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+Network Working Group                                         A. Westine
+Request for Comments: 1168                                    A. DeSchon
+                                                               J. Postel
+                                                               C.E. Ward
+                                                                 USC/ISI
+                                                               July 1990
+
+              INTERMAIL AND COMMERCIAL MAIL RELAY SERVICES
+
+
+STATUS OF THIS MEMO
+
+   This RFC discusses the history and evolution of the Intermail and
+   Commercial mail systems.  The problems encountered in operating a
+   store-and-forward mail relay between commercial systems such as
+   Telemail, MCI Mail and Dialcom are also discussed. This RFC provides
+   information for the Internet community, and does not specify any
+   standard.  Distribution of this memo is unlimited.
+
+INTRODUCTION
+
+   The evolution of large electronic mail systems testifies to the
+   increasing importance of electronic mail as a means of communication
+   and coordination throughout the scientific research community.
+
+   This paper is a summary of the development of, and a status report
+   on, an experiment in protocol interoperation between mail systems of
+   different design. USC/Information Sciences Institute (ISI) began work
+   on this experiment in 1981 and over the years has provided an
+   evolving demonstration service for users to exchange mail between the
+   Internet and a few commercial mail systems.
+
+   Recently other organizations have begun to provide similar services,
+   demonstrating the ongoing need for interoperation of the Internet and
+   the commercial mail systems.  We believe that ISI's pioneering work
+   in this area has promoted this expansion of service.
+
+   These systems include the Internet mail system, the US Sprint
+   Telemail system, the MCI Mail system, and the Dialcom systems. All of
+   the systems were designed to operate autonomously, with no convenient
+   mechanism to allow users of one system to send electronic mail to
+   users on another system.
+
+   The Intermail and Commercial Mail Relay (CMR) services described in
+   this paper were developed to provide a means for sending mail between
+   the Internet and these commercial mail systems.
+
+
+
+
+
+Westine, DeSchon, Postel & Ward                                 [Page 1]
+
+RFC 1168      Intermail and Commercial Mail Relay Services     July 1990
+
+
+   The Internet is an interconnected system of networks using the SMTP
+   mail protocol, which includes the ARPANET, MILNET, NSFNET, and about
+   700 other networks; mail relays allow the exchange of mail with
+   BITNET, CSNET, and the UUCP networks as well.  To the users, this
+   Internet looks like one large mail system with at least 100,000
+   computers and at least 400,000 users.  Figure 1 illustrates the path
+   of a message sent by a user on one Internet host to a user on another
+   Internet host.  For more details on the Internet and connected
+   networks (see Appendix A).
+
+   As commercial mail systems came into popular use, it became clear
+   that a mail link between the Internet and the commercial mail systems
+   was necessary (see Appendix B).  More and more commercial and
+   research entities needed to communicate with the Internet research
+   community, and many of these organizations (for one reason or
+   another) were inappropriate candidates for Internet sites.  The
+   Intermail and CMR services allow these groups to communicate with
+   Internet users by purchasing electronic mail services from commercial
+   companies.
+
+INTERMAIL
+
+   Intermail is an experimental mail forwarding system that allows users
+   to send electronic mail across mail system boundaries. The use of
+   Intermail is nearly transparent, in that users on each system are
+   able to use their usual mail programs to prepare, send, and receive
+   messages.  No modifications to any of the mail programs on any of the
+   systems are required.  However, users must put some extra addressing
+   information at the beginning of the body of their messages.
+
+               <<< Figure 1 - Internet to Internet Mail >>>
+
+   The earliest version of Intermail was developed in 1981, by Jon
+   Postel, Danny Cohen, Lee Richardson, and Joel Goldberg [1]. It ran on
+   the TOPS-20 operating system and was used to forward VLSI chip
+   specifications for the MOSIS project between the ARPANET and the
+   Telemail system.  The original addressing model used in this system
+   was called "Source Route Forwarding".  It was developed to handle
+   situations in which a message might travel multiple hops before
+   reaching its destination.
+
+   Later, in 1983, Annette DeSchon converted Intermail into a more
+   general-purpose mail-forwarding system, supporting forwarding between
+   the Internet mail system and three commercial mail systems: Telemail,
+   MCI Mail, and Dialcom [3,4].
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Westine, DeSchon, Postel & Ward                                 [Page 2]
+
+RFC 1168      Intermail and Commercial Mail Relay Services     July 1990
+
+
+   As it became apparent that the level of generality of Source Route
+   Forwarding was not needed, and as Intermail gained acceptance among
+   users, an easier approach to addressing was developed.  The new
+   addressing model is called "Simple Forwarding".  This form of
+   addressing, like Source Route Forwarding, appears at the beginning of
+   the text of each message.  It can be used to include various Internet
+   mail header fields in addition to the standard "To" and "Cc" address
+   fields.  This format also allows the use of special address formats,
+   such as U.S. postal addresses and TELEX addresses, which are
+   supported by the MCI Mail system.  The Intermail system performed
+   partially automated error handling.  Error messages were created by
+   the Intermail program and were then either approved or corrected by a
+   human postmaster.
