESENTITY, it invokes the subscribe
   operation, e.g.,

       +-------+                    +-------+
       |       |                    |       |
       | appl. | -- subscribe ----> | pres. |
       |       |                    |  svc. |
       +-------+                    +-------+

        <subscribe watcher='pres:wilma@example.com'
                   target='pres:fred@example.com'
                   duration='86400' transID='2' />

   The service immediately responds by invoking the response operation
   containing the same transaction-identifier, e.g.,

       +-------+                    +-------+
       |       |                    |       |
       | appl. | <----- response -- | pres. |
       |       |                    |  svc. |
       +-------+                    +-------+

        <response status='success' transID='2' duration='3600' />

   A WATCHER may have at most one subscription for a PRESENTITY.





















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   If the response operation indicates success, the service immediate
   invokes the notify operation to communicate the presence information
   to the WATCHER, e.g.,

       +-------+                    +-------+
       |       |                    |       |
       | appl. | <------- notify -- | pres. |
       |       |                    |  svc. |
       +-------+                    +-------+

        <notify watcher='pres:wilma@example.com'
                target='pres:fred@example.com'
                transID='1234'>
            <presence entityInfo='http://www.example.com/fred/'>
                <tuple destination='im:fred@example.com'
                       status='open' />
            </presence>
        </notify>

   If the duration parameter is non-zero, then for up to the specified
   duration, the service invokes the notify operation whenever there are
   any changes to the PRESENTITY's presence information. Otherwise,
   exactly one notify operation is invoked, achieving a one time poll of
   the presence information. Regardless, there is no application
   response to the notify operation (i.e., the application does not
   invoke a response operation when a notify operation occurs).

   The application may prematurely cancel a subscription by invoking the
   unsubscribe operation, e.g.,

       +-------+                    +-------+
       |       |                    |       |
       | appl. | -- unsubscribe --> | pres. |
       |       |                    |  svc. |
       +-------+                    +-------+

        <unsubscribe watcher='pres:wilma@example.com'
                     target='pres:fred@example.com'
                     transID='3' />












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   The service immediately responds by invoking the response operation
   containing the same transaction-identifier, e.g.,

       +-------+                    +-------+
       |       |                    |       |
       | appl. | <----- response -- | pres. |
       |       |                    |  svc. |
       +-------+                    +-------+

        <response status='success' transID='3' />









































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3.2 Identification of PRESENTITIES

   A PRESENTITY is specified using the PRES URI (Section 5.2) scheme.
   Briefly, the "addr-spec" syntax of RFC 822[1] (i.e., "local@domain")
   is used, where the local-part MUST be interpreted and assigned
   semantics only by the host specified in the domain part of the
   identifier.  Representation of non-ASCII character sets in local-part
   strings is limited to the standard methods provided as extensions to
   RFC 822[1]

   To resolve identifiers associated with the Presence service, the
   mechanism defined in Section 2.2.1 is used, except that the
   processing of a PRES URI is performed by looking up SRV RRs for a
   desired presence transport protocol.

   For example, if the destination PRESENTITY is
   "pres:fred@example.com", and the sender wishes to use a presence
   transport protocol called "PEPP", then a SRV lookup is performed for:

       _pres._pepp.example.com.































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3.3 Format of Presence Information

   Section 9 defines the syntax for presence information using an XML
   DTD.

   Each PRESENTITY's presence information contains an "entityInfo"
   attribute, and contains one or more "tuple" elements:

   o  the "entityInfo" attribute specifies arbitrary information about
      the PRESENTITY (using a URI); and,

   o  each "tuple" element specifies information associated with the
      PRESENTITY.

   Each "tuple" element has a "destination" attribute, a "status"
   attribute, and contains arbitrary content:

   o  the "destination" attribute specifies a URI;

   o  the "status" attribute is either OPEN or CLOSED; and,

   o  the content of the "tuple" element contains arbitrary information
      about the tuple.




























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3.4 The Presence Service

   Section 6 and Section 8 define the abstract syntax of the operations
   invoked with the service.

