List-Id: A Structured Field and Namespace for the Identification of Mailing Lists
RFC 2919
Document | Type |
RFC - Proposed Standard
(March 2001; Errata)
Was draft-chandhok-listid (individual in app area)
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Authors | Ravinder Chandhok , Geoffrey Wenger | ||
Last updated | 2020-01-21 | ||
Stream | IETF | ||
Formats | plain text html pdf htmlized with errata bibtex | ||
Stream | WG state | (None) | |
Document shepherd | No shepherd assigned | ||
This information refers to IESG processing after the RFC was initially published: | |||
IESG | IESG state | RFC 2919 (Proposed Standard) | |
Action Holders |
(None)
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Consensus Boilerplate | Unknown | ||
Telechat date | |||
Responsible AD | Alexey Melnikov | ||
Send notices to | (None) |
Network Working Group R. Chandhok Request for Comments: 2919 G. Wenger Category: Standards Track QUALCOMM, Inc. March 2001 List-Id: A Structured Field and Namespace for the Identification of Mailing Lists Status of this Memo This document specifies an Internet standards track protocol for the Internet community, and requests discussion and suggestions for improvements. Please refer to the current edition of the "Internet Official Protocol Standards" (STD 1) for the standardization state and status of this protocol. Distribution of this memo is unlimited. Copyright Notice Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2001). All Rights Reserved. Abstract Software that handles electronic mailing list messages (servers and user agents) needs a way to reliably identify messages that belong to a particular mailing list. With the advent of list management headers, it has become even more important to provide a unique identifier for a mailing list regardless of the particular host that serves as the list processor at any given time. The List-Id header provides a standard location for such an identifier. In addition, a namespace for list identifiers based on fully qualified domain names is described. This namespace is intended to guarantee uniqueness for list owners who require it, while allowing for a less rigorous namespace for experimental and personal use. By including the List-Id field, list servers can make it easier for mail clients to provide automated tools for users to perform list functions. The list identifier can serve as a key to make many automated processing tasks easier, and hence more widely available. 1. Introduction Internet mailing lists have evolved into fairly sophisticated forums for group communication and collaboration; however, corresponding changes in the underlying infrastructure have lagged behind. Recent Chandhok & Wenger Standards Track [Page 1] RFC 2919 List-Id March 2001 proposals like [RFC2369] have expanded the functionality that the MUA can provide by providing more information in each message sent by the mailing list distribution software. Actually implementing such functionality in the MUA depends on the ability to accurately identify messages as belonging to a particular mailing list. The problem then becomes what attribute or property to use to identify a mailing list. The most likely candidate is the submission address of the mailing list itself. Unfortunately, when the list server host, the list processing software, or the submission policy of the list changes the submission address itself can change. This causes great difficulty for automated processing and filtering. In order to further automate (and make more accurate) the processing a software agent can do, there needs to be some unique identifier to use as an identifier for the mailing list. This identifier can be simply used for string matching in a filter, or it can be used in more sophisticated systems to uniquely identify messages as belonging to a particular mailing list independent of the particular host delivering the actual messages. This identifier can also act as a key into a database of mailing lists. The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT", "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this document are to be interpreted as described in RFC 2119. 2. The List Identifier Syntax The list identifier will, in most cases, appear like a host name in a domain of the list owner. In other words, the domain name system is used to delegate namespace authority for list identifiers just as it has been used to distribute that authority for other internet resources. Using the domain name system as a basis for the list identifier namespace is intended to leverage an existing authority structure into a new area of application. By using the domain name system to delegate list identifier namespace authority, it becomes instantly clear who has the right to create a particular list identifier, and separates the list identifier from any particular delivery host or mechanism. Only the rights-holder of a domain or subdomain has the authority to create list identifiers in the namespace of that domain. For example, only the rights-holder to the "acm.org" domain has the authority to create list identifiers in "acm.org" domain. Chandhok & Wenger Standards Track [Page 2] RFC 2919 List-Id March 2001Show full document text