+
+   Figure 2 illustrates the pathways between the user mailboxes in the
+   commercial mail systems and the user mailboxes in the Internet via
+   the Intermail accounts and program modules.  Figure 3 shows the
+   Intermail processing in more detail.
+
+              <<< Figure 2 - Commercial Mail to Intermail >>>
+
+                  <<< Figure 3 - Intermail Processing >>>
+
+COMMERCIAL MAIL RELAY
+
+   In 1988, the Commercial Mail Relay (CMR) was developed to run on a
+   dedicated UNIX system, replacing the TOPS-20-based Intermail system.
+   The CMR is a store-and-forward mail link between the Internet and two
+   commercial systems, Telemail and Dialcom. The only remaining
+   forwarding performed by the TOPS-20 Intermail system is in support of
+   the MCI Mail system.  (This is planned for conversion to the CMR.)
+   The CMR supports relay-style addressing in the "Internet to
+   commercial system" direction, as well as Simple Forwarding in both
+   directions.  One advantage of relay-style addressing is that users
+   from different commercial systems can appear on Internet mailing
+   lists.  Another advantage is that the reply features of most Internet
+   user applications can be used by Internet users to respond to mail
+   that originated on a commercial system. Unfortunately, since we do
+   not have access to the address-parsing software on the commercial
+   systems, it is not possible for users of the commercial systems to
+   enter addresses directly into the message header, and they must
+   continue to use Simple Forwarding.
+
+   The CMR supports automated error handling, which enables the system
+   to provide faster turnaround on messages containing addressing
+   errors, and requires much less intervention from a human postmaster.
+
+
+
+
+
+Westine, DeSchon, Postel & Ward                                 [Page 3]
+
+RFC 1168      Intermail and Commercial Mail Relay Services     July 1990
+
+
+DESCRIPTION OF THE CMR SYSTEM
+
+   The Multi-channel Memo Distribution Facility (MMDF) is used as the
+   system mail software because of its notion of separating the mail
+   queue into separate channels [5].  This makes it easy to dedicate a
+   channel/queue combination to each commercial system.  Internet mail
+   comes in over the standard SMTP port, and the system parses the
+   destination address, queuing the message in the proper outgoing
+   queue.  A tag can be added to outgoing traffic so that replies can be
+   made without any special processing at the destination site.
+
+   The CMR uses a relay mailbox on each commercial system.  Commercial
+   users send mail to this mailbox with a Simple Forwarding Header (SFH)
+   at the head of their message text.  Each channel, in addition to
+   sending outgoing mail into the commercial system, reads all messages
+   in the relay mailbox and places them in a spool file in the CMR host
+   computer.
+
+   The processing of the spool file is performed by a single daemon. It
+   parses each commercial system message header to find the sender and
+   subject, then it searches for and processes the SFH.  The SFH
+   contains the destination Internet addresses.  Figure 4a illustrates
+   the path of mail from the Internet to the commercial sytems. Figure
+   4b illustrates the path from the commercial systrems to the Internet.
+   Note:  MCI Mail is not yet implemented.
+
+   The CMR employs a simple accounting mechanism:  a shell script counts
+   the number of times a string marker occurs in the MMDF logs.  At the
+   end of the month, another script uses an "awk" program to total the
+   number of messages sent and received with each commercial system. The
+   Commercial Mail Relay is being developed by Craig E. Ward.  Ann
+   Westine served as the Postmaster for both Intermail and the CMR until
+   March 1989.  Currently, our Action Office serves as Postmaster.
+   Questions may be sent to "Intermail-Request@ISI.EDU".
+
+          <<< Figure 4a - The Internet to Commercial Systems >>>
+
+          <<< Figure 4b - Commercial Systems to the Internet >>>
+
+COMMERCIAL SYSTEMS SERVED
+
+   The CMR provides mail relay service between the Internet and two
+   commercial electronic mail systems:  the US Sprint Telemail system
+   and the Dialcom system.  A CMR connection to MCI Mail is under
+   development.  MCI Mail is currently served by the TOPS-20 Intermail
+   system.  See Appendix C for recent traffic data.
+
+
+
+
+
+Westine, DeSchon, Postel & Ward                                 [Page 4]
+
+RFC 1168      Intermail and Commercial Mail Relay Services     July 1990
+
+
+   Telemail is an international commercial service.  Some of the
+   Telemail systems served by the CMR include MAIL/USA, NASAMAIL/USA,
+   and GSFC/USA.  Some government agencies, such as NASA and the
+   Environmental Protection Agency, have dedicated Telemail systems.