   An implementation of the service must maintain information about both
   presence information and in-progress operations in persistent
   storage.

   Note that the transaction-identifier parameter used with the service
   is potentially long-lived. Accordingly, the values generated for this
   parameter should appear to be unpredictable.

3.4.1 The Subscribe Operation

   When an application wants to (periodically) receive the presence
   information associated with an PRESENTITY, it invokes the subscribe
   operation.

   The subscribe operation has these parameters:

   o  the watcher parameter specifies the WATCHER associated with the
      subscription;

   o  the target parameter specifies the PRESENTITY associated with the
      presence information;

   o  the duration parameter specifies the maximum number of seconds
      that the SUBSCRIPTION should be active; and,

   o  the transID parameter specifies the transaction-identifier
      associated with this operation.



















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   When the service is informed of the subscribe operation, it performs
   these steps:

   1.  If the watcher or target parameter does not refer to a valid
       PRESENTITY, a response operation having status "failure" is
       invoked.

   2.  If access control does not permit the application to request this
       operation, a response operation having status "failure" is
       invoked.

   3.  If the duration parameter is non-zero, and if the watcher and
       target parameters refer to an in-progress subscribe operation for
       the application, a response operation having status "failure" is
       invoked.

   4.  Otherwise:

       1.  A response operation having status "success" is immediately
           invoked. (If the service chooses a different duration for the
           subscription then it conveys this information in the response
           operation.)

       2.  A notify operation, corresponding to the target's presence
           information, is immediately invoked for the watcher.

       3.  For up to the amount of time indicated by the duration
           parameter, if the target's presence information changes, and
           if access control allows, a notify operation is invoked for
           the watcher.

       Note that if the duration parameter is zero-valued, then the
       subscribe operation is making a one-time poll of the presence
       information. Accordingly, Step 4.3 above does not occur.

   When the service invokes a response operation as a result of this
   processing, the transID parameter is identical to the value found in
   the subscribe operation invoked by the application.













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3.4.2 The Notify Operation

   The service invokes the notify operation whenever the presence
   information associated with a PRESENTITY changes and there are
   subscribers to that information.

   The notify operation has these parameters:

   o  the watcher parameter specifies the WATCHER associated with the
      subscription;

   o  the target parameter specifies the PRESENTITY associated with the
      presence information;

   o  the transID parameter specifies the transaction-identifier
      associated with this operation; and,

   o  the presence information for the PRESENTITY.

   There is no application response to the notify operation.































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3.4.3 The Unsubscribe Operation

   When an application wants to terminate a subscription, it invokes the
   unsubscribe operation.

   The unsubscribe operations has these parameters:

   o  the watcher parameter specifies the WATCHER associated with the
      subscription;

   o  the target parameter specifies the PRESENTITY associated with the
      presence information; and,

   o  the transID parameter specifies the transaction-identifier
      associated with this operation.

   When the service is informed of the unsubscribe operation, it
   performs these steps:

   1.  If the watcher and target parameters do not refer to an in-
       progress subscribe operation for the application, a response
       operation having status "failure" is invoked.

   2.  Otherwise, the in-progress subscribe operation for the
       application is terminated, and a response operation having status
       "success" is invoked by the service.

   Note that following a successful unsubscribe operation, the WATCHER
   may receive further notifications. Although the service will no
   longer invoke the notify operation after successfully processing a
   unsubscribe operation, earlier notify operations may still be in
   progress.



















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4. Security Considerations

   This memo makes no specific requirements on security procedures for
   interoperation between IM systems. Accordingly, trust between
   interconnected IM systems is determined in a bilateral matter.

   However this memo does require that each IM system control access to
   its Instant Messaging and Presence services. Consult both RFC 2778
   and RFC2779 for a discussion of security considerations for for IM
   systems.

4.1 Threats

   Attacks, of concern for instant messaging, include access, deletion,
   insertion, reordering and modification of messages by unauthorized
   principals. Replay is a combination of a subset of these attacks.

