Network Working Group                                          M. Day
Request for Comments: 2778                                      Lotus
Category: Informational                                  J. Rosenberg
                                                         dynamicsoft
                                                           H. Sugano
                                                             Fujitsu
                                                       February 2000


              A Model for Presence and Instant Messaging

Status of this Memo

  This memo provides information for the Internet community.  It does
  not specify an Internet standard of any kind.  Distribution of this
  memo is unlimited.

Copyright Notice

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

Abstract

  This document defines an abstract model for a presence and instant
  messaging system. It defines the various entities involved, defines
  terminology, and outlines the services provided by the system. The
  goal is to provide a common vocabulary for further work on
  requirements for protocols and markup for presence and instant
  messaging.

1. Introduction

  A presence and instant messaging system allows users to subscribe to
  each other and be notified of changes in state, and for users to send
  each other short instant messages. To facilitate development of a
  suite of protocols to provide this service, we believe that it is
  valuable to first develop a model for the system. The model consists
  of the various entities involved, descriptions of the basic functions
  they provide, and most importantly, definition of a vocabulary which
  can be used to facilitate discussion.

  We note that the purpose of this model is to be descriptive and
  universal: we want the model to map reasonably onto all of the
  systems that are informally described as presence or instant
  messaging systems. The model is not intended to be prescriptive or
  achieve interoperability: an element that appears in the model will
  not necessarily be an element of an interoperable protocol, and may
  not even be a good idea.



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  In this document, each element of the model appears in upper case
  (e.g., PRESENCE SERVICE). No term in lower case or mixed case is
  intended to be a term of the model.

  The first part of this document is intended as an overview of the
  model.  The overview includes diagrams, and terms are presented in an
  order that is intended to help the reader understand the relationship
  between elements. The second part of the document is the actual
  definition of the model, with terms presented in alphabetical order
  for ease of reference.

  The overview is intended to be helpful but is not definitive; it may
  contain inadvertent differences from the definitions in the model.
  For any such difference, the definition(s) in the model are taken to
  be correct, rather than the explanation(s) in the overview.

2. Overview

  The model is intended to provide a means for understanding,
  comparing, and describing systems that support the services typically
  referred to as presence and instant messaging. It consists of a
  number of named entities that appear, in some form, in existing
  systems. No actual implementation is likely to have every entity of
  the model as a distinct part. Instead, there will almost always be
  parts of the implementation that embody two or more entities of the
  model. However, different implementations may combine entities in
  different ways.

  The model defines two services: a PRESENCE SERVICE and an INSTANT
  MESSAGE SERVICE. The PRESENCE SERVICE serves to accept information,
  store it, and distribute it.  The information stored is
  (unsurprisingly) PRESENCE INFORMATION. The INSTANT MESSAGE SERVICE
  serves to accept and deliver INSTANT MESSAGES to INSTANT INBOXES.

2.1 PRESENCE SERVICE

  The PRESENCE SERVICE has two distinct sets of "clients" (remember,
  these may be combined in an implementation, but treated separately in
  the model).  One set of clients, called PRESENTITIES, provides
  PRESENCE INFORMATION to be stored and distributed.  The other set of
  clients, called WATCHERS, receives PRESENCE INFORMATION from the
  service.









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                   +---------------------------+
                   |     PRESENCE SERVICE      |
                   |                           |
                   +---------------------------+
                       ^                 |
                       |                 |
                       |                 v
                +------------+       +------------+
                | PRESENTITY |       |  WATCHER   |
                +------------+       +------------+


                Fig. 1: Overview of Presence Service

  There are two kinds of WATCHERS, called FETCHERS and SUBSCRIBERS. A
  FETCHER simply requests the current value of some PRESENTITY's
  PRESENCE INFORMATION from the PRESENCE SERVICE. In contrast, a
  SUBSCRIBER requests notification from the PRESENCE SERVICE of
  (future) changes in some PRESENTITY's PRESENCE INFORMATION.  A
  special kind of FETCHER is one that fetches information on a regular
  basis.  This is called a POLLER.

             +----------------WATCHER---------------+
             |                                      |
             |  +----FETCHER---+  +--SUBSCRIBER--+  |
             |  |              |  |              |  |
             |  | +--POLLER--+ |  |              |  |
             |  | |          | |  |              |  |
             |  | +----------+ |  |              |  |
             |  +--------------+  +--------------+  |
             +--------------------------------------+

                  Fig. 2: Varieties of WATCHER

  The PRESENCE SERVICE also has WATCHER INFORMATION about WATCHERS and
  their activities in terms of fetching or subscribing to PRESENCE
  INFORMATION.  The PRESENCE SERVICE may also distribute WATCHER
  INFORMATION to some WATCHERS, using the same mechanisms that are
  available for distributing PRESENCE INFORMATION.