+   Companies also exist that purchase bulk services from Telemail and
+   resell the service to individuals.  Omnet's Sciencenet is a very
+   popular example of this type of service.
+
+   Dialcom is a commercial service similar to Telemail in that it has
+   facilities for allowing groups to purchase tailored services, and
+   some government agencies (such as the National Science Foundation and
+   the U.S.  Department of Agriculture) have special group-access plans.
+   The IEEE Computer Society also has a dedicated group service, called
+   IEEE Compmail, which is open to members of the IEEE Computer Society.
+
+   MCI Mail is operated by MCI and is marketed to large companies as
+   well as individual users.
+
+   Specific examples of the users of Intermail and the CMR are as
+   follows:
+
+   1) Scientists in Oceanography, Astronomy, Geology, and Agriculture
+   use Intermail and the CMR to communicate with colleagues.  Many of
+   these scientists have accounts on "Sciencenet", which is actually
+   part of a Telemail system administered by Omnet.
+
+   (2) The IEEE Computer Society's publication editors use the Dialcom
+   system "Compmail" to manage the papers being prepared for their
+   numerous publications.  Many of the authors are in university
+   departments with access to the Internet. Intermail and the CMR
+   support a significant exchange of large messages containing
+   manuscripts.
+
+   (3)  NASA uses Telemail systems for its own work and has extensive
+   exchanges through its own relay service, as well as Intermail and the
+   CMR, for communicating with university scientists on the Internet.
+
+   Other developments to interoperate between the Internet and
+   Commercial mail systems are:
+
+      (1)  The Merit gateway to Sprintmail and IEEE Compmail
+
+      (2)  The CNRI gateway to MCI Mail
+
+      (3)  The Ohio State University gateway to Compuserve, and,
+
+      (4)  NASA-Ames gateway to Telemail
+
+
+
+
+Westine, DeSchon, Postel & Ward                                 [Page 5]
+
+RFC 1168      Intermail and Commercial Mail Relay Services     July 1990
+
+
+ACCEPTABLE USE POLICY FOR INTERMAIL AND THE CMR
+
+   The Internet is composed of many networks sponsored by many
+   organizations.  However, all the Internet's long-haul networks are
+   provided by U.S.  government agencies.  Each of these agencies limits
+   the use of the facilities it provides in some way.  In general, the
+   statement by an agency about how its facilities may be used is called
+   an "Acceptable Use Policy".
+
+   The various agencies involved in the Internet are currently preparing
+   their Acceptable Use Policy statements.  Most of these are in draft
+   form and have not been released as official agency statements as yet.
+   None of these policies are currently available as online documents.
+
+   In the least restrictive case, all bona fide researchers and
+   scholars, public and private, from the United States and foreign
+   countries (unless denied access by national policy) are allowed
+   access.
+
+   The Intermail and Commercial Mail Relay (CMR) systems at ISI are
+   resources provided by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
+   (DARPA) for computing and communication.  Use of these resources must
+   be limited to DARPA-sponsored work or other approved government
+   business (or must otherwise meet the acceptable use policy of DARPA),
+   only.
+
+   However, DARPA, as a member of the Federal Research Internet
+   Coordinating Committee (FRICC), has agreed to the FRICC draft policy
+   for communication networks, which provides in part that:  "The member
+   agencies of the FRICC agree to carry all traffic that meets the
+   Acceptable Use Policy of the originating member agency".
+
+   Thus, e-mail messages (i.e., "traffic") that meet the Acceptable Use
+   Policy of an agency and pass through some facility of that agency
+   (i.e., "the originating member") on the way to Intermail or CMR are
+   allowed.
+
+   The current member agencies of the FRICC are DARPA, NSF, DOE, NASA,
+   and NIH.
+
+   BITNET and UUCP (and other) networks are interconnected to the
+   Internet via mail relays.  It is the responsibility of the managers
+   of these mail relays to ensure that the e-mail messages ("traffic")
+   that enter the Internet via their mail relays meet the Acceptable Use
+   Policy of the member agency providing the Internet access.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Westine, DeSchon, Postel & Ward                                 [Page 6]
+
+RFC 1168      Intermail and Commercial Mail Relay Services     July 1990
+
+
+   In addition, we cannot allow CMR or Intermail to be used simply as a
+   bridge between two commercial systems, even though CMR has this
+   technical capability.  At least one end of the communication must be
+   related to FRICC acceptable use.