   These attacks can take place in the communication links between
   sending client and its server, between two servers, between the
   receiving client and its server, or by attacking any of the hosts
   involved. This document, not being concerned with client-server
   interchanges, only addresses threats aimed at server-server
   communication.

   Countermeasures against unauthorized access are encrypted
   communication and encrypted messages.

   Countermeasures against insertion of false messages are
   authentication and authorization of sending servers and strongly
   signed messages.

   Countermeasures against reordered messages are date-stamped or
   serial-numbered messages, coupled with digital signatures that
   include the date or serial number, if modification is not otherwise
   guarded against.

   Countermeasures against replayed messages are date stamps and unique
   message IDs, coupled with digital signatures that include the date or
   serial number, if modification is not otherwise guarded against.

   Countermeasures against deletion of messages are integrity-protected
   connections between servers where the server's identity is verified.
   Serial-numbered messages can also be useful in detecting deleted
   messages.

   Attacks that target the server hosts rather than the communication
   channels can successfully defeat all countermeasures that depend on
   host security. Digital signatures and encrypted messages do not



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   depend on host security, for intermediate systems, but cannot by
   themselves guard against deletion or reordering of messages.

   For presence, the attacks include giving presence information to
   unauthorized watchers, not reporting watcher information back to a
   presentity, and insertion, modification, deletion and replay of
   presence update messages. The same set of countermeasures are
   relevant.

   Instant messaging and presence systems can provide security at two
   levels:  hop-by-hop and/or end-to-end.

4.2 Hop-by-hop security

   A useful but imperfect level of security can be provided on a hop-by-
   hop basis, with all aspects of the communication including message
   content and originator verification, using transport level security
   between servers.  The main drawback of this approach is that it
   requires that each server that handles message or presence
   information must be trusted.  But it is relatively easy to deploy,
   because it depends only on bilateral arrangements between directly
   communicating servers.

   The underlying principles for using hop-by-hop security are:

   (a) each server and/or domain must keep their own house in order,
   ensuring that operations and information accesses are allowed only to
   appropriately authorized parties, and

   (b) each server and/or domain must make its own choices about the
   levels of trust to be established to any other server and/or domain
   with which they directly communicate. [[[Some debate about the degree
   of trust necessary between servers.  /dc]]]

   When passing IM and presence information between services using
   different protocols, a gateway system MUST be capable of using
   security mechanisms appropriate to each of the protocols concerned,
   and must have access to keys needed to authenticate any other system
   with which it needs to directly communicate in a secure fashion.

   [[[SUGGESTION:  to allow the use of common keys across different
   protocols, we might say that hop-by-hop security should be based on
   SASL, and specify specific profiles that should be used.  This
   doesn't buy anything at the protocol level, but it might make it
   easier to leverage some common key-distribution infrastructure, and
   avoid having to distribute different keys for communicating with a
   gateway using different protocols.]]]




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4.3 End-to-end security

   End-to-end security is widely regarded as being more satisfactory
   than hop-by-hop security, as the need to trust intermediate parties
   is reduced. However, some aspects of end-to-end security are
   difficult to achieve because they need bilateral arrangement between
   any pair of communicating parties about acceptable security standards
   to use, and key exchange.  Reliance on bilateral agreements does not
   scale well.  A moderating alernative is a third-party certification
   service and this approach, so far, has not found large-scale use.

   The two IETF standards for end-to-end MIME object security are
   OpenPGP[7] and S/MIME[8].  They require a public key operation for
   each message. For repeated, short transactions, this overhead can be
   onerous.  A version of these specifications which permited re-use of
   the public key across multiple messages would greatly reduce instant
   messaging overhead.

4.3.1  Instant messages

   End to end security for instant messages can be provided using any of
   the MIME-based security mechanisms (S/MIME [8], OpenPGP [7]), as
   instant message payload content is not interpreted or reformatted in
   transit.

   [[[NOTE:  may need to say something about allowable MIME C-T-Es?]]]

   This specification allows any pair of communicating parties to use
   any MIME-based security framework for instant messages (c.f. section
   2.3), but mechanisms for establishing the required bilateral
   arrangements and key exchange are not specified here.