  Changes to PRESENCE INFORMATION are distributed to SUBSCRIBERS via
  NOTIFICATIONS. Figures 3a through 3c show the flow of information as
  a piece of PRESENCE INFORMATION is changed from P1 to P2.








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                  +---------------------------+
                  |     PRESENCE SERVICE      |
                  |            P1             |
                  +---------------------------+


               +------------+       +------------+
               |   P1->P2   |       |     P1     |
               | PRESENTITY |       | SUBSCRIBER |
               +------------+       +------------+

                  Fig. 3a: NOTIFICATION (Step 1)



                  +---------------------------+
                  |     PRESENCE SERVICE      |
                  |          P1->P2           |
                  +---------------------------+
                      ^
                      |P2
               +------------+       +------------+
               |     P2     |       |    P1      |
               | PRESENTITY |       | SUBSCRIBER |
               +------------+       +------------+

                  Fig. 3b: NOTIFICATION (Step 2)



                  +---------------------------+
                  |     PRESENCE SERVICE      |
                  |            P2             |
                  +---------------------------+
                                          |P2
                                          v
               +------------+       +------------+
               |     P2     |       |   P1->P2   |
               | PRESENTITY |       | SUBSCRIBER |
               +------------+       +------------+

                  Fig. 3c: NOTIFICATION (Step 3)

2.2 INSTANT MESSAGE SERVICE

  The INSTANT MESSAGE SERVICE also has two distinct sets of "clients":
  SENDERS and INSTANT INBOXES. A SENDER provides INSTANT MESSAGES to
  the INSTANT MESSAGE SERVICE for delivery. Each INSTANT MESSAGE is



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  addressed to a particular INSTANT INBOX ADDRESS, and the INSTANT
  MESSAGE SERVICE attempts to deliver the message to a corresponding
  INSTANT INBOX.

                +---------------------------+
                |  INSTANT MESSAGE SERVICE  |
                |                           |
                +---------------------------+
                    ^                 |
                    |                 |
                    |                 v
             +------------+       +---------------+
             |   SENDER   |       | INSTANT INBOX |
             +------------+       +---------------+

           Fig. 4: Overview of Instant Message Service

2.3 Protocols

  A PRESENCE PROTOCOL defines the interaction between PRESENCE SERVICE,
  PRESENTITIES, and WATCHERS. PRESENCE INFORMATION is carried by the
  PRESENCE PROTOCOL.

  An INSTANT MESSAGE PROTOCOL defines the interaction between INSTANT
  MESSAGE SERVICE, SENDERS, and INSTANT INBOXES. INSTANT MESSAGES are
  carried by the INSTANT MESSAGE PROTOCOL.

  In terms of this model, we believe that the IMPP working group is
  planning to develop detailed requirements and specifications for the
  structure and formats of the PRESENCE PROTOCOL, PRESENCE INFORMATION,
  INSTANT MESSAGE PROTOCOL, and INSTANT MESSAGES.

2.4 Formats

  The model defines the PRESENCE INFORMATION to consist of an arbitrary
  number of elements, called PRESENCE TUPLES. Each such element
  consists of a STATUS marker (which might convey information such as
  online/offline/busy/away/do not disturb), an optional COMMUNICATION
  ADDRESS, and optional OTHER PRESENCE MARKUP.  A COMMUNICATION ADDRESS
  includes a COMMUNICATION MEANS and a CONTACT ADDRESS. One type of
  COMMUNICATION MEANS, and the only one defined by this model, is
  INSTANT MESSAGE SERVICE.  One type of CONTACT ADDRESS, and the only
  one defined by this model, is INSTANT INBOX ADDRESS. However, other
  possibilities exist: a COMMUNICATION MEANS might indicate some form
  of telephony, for example, with the corresponding CONTACT ADDRESS
  containing a telephone number.