+
+DETAILS OF CMR SYSTEM USE
+
+   The CMR host computer is Internet host INTERMAIL.ISI.EDU
+   (128.9.2.203).  The users of the commercials system are required to
+   know the proper gateways between the Internet and other networks such
+   as BITNET, CSNET, or UUCP.  Users on networks interconnected to the
+   Internet likewise need to know how to reach the Internet to send mail
+   through INTERMAIL.ISI.EDU to a commercial system.
+
+   The relay connection to Telemail is through their host TELEMAIL/USA.
+   The general syntax for Telemail addresses is
+   "[USER/ORGANIZATION]HOST/COUNTRY", making the full address for the
+   relay mailbox:
+
+                      [INTERMAIL/USCISI]TELEMAIL/USA
+
+   Users across the entire Telemail service can send mail to this
+   address.  Users on the TELEMAIL host need only send to INTERMAIL.
+
+   Internet users can use the basic Telemail format, append a
+   "%TELEMAIL" to it, and mail to the resulting address as if it really
+   existed on INTERMAIL.ISI.EDU, e.g.:
+
+           [CWARD/USCISI]TELEMAIL/USA%TELEMAIL@INTERMAIL.ISI.EDU
+
+   Note that the CMR system will accept anything before the "%TELEMAIL",
+   that is, the CMR does not validate Telemail addresses before
+   transmitting them to Telemail.
+
+   The CMR handles Dialcom mail delivery in a similar way, but this
+   system has what might be called "virtual hosts".  Groups can be set
+   up with an alias system to allow easier intra-group access.  For
+   example, both NSF and USDA share the same Dialcom host (157); but,
+   while both groups send relay messages to Intermail, their actual
+   fully qualified Dialcom mailboxes are different. For example, NSF's
+   mailbox is NSF153, and USDA's mailbox is AGS9999.
+
+   Mail going in either direction may use an embedded Simple Forwarding
+   Header.  An SFH must be the first part of the message text.  It
+   starts with a "Forward:"  field followed by a "To:" field.  "Cc:",
+   "Subject:", and other fields may follow the "To:" fields. The SFH is
+   terminated by a blank line.
+
+
+
+
+Westine, DeSchon, Postel & Ward                                 [Page 7]
+
+RFC 1168      Intermail and Commercial Mail Relay Services     July 1990
+
+
+   This is a template of an SFH:
+
+      Forward: Destination-Network
+      To: User@host1, User@host2,
+           User2@host2
+      Cc: User@host1
+      Subject: This subject supercedes the subject in the host net header
+      <Blank-Line>
+
+   Dialcom syntax is "Host-ID:User-ID", for example, 134:ABC1234.  This
+   format will work from any Dialcom host; but users in the same group
+   as ABC would be able to use the user name, for example, JSMITH.
+
+   Using the SFH format, mail to a Dialcom system could be sent as
+   follows:
+
+      To: Intermail@ISI.EDU
+      Subject:  Test Message
+
+      Forward: Compmail
+      To: 134:ABC1234
+
+      Here is the text of the message.
+
+   Proper destination network names include ARPA, Telemail, Compmail,
+   NSF-Mail, and USDA-Mail.
+
+   It is possible for a user to make mistakes at many points in the
+   process. Errors are handled as automatically as possible by the CMR.
+   Many errors are caught in the standard Internet mail traffic, and
+   users receive the usual error messages from the system.  Messages
+   with incorrect commercial system addresses or faulty SFHs are also
+   automatically returned to sender.  Messages that the software cannot
+   handle are sent to the CMR's user-service mailbox, Intermail-
+   Request@ISI.EDU.  This mailbox has been set up to take care of user
+   problems and to be a central distribution point for user
+   instructions.
+
+PROBLEMS
+
+   Several problems arise from the store-and-forward nature of the CMR.
+   One of the biggest is that almost all of the commercial systems lack
+   a machine-to-machine interface -- the CMR software must mimic a human
+   user of the commercial system.  Another problem is that the Internet
+   and a commercial system have different forms (or syntax) for
+   electronic mail addresses.  A major goal of the CMR project is to
+   make the link between networks as transparent as possible, allowing
+   Internet users to use off-the-shelf mail programs.  Making commercial
+
+
+
+Westine, DeSchon, Postel & Ward                                 [Page 8]
+
+RFC 1168      Intermail and Commercial Mail Relay Services     July 1990
+
+
+   address formats fit the Internet standard is a major task [2].
+
+   Compatibility with Internet addressing standards is also a concern.
+   The commercial accounts are not able to take advantage of the
+   transparency features of the Domain Name System (DNS) (see Appendix
+   D); and some commercial addresses are incompatible with the Internet
+   syntax--this requires Internet users to continue using the older
+   methods.