4.3.2 Presence service

   The situation regarding end-to-end security for presence services is
   unclear, as there is no common encapsulation framework specified for
   presence, and the presence data itself is not invariant across
   different IM services.

   [[[NOTE:  this raises a case for fixing the presence information to a
   specific format if end-to-end security capability is to be a
   requirement.]]]









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5. IANA Considerations

   The IANA assigns the "im" and "pres" URL schemes.

5.1 The IM URI Scheme

   The Instant Messaging (IM) URI scheme designates an Internet
   resource, namely an INSTANT INBOX.

   The syntax of an IM URL has the form:

       "im:" addr-spec

   where "addr-spec" is defined in RFC 822.

5.2 The PRES URI Scheme

   The Presence (PRES) URI scheme designates an Internet resource,
   namely a PRESENTITY or WATCHER.

   The syntax of a PRES URL has the form:

       "pres:" addr-spec

   where "addr-spec" is defined in RFC 822.


























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6. The Common Service DTD

   <!--
     DTD for the IM common profile, as of 2000-08-16


     Refer to this DTD as:

       <!ENTITY % IMCOMMON PUBLIC "-//Blocks//DTD IM COMMON//EN"
                  "http://xml.resource.org/syntaxes/IM/im-common.dtd">
       %IMCOMMON;
     -->
   <!--
     DTD data types:

          entity        syntax/reference     example
          ======        ================     =======
       a language tag
           LANG         c.f., [RFC-1766]      "en", "en-US", etc.

       seconds
           SECONDS      0..2147483647        600

       unique-identifier
           UNIQID       1..2147483647        42

       authoritative identity
           URI          c.f., [RFC-2396]      http://invisible.net/
     -->
   <!ENTITY % LANG "NMTOKEN">
   <!ENTITY % SECONDS "CDATA">
   <!ENTITY % UNIQID "CDATA">
   <!ENTITY % URI "CDATA">
   <!--
     Abstract syntax for the response operation
     -->
   <!ELEMENT response (#PCDATA)>
   <!ATTLIST response
   	status (success | failure | indeterminant) #REQUIRED
   	transID %UNIQID; #REQUIRED
   	duration %SECONDS; #IMPLIED
   	xml:lang %LANG; #IMPLIED
   >








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7. The Messaging Service DTD

   <!--
     DTD for the abstract IM messaging service, as of 2000-08-16


     Refer to this DTD as:

       <!ENTITY % IMMESSAGING PUBLIC "-//Blocks//DTD IM MESSAGING//EN"
                "http://xml.resource.org/syntaxes/IM/im-messaging.dtd">
       %IMMESSAGING;
     -->
   <!ENTITY % IMCOMMON PUBLIC "-//Blocks//DTD IM COMMON//EN"
              "http://xml.resource.org/syntaxes/IM/im-common.dtd">
   %IMCOMMON;
   <!--
     DTD data types:

          entity        syntax/reference     example
          ======        ================     =======
          INBOX         c.f., Section 5.1    im:fred@example.com
     -->
   <!ENTITY % INBOX "CDATA">
   <!--
     Abstract syntax for the message operation
     -->
   <!ELEMENT message (#PCDATA)>
   <!ATTLIST message
   	source %INBOX; #REQUIRED
   	destination %INBOX; #REQUIRED
   	transID %UNIQID; #REQUIRED
   >



















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8. The Presence Service DTD

   <!--
     DTD for the abstract IM presence service, as of 2000-08-16

     Refer to this DTD as:

       <!ENTITY % IMPRESENCE PUBLIC "-//Blocks//DTD IM PRESENCE//EN"
              "http://xml.resource.org/syntaxes/IM/im-presence.dtd">
       %IMPRESENCE;
     -->
   <!ENTITY % IMCOMMON PUBLIC "-//Blocks//DTD IM COMMON//EN"
              "http://xml.resource.org/syntaxes/IM/im-common.dtd">
   %IMCOMMON;
   <!--
     DTD data types:

          entity        syntax/reference     example
          ======        ================     =======
          PRESENTITY    c.f., Section 5.2    pres:fred@example.com
     -->
   <!ENTITY % PRESENTITY "CDATA">
   <!--
     Abstract syntax for presence information
     -->
   <!ELEMENT presence (tuple+)>
   <!ATTLIST presence
   	entityInfo %URI; ""
   >
   <!ELEMENT tuple (#PCDATA)>
   <!ATTLIST tuple
   	destination %URI; #REQUIRED
   	status (open | closed) #REQUIRED
   >
   <!--
     Abstract syntax for the subscribe operation
     -->
   <!ELEMENT subscribe EMPTY>
   <!ATTLIST subscribe
   	watcher %PRESENTITY; #REQUIRED
   	target %PRESENTITY; #REQUIRED
   	duration %SECONDS; #REQUIRED
   	transID %UNIQID; #REQUIRED
   >
   <!--
     Abstract syntax for the notify operation
     -->
   <!ELEMENT notify (presence)>



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   <!ATTLIST notify
   	watcher %PRESENTITY; #REQUIRED
   	target %PRESENTITY; #REQUIRED
   	transID %UNIQID; #REQUIRED
   >
   <!--
     Abstract syntax for the unsubscribe operation
     -->
   <!ELEMENT unsubscribe EMPTY>
   <!ATTLIST unsubscribe
   	watcher %PRESENTITY; #REQUIRED
   	target %PRESENTITY; #REQUIRED
   	transID %UNIQID; #REQUIRED
   >





































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9. The Presence Information DTD

   <!--
     DTD the IM presence information of 2000-11-6

     Refer to this DTD as:

        <!ENTITY % IMPRESENCEINFO PUBLIC "-//Blocks//DTD IM PRESENCE//EN"
   	    "http://xml.resource.org/syntaxes/IM/im-presence-info.dtd">
          %IMPRESENCEINFO;
     -->

   <!ENTITY % IMCOMMON PUBLIC
              "-//Blocks//DTD IM COMMON//EN"
              "http://xml.resource.org/syntaxes/IM/im-common.dtd">
   %IMCOMMON;

   <!--
     DTD data types: entity syntax/reference example

          ======       ================    =======
          PRESENTITY   c.f., Section 5.2   pres:Fred@example.com
     -->

   <!ENTITY % PRESENTITY "CDATA">
   <!--
     Abstract syntax for presence information -->

   <!ELEMENT presence (tuple+)>
   <!ATTLIST presence
     entityInfo %URI; ""
   >

   <!ELEMENT tuple (#PCDATA)>
   <!ATTLIST tuple
     destination %URI; #REQUIRED
     status (open | closed) #REQUIRED
   >













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References

   [1]   Crocker, D., "Standard for the format of ARPA Internet text
         messages", RFC 822, STD 11, Aug 1982.

   [2]   Mockapetris, P.V., "Domain names - concepts and facilities",
         RFC 1034, STD 13, Nov 1987.

   [3]   Freed, N. and N. Borenstein, "Multipurpose Internet Mail
         Extensions (MIME) Part One: Format of Internet Message Bodies",
         RFC 2045, November 1996.

   [4]   Callas, J., Donnerhacke, L., Finney, H. and R. Thayer, "OpenPGP
         Message Format", RFC 2440, November 1998.

   [5]   Klyne, G., "XML coding of RFC822 messages", I-D draft-klyne-
         message-rfc822-xml-00.txt, November 2000.

   [6]   Ramsdell, B., "S/MIME Version 3 Certificate Handling", RFC
         2632, June 1999.

   [7]   Day, M., Rosenberg, J. and H. Sugano, "A Model for Presence and
         Instant Messaging", RFC 2778, February 2000.

   [8]   Day, M., Aggarwal, S. and J. Vincent, "Instant Messaging /
         Presence Protocol Requirements", RFC 2779, February 2000.

   [9]   Gulbrandsen, A., Vixie, P. and L. Esibov, "A DNS RR for
         specifying the location of  services (DNS SRV)", RFC 2782,
         February 2000.