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     +------------------------------------+
     | PRESENCE INFORMATION               |
     +------------------------------------+
      | +-------------------------------+
      =>| PRESENCE TUPLE                |
      | +-------------------------------+
      |   | +-------------------------+
      |   =>| STATUS                  |
      |   | +-------------------------+
      |   | +-------------------------+
      |   =>| COMMUNICATION ADDRESS   |
      |   | +-------------------------+
      |   |     | +-----------------+
      |   |     =>| CONTACT MEANS   |
      |   |     | +-----------------+
      |   |     | +-----------------+
      |   |     =>| CONTACT ADDRESS |
      |   |       +-----------------+
      |   | +-------------------------+
      |   =>| OTHER MARKUP            |
      |     +-------------------------+
      | +-------------------------------+
      =>| PRESENCE TUPLE                |
      | +-------------------------------+
      |   | +-------------------------+
      |   =>| STATUS                  |
      |   | +-------------------------+
      |   | +-------------------------+
      |   =>| COMMUNICATION ADDRESS   |
      |   | +-------------------------+
      |   |     | +-----------------+
      |   |     =>| CONTACT MEANS   |
      |   |     | +-----------------+
      |   |     | +-----------------+
      |   |     =>| CONTACT ADDRESS |
      |   |       +-----------------+
      |   | +-------------------------+
      |   =>| OTHER MARKUP            |
      |     +-------------------------+
      | +-------------------------------+
      =>| PRESENCE TUPLE                |
      | +-------------------------------+
      |    ...

       Fig. 5: The structure of PRESENCE INFORMATION






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  STATUS is further defined by the model to have at least two states
  that interact with INSTANT MESSAGE delivery -- OPEN, in which INSTANT
  MESSAGES will be accepted, and CLOSED, in which INSTANT MESSAGES will
  not be accepted. OPEN and CLOSED may also be applicable to other
  COMMUNICATION MEANS -- OPEN mapping to some state meaning "available"
  or "open for business" while CLOSED means "unavailable" or "closed to
  business." The model allows STATUS to include other values, which may
  be interpretable by programs or only by persons.  The model also
  allows STATUS to consist of single or multiple values.

2.5 Presence and its effect on Instant Messages

  An INSTANT INBOX is a receptacle for INSTANT MESSAGES. Its INSTANT
  INBOX ADDRESS is the information that can be included in PRESENCE
  INFORMATION to define how an INSTANT MESSAGE should be delivered to
  that INSTANT INBOX. As noted above, certain values of the STATUS
  marker indicate whether INSTANT MESSAGES will be accepted at the
  INSTANT INBOX.  The model does not otherwise constrain the delivery
  mechanism or format for instant messages. Reasonable people can
  disagree about whether this omission is a strength or a weakness of
  this model.

2.6 PRINCIPALS and their agents

  This model includes other elements that are useful in characterizing
  how the protocol and markup work. PRINCIPALS are the people, groups,
  and/or software in the "real world" outside the system that use the
  system as a means of coordination and communication. It is entirely
  outside the model how the real world maps onto PRINCIPALS -- the
  system of model entities knows only that two distinct PRINCIPALS are
  distinct, and two identical PRINCIPALS are identical.

  A PRINCIPAL interacts with the system via one of several user agents
  (INBOX USER AGENT; SENDER USER AGENT; PRESENCE USER AGENT; WATCHER
  USER AGENT). As usual, the different kinds of user agents are split
  apart in this model even though most implementations will combine at
  least some of them. A user agent is purely coupling between a
  PRINCIPAL and some core entity of the system (respectively, INSTANT
  INBOX; SENDER; PRESENTITY; WATCHER).












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                  +---------------------------+
                  |     PRESENCE SERVICE      |
                  +---------------------------+
                      ^                   |
                      | PRESENCE PROTOCOL |
                      |                   v
               +------------+       +------------+
               | PRESENTITY |       |  WATCHER   |
               +------------+       +------------+
                     ^                   ^
                     |                   |
                     |                   |
       o      +--------------+      +-------------+      o
      /|\  -->| PRESENCE UA  |      | WATCHER UA  |<--  /|\
       X      +--------------+      +-------------+      X

  (PRINCIPAL)                                        (PRINCIPAL)

                   Fig. 6: A presence system


                 +---------------------------+
                 |  INSTANT MESSAGE SERVICE  |
                 +---------------------------+
                     ^                    |
                   IM|   INSTANT MESSAGE  |IM
                     |       PROTOCOL     v
              +------------+        +---------------+
              |   SENDER   |        | INSTANT INBOX |
              +------------+        +---------------+
                    ^                      ^
                    |                      |
                    |                      |
      o      +-------------+       +------------------+      o
     /|\  -->|  SENDER UA  |       |  INBOX UA        |<--  /|\
      X      +-------------+       +------------------+      X

  (PRINCIPAL)                                           (PRINCIPAL)

               Fig. 7: An instant messaging system











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2.7 Examples

  A simple example of applying the model is to describe a generic
  "buddy list" application. These applications typically expose the
  user's presence to others, and make it possible to see the presence
  of others. So we could describe a buddy list as the combination of a
  PRESENCE USER AGENT and WATCHER USER AGENT for a single PRINCIPAL,
  using a single PRESENTITY and a single SUBSCRIBER.