+
+   Another general problem to be solved is to reduce the amount of time
+   needed to maintain the system.  Because most commercial systems force
+   our software to mimic a human user, automatic error detection and
+   handling are quite complex. The Intermail system requires human
+   intervention in processing failed mail.  A goal of the CMR is to
+   fully automate these processes.
+
+   A related problem facing the CMR, as well as its predecessor
+   Intermail, is the frequency with which commercial systems change
+   their software.  The changes are usually minor and do not bother most
+   human users; however, the CMR depends on being able to recognize
+   certain strings.  To avoid the necessity of rebuilding the whole CMR
+   when these strings change, most of the string markers are stored in
+   ASCII files that are read at run time.
+
+   The translation of commercial system addresses has created a new set
+   of problems,  most of which are caused by the use of "special"
+   characters by the commercial systems.
+
+   Telemail uses square brackets ("[" and "]") around user names. While
+   these characters are not special by Internet standards when found in
+   the local part of an address, many (perhaps most) Internet mailers
+   refuse to accept these characters unless they are quoted.  MMDF was
+   modified locally to correct this.
+
+   The square bracket problem is even worse for users of IBM mainframe
+   machines, many of which are used on BITNET.  The square bracket is
+   not a printable character on many BITNET IBM hosts, and all kinds of
+   strange addresses can result from its use.
+
+   The colon is another example.  Dialcom uses it as the delimiter
+   between host and mailbox.  However, the colon is a special character
+   in the Internet mail standard [2].  Users can avoid this problem by
+   using the SFH and placing the Dialcom address at the beginning of the
+   message text.  Although the CMR can accept addresses with colons,
+   many Internet hosts and relays are unable to accept addresses that
+   contain colons.  Mail with colons in the address fields is often
+   rejected by Internet hosts and is returned to the Intermail-Request
+   mailbox for error processing.  This can cause significant delays.
+
+
+
+Westine, DeSchon, Postel & Ward                                 [Page 9]
+
+RFC 1168      Intermail and Commercial Mail Relay Services     July 1990
+
+
+   Problems have also been caused by confusion about which hosts are
+   mail relays between the Internet and other systems compatible with
+   the Internet mail standard [2]. (e.g., BITNET, UUCP, and CSNET).
+   When the CMR was implemented, a decision was made that the CMR would
+   not keep track of these mail relays.  When a relay is changed, as the
+   BITNET mail relays were in 1988, mail may be rejected because the
+   host either no longer exists or refuses the mail.
+
+   The mail relay problem is a subset of the larger problem of
+   communicating information about new features and changes to the user
+   community. Virtually none of the users of the CMR are local.  Many
+   are hidden behind the veil of the commercial system.  (Dealing with
+   commercial system customer support people has proven to be
+   frustrating -- few of them seem to understand the concept of
+   machine-to-machine exchanges.) Enhancements to commercial software
+   that necessitate minor changes can disrupt some CMR users for days.
+
+   Another problem that has not been adequately solved is validation of
+   commercial system addresses and processing of failed commercial
+   system mail.  The Telemail system will not validate a user/host
+   combination until after the full text of the message has been
+   transmitted.  If a long message is sent to an invalid address, it can
+   be very expensive in terms of wasted time and connect charges.
+
+   Telemail also gives inadequate information when the host is correct
+   but the user name is not.  The failed mail notice received from
+   Telemail is of little use to either a human reader or the CMR
+   software.  The only information that Telemail returns is the message
+   ID number -- it provides no subject, and no text to distinguish the
+   message from the numerous others that pass through the mailbox.
+
+   Dialcom does a better job of validating addresses.  If an address is
+   not recognized, the system immediately prompts for a correction.  A
+   simple <RETURN> will delete the invalid address from the list.
+
+   The commercial systems are geared for paying customers to send and
+   receive mail to other paying customers.  They are not equipped to
+   handle reverse billing, or "collect calls."  ISI is currently charged
+   for connect time needed to transmit and receive mail to and from
+   other Internet sites.  A possible solution to this problem would be
+   to extend the CMR. to include accounting and billing procedures that
+   would pass the costs of CMR to its users.
+
+   What had been GTE Telemail became Sprint SprintMail, Telenet became
+   Sprintnet, and the host TELEMAIL/USA became SM66/USA.
+
+   In April 1990, Sprint installed its X.400 implementation.  For the
+   time being, the old-style Interconnect syntax will work. The CMR
+
+
+
+Westine, DeSchon, Postel & Ward                                [Page 10]
+
+RFC 1168      Intermail and Commercial Mail Relay Services     July 1990
+
+
+   telemail channel and the Simple Forwarding Header (SFH) processor,
+   were modified to accept either format in the SprintMail "From" field.