   [10]  Allocchio, C., "GSTN Address Element Extensions in E-mail
         Services", RFC 2846, June 2000.


Authors' Addresses

   Dave Crocker
   Brandenburg Consulting
   675 Spruce Drive
   Sunnyvale, CA  94086
   US

   Phone: +1 408 246 8253
   EMail: dcrocker@dcrocker.net






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   Athanassios Diacakis
   Network Projects Inc.
   4516 Henry Street
   Suite 113
   Pittsburgh, PA  15213
   US

   Phone: +1 412 681 6950 x202
   EMail: thanos@networkprojects.com


   Florencio Mazzoldi
   Network Projects Inc.
   4516 Henry Street
   Suite 113
   Pittsburgh, PA  15213
   US

   Phone: +1 412 681 6950
   EMail: flo@networkprojects.com


   Christian Huitema
   Microsoft Corporation
   One Microsoft Way
   Redmond, WA  98052-6399
   US

   EMail: huitema@microsoft.com


   Graham Klyne
   Content Technologies
   Henley Business Centre, Newtown Road
   Oxfordshire  RG9 1HG
   UK

   Phone: +44 118 930-1300
   EMail: GK@Dial.pipex.com












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   Marshall Rose
   Invisible Worlds
   1179 North McDowell Boulevard
   Petaluma  94954-655
   US

   Phone: +1 916-483-8878
   EMail: mrose@dbc.mtview.ca.us


   Jonathan Rosenberg
   dynamicsoft
   200 Executive Drive
   Suite 120
   West Orange, NJ  07052
   US

   EMail: jdrosen@dynamicsoft.com


   Robert Sparks
   dynamicsoft
   200 Executive Drive
   Suite 120
   West Orange, NJ  07052
   US

   EMail: rsparks@dynamicsoft.com


   Hiroyasu Sugano
   Fujitsu Laboratories Ltd.
   64 Nishiwaki, Ohkubo-cho
   Akashi  674-8555
   JP

   EMail: suga@flab.fujitsu.co.jp














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Appendix A. IM URL IANA Registration Template

   This section provides the information to register the im: instant
   messaging URL.

A.1 URL scheme name

   im

A.2 URL scheme syntax

   The syntax replicates the existing mailto: URL syntax specified in
   RFC2368. The ABNF is:
        IM-URL = "im:"     [ to ]  [ headers ]
        to         =  #mailbox
        headers    =  "?" header *( "&" header )
        header     =  hname "=" hvalue
        hname      =  *urlc
        hvalue     =  *urlc

A.3 Character encoding considerations

   Representation of non-ASCII character sets in local-part strings is
   limited to the standard methods provided as extensions to RFC 822[1]

A.4 Intended usage

   Use of the im: URL follows closely usage of the mailto: URL. That is,
   invocation of an IM URL will cause the user's instant messaging
   application to start, with destination address and message headers
   fill-in according to the information supplied in the URL.

A.5 Applications and/or protocols which use this URL scheme  name

   It is anticipated that protocols compliant with RFC2779, and meeting
   the interoperability requirements specified here, will make use of
   this URL scheme name.

A.6 Interoperability considerations

   The underlying exchange protocol used to send an instant message may
   vary from service to service.  Therefore complete, Internet-scale
   interoperability cannot be guaranteed. However, a service conforming
   to this specification permits gateways to achieve interoperability
   sufficient to  the requirements of RFC2779.






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A.7 Security considerations

   When IM URLs are placed in instant messaging protocols, they convey
   the identity of the sender and/or the recipient. In some cases,
   anonymous messaging may be desired.  Such a capability is beyond the
   scope of this specification.

A.8 Relevant publications

   RFC2779, RFC2778

A.9 Person & email address to contact for further  information

   Dave Crocker<dcrocker@dcrocker.net>

A.10 Author/Change controller

   This scheme is registered under the IETF tree. As such, IETF
   maintains change control.

A.11 Applications and/or protocols which use this URL scheme  name

   Instant messaging service; presence service




























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Appendix B. PRES URL IANA Registration Template

   This section provides the information to register the pres: presence
   URL .

