This working group will eventually define protocols and data formats necessary to build an internet-scale end-user presence awareness, notification and instant messaging system. Its initial task is to determine specific design goals and requirements for such a service. The design goals document will be submitted for IETF-wide review, and based on that review, the group's charter will be extended. Background: Instant messaging differs from email primarily in that its primary focus is immediate end-user delivery. Presence information was readily accessible on internet-connected systems years ago; when a user had an open session to a well-known multi-user system, his friends and colleagues could easily tell where he was connected from and whether he was using his computer. Since that time, computing infrastructure has become increasingly distributed and a given user may be consistently available," but has no standard way to make this information known to her peers. This working group will design a system to address this need. Goals: The working group will develop an architecture for simple instant messaging and presence awareness/notification. It will specify how authentication, message integrity, encryption and access control are integrated. It is desirable, but not required, for the working group to develop a solution that works well for awareness of and communication with entities other than human users. Non-goals: Providing a general notification mechanism for data other than user presence information and instant messages. The following keywords describe the scope for the working group. Details are to be developed in the architecture document which is the output of this working group: - PRESENCE - INSTANT MESSAGING - SHARED - NAMING - AUTHENTICATION - ACCESS CONTROL - SCALABILITY Deliverables: The working group plans to deliver the following document: - Requirements for Instant Messaging and Presence