+
+   Sprint uses the following syntax for X.400:
+
+                      (O:USCISI,UN:INTERMAIL,TS:SM66)
+
+   The SFH processor will "translate" this into:
+
+                 /O=USCISI/UN=INTERMAIL/TS=SM66/%TELEMAIL
+
+   The channel program will reverse the process.  In the translation,
+   parentheses become slashes, colons become equal signs and commas
+   become slashes and vice versa.
+
+   Unfortunately, the translation algorithm is not foolproof.  A
+   Sprint/Internet relay did not use the same field names and values as
+   those in SprintMail.  Consequently, a CMR translated address can not
+   be sent unmodified to Sprint's relay, Sprint.COM, and Sprint.COM
+   processed addresses cannot be sent unmodified to the CMR.
+
+   From experimentation, the modifications necessary to a CMR processed
+   address to make it acceptable to Sprint.COM are (1) take the "non-
+   standard" X.400 fields of "UN" and "TS" and prepend "DD." to them,
+   (2) add the country field and code (C:US) and (3) add the Telemail
+   administrative domain name (ADMD:Telemail).  The above example would
+   become:
+
+    /O=USCISI/DD.UN=INTERMAIL/DD.TS=SM66/ADMD=TELEMAIL/C=US/@Sprint.COM
+
+   The country code must be changed from "US" to "USA."  The CMR queue
+   name must also be appended: "%TELEMAIL."
+
+   The situation is further complicated by Sprint's decision to only
+   relay mail to and from its own administrative domain.  Other X.400
+   ADMDs may be added in the future if payment problems can be overcome.
+
+   SprintMail encoded Internet addresses are not parsed correctly by the
+   SFH processor, but that should not be a major problem -- who on the
+   Internet is going to send to the commercial side of the relay?
+
+   When the NSF decided to terminate NSFMAIL, it became clear that the
+   CMR Project needed a way to get news out to the commercial users.
+   The CMR channel programs now are able to append a news file to the
+   end of messages going into the commercial networks.  After
+   transmitting a message, each channel checks for a news file with the
+   channel name and if present, sends it.
+
+
+
+
+Westine, DeSchon, Postel & Ward                                [Page 11]
+
+RFC 1168      Intermail and Commercial Mail Relay Services     July 1990
+
+
+   The biggest costs of the CMR are the connect times to the Sprintnet
+   X.25 network and the commercial machines.  Making the CMR transmit
+   faster is the current number one problem.
+
+   Three strategies are being pursued:
+
+      - Improve the implementation of the current method
+
+      - Change the method to take advantage of changes in the commercial
+        software
+
+      - Upgrade the modems and increase the number of phone lines
+
+   For a list of known problems or bugs in the CMR software, see the
+   Appendix of the program logic manual [6].
+
+FUTURE DIRECTIONS
+
+   No software project is ever completed, and the CMR is no exception.
+   There are many possible extensions, some more difficult than others.
+
+   One addition that will be made to the CMR is a channel for
+   interacting with MCI Mail.  MCI Mail is one of the original TOPS-20
+   commercial systems that were serviced by Intermail; the CMR will need
+   to replace this function before all of the TOPS-20 machines are
+   removed from service on the Internet.
+
+   The adaptability of the CMR is such that adding new commercial
+   systems should not be a major problem.  Additional commercial systems
+   under consideration include General Electric's GENIE, Western Union's
+   EasyLink, and Compuserve.
+
+   One possible addition to the CMR system could be maintenance of a
+   list of gateways.  This would allow commercial system users to
+   incorporate the native address formats of other networks into the
+   SFHs.  An advantage of this would be that users could simply tell the
+   CMR to forward a message to BITNET, for example, and the CMR would
+   find the gateway and properly format the address for that gateway.
+
+   To increase the ease of use to Internet users, the system might treat
+   each commercial system as an Internet host and create DNS database
+   records for them.  This would allow users to send mail to a non-
+   Internet user at an Internet-style domain name.
+
+   Another improvement would be the possibility of accepting X.400-style
+   addressing. The current system rejects them.
+
+
+
+
+
+Westine, DeSchon, Postel & Ward                                [Page 12]
+
+RFC 1168      Intermail and Commercial Mail Relay Services     July 1990
+
+
+   In order to further reduce the hazards of string changes in the
+   commercial system software, an AI component could be added to the
+   commercial system interfaces.  Such an AI component might be able to
+   "figure out" what marker a new prompt represents and to remember it.
+
+ACCESS INFORMATION
+
+   For instructions on how to use Intermail and CMR contact Intermail-
+   Request@ISI.EDU.
+
+REFERENCES
+
+   [1]  Cohen, D., "A Suggestion for Internet Message Forwarding for
+        MOSIS", IEN-180, USC/Information Sciences Institute, March 1981.
+
+   [2]  Crocker, D., "Standard for the Format of ARPA Internet Text
+        Messages", RFC-822, University of Delaware, August 1982.