B.1 URL scheme name

   pres

B.2 URL scheme syntax

   The syntax replicates the existing mailto: URL syntax specified in
   RFC2368. The ABNF is:
        PRES-URL = "pres:"     [ to ]  [ headers ]
        to         =  #mailbox
        headers    =  "?" header *( "&" header )
        header     =  hname "=" hvalue
        hname      =  *urlc
        hvalue     =  *urlc

B.3 Character encoding considerations

   Representation of non-ASCII character sets in local-part strings is
   limited to the standard methods provided as extensions to RFC 822[1]

B.4 Intended usage

   Use of the pres: URL follows closely usage of the mailto: URL. That
   is, invocation of an PRES URL will cause the user's instant messaging
   application to start, with destination address and message headers
   fill-in according to the information supplied in the URL.

B.5 Applications and/or protocols which use this URL scheme  name

   It is anticipated that protocols compliant with RFC2779, and meeting
   the interoperability requirements specified here, will make use of
   this URL scheme name.

B.6 Interoperability considerations

   The underlying exchange protocol used for presence may vary from
   service to service.  Therefore complete, Internet-scale
   interoperability cannot be guaranteed. However, a service conforming
   to this specification permits gateways to achieve interoperability
   sufficient to  the requirements of RFC2779.






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B.7 Security considerations

   When PRES URLs are placed in presence protocols, they convey the
   identity of the sender and/or the recipient. In some cases, anonymous
   messaging may be desired.  Such a capability is beyond the scope of
   this specification.

B.8 Relevant publications

   RFC2779, RFC2778

B.9 Person & email address to contact for further  information

   Dave Crocker<dcrocker@dcrocker.net>

B.10 Author/Change controller

   This scheme is registered under the IETF tree. As such, IETF
   maintains change control.

B.11 Applications and/or protocols which use this URL scheme  name

   Instant messaging service; presence service




























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Appendix C. Issues of Interest

   This appendix briefly discusses issues that may be of interest when
   designing an interoperation gateway.

C.1 Address Mapping

   When mapping the service described in this memo, mappings which place
   special information into the im: address local-part MUST use the
   meta-syntax defined in RFC 2486[10].

C.1.1 Source-Route Mapping

   The easiest mapping technique is a form of source-routing and usually
   is the least friendly to humans having to type the string. Source-
   routing also has a history of operational problems.

   Use of source-routing for exchanges between different services is by
   a  transformation that places the entire, original address string
   into the im:  address local part and names the gateway in the domain
   part.

   For example, if the destination INSTANT INBOX is
   "pepp://example.com/fred", then, after performing the necessary
   character conversions, the resulting mapping is:

       im:pepp=example.com/fred@relay-domain

   where "relay-domain" is derived from local configuration information.

   Experience shows that it is vastly preferrable to hide this mapping
   from end-users Γω if possible, the mapping should be performed
   automatically by the underlying software.


















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Full Copyright Statement

   Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2000). All Rights Reserved.

   This document and translations of it may be copied and furnished to
   others, and derivative works that comment on or otherwise explain it
   or assist in its implementation may be prepared, copied, published
   and distributed, in whole or in part, without restriction of any
   kind, provided that the above copyright notice and this paragraph are
   included on all such copies and derivative works. However, this
   document itself may not be modified in any way, such as by removing
   the copyright notice or references to the Internet Society or other
   Internet organizations, except as needed for the purpose of
   developing Internet standards in which case the procedures for
   copyrights defined in the Internet Standards process must be
   followed, or as required to translate it into languages other than
   English.

   The limited permissions granted above are perpetual and will not be
   revoked by the Internet Society or its successors or assigns.

   This document and the information contained herein is provided on an
   "AS IS" basis and THE INTERNET SOCIETY AND THE INTERNET ENGINEERING
   TASK FORCE DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING
   BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTY THAT THE USE OF THE INFORMATION
   HEREIN WILL NOT INFRINGE ANY RIGHTS OR ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF
   MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

Acknowledgement

   Funding for the RFC Editor function is currently provided by the
   Internet Society.



















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