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Checking references for intended status: Proposed Standard ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- (See RFCs 3967 and 4897 for information about using normative references to lower-maturity documents in RFCs) No issues found here. Summary: 10 errors (**), 0 flaws (~~), 2 warnings (==), 2 comments (--). Run idnits with the --verbose option for more detailed information about the items above. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2 Network Working Group Bryan Costales 3 Request for Comments: DRAFT InfoBeat, Inc. 4 April 1997 6 E-Mail Headers to Facilitate Mailing 7 List Subscriptions and Unsubscriptions 9 Status of this Memo 11 This document is an Internet-Draft. Internet-Drafts are working 12 documents of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), its areas, 13 and its working groups. Note that other groups may also distribute 14 working documents as Internet-Drafts. 16 Internet-Drafts are draft documents valid for a maximum of six months 17 and may be updated, replaced, or obsoleted by other documents at any 18 time. It is inappropriate to use Internet-Drafts as reference 19 material or to cite them other than as ``work in progress.'' 21 To learn the current status of any Internet-Draft, please check the 22 ``1id-abstracts.txt'' listing contained in the Internet-Drafts Shadow 23 Directories on ftp.is.co.za (Africa), ftp.nordu.net (Europe), 24 munnari.oz.au (Pacific Rim), ds.internic.net (US East Coast), or 25 ftp.isi.edu (US West Coast). 27 Abstract 29 The number of ways to subscribe-to (and to unsubscribe-from) e-mail 30 mailing lists is as varied as the number of programmers designing 31 mailing list software. For some lists, for example, users 32 (un)subscribe by sending a request to -request@host.domain. 33 For others lists the address is majordomo@host.domain with the 34 request to (un)subscribe embedded in the message body. Yet others set 35 up special hosts to satisfy this need, such as @list- 36 off.domain. In this Internet Draft we offer two new e-mail headers 37 intended to make mailing list subscription and unsubscription easier 38 and more uniform: List-Subscribe and List-Unsubscribe. 40 Discussion 42 Naive users, over time, rely more and more on the ``smart'' features 43 of Mail User Agent programs to solve complex needs. Filtering in 44 bound e-mail is on such feature. Automating subscription to and 45 unsubscription from mailing lists could be another. Consider, for 46 example, a typical (but abbreviated) mailing list message. 48 To: you@your.domain 49 From: list@example.domain (Mailing List Site) 50 Subject: Your mass mailing for today 51 Comment: to unsubscribe send a message to list-cancel@example.domain 52 X-List-Unsubscribe: list-cancel@example.domain 54 ... 50 or so lines of message contents 56 * To unsubscribe from this Mailing List, send an e-mail message to 57 list-cancel@example.domain. 59 Here, three problems with this message prevent easy automation of the 60 unsubscription process: 62 (1) The Comment header describes how to unsubscribe from the mailing 63 list. Unfortunately, it is in free-form text, inappropriate for 64 automatic parsing. Also, because the Comment header is a general 65 purpose header, there is no guarantee that any addresses found in it 66 are those used for unsubscription purposes. 68 (2) The X-List-Unsubscribe header, because it begins with an X-, is a 69 non-standardized header. Although some software may recognize it as 70 specifying an address for unsubscription, other software will not. 71 The leading X- prevents any requirement that all software recognize 72 its special meaning. 74 (3) The trailing text in the message body also describes how to 75 unsubscribe. This is perhaps the most common and least easily 76 automated form for providing unsubscription information. 78 The List-Subscribe and List-Unsubscribe headers 80 One method to specify mailing-list subscription and unsubscription 81 information in an e-mail message is to include an appropriate, and 82 corresponding List-Subscribe and List-Unsubscribe header. The List- 83 Subscribe specifies the address (or URL, see below) to which e-mail 84 must be sent to subscribe to a mailing list. The List-Unsubscribe 85 header specifies the address (or URL) to which e-mail must be sent to 86 unsubscribe from a mailing list. 88 The field-body (the text to the right of the colon following the 89 header name) for these headers shall be either a bare address 90 specification or a mailto URL. 92 A Bare Address 94 When the address specification in the field-body may be that of an 95 RFC822 recipient including address commentary. For example: 97 List-Unsubscribe: Stop Getting This 98 List-Subscribe: listname+on@host.domain (Join The List) 100 The recipient address specification in the field-body is in every way 101 identical to that for the ``To'' header, except that it may only list 102 a single recipient. 104 The Mailto URL 106 When the address part of the address specification in the field-body 107 is surrounded by a '<' and '>' pair, and when the first non- 108 whitespace characters following the '<' are ``mailto:'', the address 109 specification shall be interpreted as a mailto URL. For example: 111 List-Unsubscribe: 112 List-Subscribe: 114 Currently, only an e-mail address may appear in a mailto URL. Future 115 enhancements may include the ability to include other header and body 116 information. When legal, such use of extensions are recommended. For 117 example: 119 List-Unsubscribe: 120 122 Security Considerations 124 If mail user agents are careless when using the List-Subscribe and 125 List-Unsubscribe headers, risk develops that a user may inadvertently 126 ``spam'' or otherwise misuse a mailing list. 128 These headers should only provide a template for addresses that can 129 be used by user agent software. A user agent should never send a 130 message based on these headers without first showing the user the 131 full message that will be sent (including all headers), fully 132 decoded, and asking the user for approval to send the message. The 133 user agent should also make it clear that the user is about to 134 subscribe-to or to unsubscribe-from a mailing list. 136 Author's Address: 138 Bryan Costales 139 InfoBeat, Inc. 140 Denver, Colorado 80202 USA 141 Tel: 303-295-0335 142 bcx@infobeat.com