+
+   [3]  DeSchon, A. L., "MCI Mail/ARPA Mail Forwarding", USC/Information
+        Sciences Institute, ISI Research Report, RR-84-141, August 1984.
+
+   [4]  DeSchon, A. L., "INTERMAIL, An Experimental Mail Forwarding
+        System", USC/Information Sciences Institute, ISI Research
+        Report, RR-85-158, September 1985.
+
+   [5]  Kingston, D., "MMDF II: A Technical Review", Usenix Conference,
+        Salt Lake City, August 1984.
+
+   [6]  Ward, C. E., "The Commercial Mail Relay Project:  Intermail on
+        UNIX", USC/Information Sciences Institute, 1988.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Westine, DeSchon, Postel & Ward                                [Page 13]
+
+RFC 1168      Intermail and Commercial Mail Relay Services     July 1990
+
+
+APPENDIX A
+
+   The Internet and Connected Networks
+
+   The Internet is a network of networks interconnected by gateways or
+   routers. The common element is the TCP/IP protocol suite.  The
+   Internet now includes approximately 800 networks and 100,000 host
+   computers.  The Internet is made up of local area networks in
+   research institutes and university campuses, regional networks, and
+   long-haul networks.  These resources are supported by the using
+   organizations and by several US goverment agencies (including DARPA,
+   NSF, NASA, DOE, and NIH).   The long-haul networks in the Internet
+   are the ARPANET, the MILNET, the NSFNET Backbone, the NASA Science
+   Internet (NSI), and the DOE Energy Science Network (ESNET).
+
+   Other systems using TCP/IP or other protocols may be networks of
+   networks or "internets" with a lower case "i".  The capital "I"
+   Internet is the one described above.
+
+   There are other networks with (semi-) compatible electronic mail
+   systems. These include BITNET (and EARN and NETNORTH), UUCP (and
+   EUNET), CSNET, ACSNET, and JANET.  Users of electronic mail may not
+   necessarily be aware of the boundaries between these systems and the
+   Internet.
+
+   The Domain Name System (DNS) is a mechanism used in the Internet for
+   translating names of host computers into addresses.  The DNS also
+   allows host computers not directly on the Internet to have registered
+   names in the same style.
+
+   BITNET (Because It's Time NETwork)
+
+   BITNET has about 2,500 host computers, primarily at universities, in
+   many countries.  It is managed by EDUCOM, which provides
+   administrative support and information services.  There are three
+   main constituents of the network: BITNET in the United States and
+   Mexico, NETNORTH in Canada, and EARN in Europe.  There are also
+   AsiaNet, in Japan, and connections in South America.  Gateways exist
+   between BITNET and the Internet.  The most common gateway used is
+   CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU.
+
+   CSNET (The Computer + Science Network)
+
+   CSNET has 180 member organizations, primarily computer science
+   research laboratories at universities and research institutes,
+   including international affiliates in more than a dozen countries.
+   CSNET has adopted DNS-style names for all its host computers.  It is
+   administered by the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research
+
+
+
+Westine, DeSchon, Postel & Ward                                [Page 14]
+
+RFC 1168      Intermail and Commercial Mail Relay Services     July 1990
+
+
+   (UCAR) and provides administrative support and information services
+   via the CSNET Information Center (CIC) at Bolt Beranek and Newman
+   (BBN). The gateway between CSNET and the Internet is RELAY.CS.NET.
+
+   Note: CSNET and BITNET have officially merged into a single
+   organization as of October 1, 1989.
+
+   UUCP (UNIX to UNIX Copy)
+
+   UUCP is a protocol, a set of files, and a set of commands for copying
+   data files from one UNIX machine to another.  These procedures are
+   widely used to implement a hop-by-hop electronic mail system.  This
+   simple mechanism allows any UNIX host computer to join the system by
+   arranging a connection (dial-up or permanent) with any UNIX host
+   already in the system.  In the basic UUCP system, mail is source
+   routed by the sending user through a path of connected hosts to the
+   destination.  Currently, there are databases of connection
+   information (UUCP maps) and programs (pathalias) that aid in
+   determining routes.  There is some use of DNS-style names by UUCP
+   hosts.  EUNET is a UUCP-based network in Europe, and JUNET is a
+   similar net in Japan.  These international branches of UUCP use DNS-
+   style names as well.  There are many hosts that may relay mail
+   between UUCP and the Internet.  One prominent gateway is
+   UUNET.UU.NET.
+
+   JANET (Joint Academic NETwork)
+
+   JANET is the primary academic network in the United Kingdom, linking
+   about 1,000 computers at about 100 universities and research
+   institutes.  JANET has a domain name system similar to that of the
+   Internet, but the order of the domain name parts is opposite (with
+   the top-level domain on the left).  The protocols used in JANET are
+   the UK "Coloured Books".  The primary gateway between JANET and the
+   Internet is NSFNET-RELAY.AC.UK.
+
+   ACSNET (Australian Computer Science Network)
+
+   ACSNET is the principal electronic mail system for the computer
+   science and academic research community in Australia, connecting
+   about 300 sites.  It works similarly to UUCP.  ACSNET has a domain
+   naming syntax similar to that for Internet domains.  The gateways
+   between ACSNET and the Internet are MUNNARI.OZ.AU and UUNET.UU.NET.
+
+APPENDIX B
+
+                         <<< Mail Systems Map >>>
+
+
+
+
+
+Westine, DeSchon, Postel & Ward                                [Page 15]
+
+RFC 1168      Intermail and Commercial Mail Relay Services     July 1990
+
+
+APPENDIX C
+
+   March 1990      sent    read    total
+
+   Telemail        1291    768     2059
+   MCI Mail        56      44      100
+   Compmail        634     306     940
+   NSF-Mail        370     243     613
+   CGnet           171     82      253
+   USDA Mail       6       1       7
+   BellSouth       6       10      16
+   Other           0       0       0
+
+   Total           2534    1454    3988
+   Days in Month   31
+   Messages per Day        128.65
+
+
+   April 1990      sent    read    total
+
+   Telemail        1363    696     2059
+   MCI Mail        40      39      79
+   Compmail        771     329     1100
+   CGnet           361     191     552
+   USDA Mail       28      31      59
+   BellSouth       98      73      17
+   Other           0       0       0
+
+   Total           2661    1361    4022
+   Days in Month   30
+   Messages per Day        134.07
+
+
+   May 1990        sent    read    total
+
+   Telemail        1007    561     1568
+   MCI Mail        23      12      35
+   Compmail        815     359     1174
+   CGnet           406     210     616
+   USDA Mail       12      5       17
+   BellSouth       167     93      260
+   Other           0       0       0
+
+   Total           2430    1240    3670
+   Days in Month   31
+   Messages per Day        118.39
+
+
+
+
+
+Westine, DeSchon, Postel & Ward                                [Page 16]
+
+RFC 1168      Intermail and Commercial Mail Relay Services     July 1990
+
+
+APPENDIX D
+
+   The Domain Name System
+
+   The Domain Name System (DNS) provides for the translation between
+   host names and addresses.   Within the Internet, this means
+   translating from a name, such as "ABC.ISI.EDU", to an IP address such
+   as "128.9.0.123".  The DNS is a set of protocols and databases.  The
+   protocols define the syntax and semantics for a query language to ask
+   questions about information located by DNS-style names. The databases
+   are distributed and replicated.  There is no dependence on a single
+   central server, and each part of the database is provided in at least
+   two servers.
+
+   In addition to translating names to addresses for hosts that are in
+   the Internet, the DNS provides for registering DNS-style names for
+   other hosts reachable (via electronic mail) through gateways or mail
+   relays.  The records for such name registration point to an Internet
+   host (one with an IP address) that acts as a mail forwarder for the
+   registered host.  For example, the Australian host "YARRA.OZ.AU" is
+   registered in the DNS with a pointer to the mail relay
+   "UUNET.UU.NET".  This gives electronic mail users a uniform mail
+   addressing syntax and avoids making them aware of the underlying
+   network boundaries.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Westine, DeSchon, Postel & Ward                                [Page 17]
+
+RFC 1168      Intermail and Commercial Mail Relay Services     July 1990
+
+
+SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS
+
+   Security issues are not discussed in this memo.
+
+AUTHORS' ADDRESSES
+
+   Ann Westine
+   USC/Information Sciences Instutite
+   4676 Admiralty Way
+   Marina del Rey, CA  90292-6695
+
+   Phone:  (213) 822-1511
+   EMail:  Westine@ISI.EDU
+
+   Annette DeSchon
+   USC/Information Sciences Instutite
+   4676 Admiralty Way
+   Marina del Rey, CA  90292-6695
+
+   Phone:  (213) 822-1511
+   EMail:  DeSchon@ISI.EDU
+
+   Jon Postel
+   USC/Information Sciences Instutite
+   4676 Admiralty Way
+   Marina del Rey, CA  90292-6695
+
+   Phone:  (213) 822-1511
+   EMail:  Postel@ISI.EDU
+
+   Craig E. Ward
+   USC/Information Sciences Instutite
+   4676 Admiralty Way
+   Marina del Rey, CA  90292-6695
+
+   Phone:  (213) 822-1511
+   EMail:  Ward@ISI.EDU
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Westine, DeSchon, Postel & Ward                                [Page 18]
+
\ No newline at end of file