  We could then extend our example to instant messaging and describe a
  generic "instant messenger" as essentially a buddy list with
  additional capabilities for sending and receiving instant messages.
  So an instant messenger would be the combination of a PRESENCE USER
  AGENT, WATCHER USER AGENT, INBOX USER AGENT, and SENDER USER AGENT
  for a single PRINCIPAL, using a single PRESENTITY, single SUBSCRIBER,
  and single INSTANT INBOX, with the PRESENTITY's PRESENCE INFORMATION
  including an INSTANT INBOX ADDRESS that leads to the INSTANT INBOX.

3. Model

  ACCESS RULES: constraints on how a PRESENCE SERVICE makes PRESENCE
     INFORMATION available to WATCHERS. For each PRESENTITY's PRESENCE
     INFORMATION, the applicable ACCESS RULES are manipulated by the
     PRESENCE USER AGENT of a PRINCIPAL that controls the PRESENTITY.

     Motivation: We need some way of talking about hiding presence
     information from people.

  CLOSED: a distinguished value of the STATUS marker. In the context of
     INSTANT MESSAGES, this value means that the associated INSTANT
     INBOX ADDRESS, if any, corresponds to an INSTANT INBOX that is
     unable to accept an INSTANT MESSAGE.  This value may have an
     analogous meaning for other COMMUNICATION MEANS, but any such
     meaning is not defined by this model. Contrast with OPEN.

  COMMUNICATION ADDRESS: consists of COMMUNICATION MEANS and CONTACT
     ADDRESS.

  COMMUNICATION MEANS: indicates a method whereby communication can
     take place. INSTANT MESSAGE SERVICE is one example of a
     COMMUNICATION MEANS.

  CONTACT ADDRESS: a specific point of contact via some COMMUNICATION
     MEANS. When using an INSTANT MESSAGE SERVICE, the CONTACT ADDRESS
     is an INSTANT INBOX ADDRESS.






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  DELIVERY RULES: constraints on how an INSTANT MESSAGE SERVICE
     delivers received INSTANT MESSAGES to INSTANT INBOXES. For each
     INSTANT INBOX, the applicable DELIVERY RULES are manipulated by
     the INBOX USER AGENT of a PRINCIPAL that controls the INSTANT
     INBOX.

     Motivation: We need a way of talking about filtering instant
     messages.

  FETCHER: a form of WATCHER that has asked the PRESENCE SERVICE to for
     the PRESENCE INFORMATION of one or more PRESENTITIES, but has not
     asked for a SUBSCRIPTION to be created.

  INBOX USER AGENT: means for a PRINCIPAL to manipulate zero or more
     INSTANT INBOXES controlled by that PRINCIPAL.

     Motivation: This is intended to isolate the core functionality of
     an INSTANT INBOX from how it might appear to be manipulated by a
     product. This manipulation includes fetching messages, deleting
     messages, and setting DELIVERY RULES. We deliberately take no
     position on whether the INBOX USER AGENT, INSTANT INBOX, and
     INSTANT MESSAGE SERVICE are colocated or distributed across
     machines.

  INSTANT INBOX: receptacle for INSTANT MESSAGES intended to be read by
     the INSTANT INBOX's PRINCIPAL.

  INSTANT INBOX ADDRESS: indicates whether and how the PRESENTITY's
     PRINCIPAL can receive an INSTANT MESSAGE in an INSTANT INBOX. The
     STATUS and INSTANT INBOX ADDRESS information are sufficient to
     determine whether the PRINCIPAL appears ready to accept the
     INSTANT MESSAGE.

     Motivation: The definition is pretty loose about exactly how any
     of this works, even leaving open the possibility of reusing parts
     of the email infrastructure for instant messaging.

  INSTANT MESSAGE: an identifiable unit of data, of small size, to be
     sent to an INSTANT INBOX.

     Motivation: We do not define "small" but we seek in this
     definition to avoid the possibility of transporting an arbitrary-
     length stream labelled as an "instant message."








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  INSTANT MESSAGE PROTOCOL: The messages that can be exchanged between
     a SENDER USER AGENT and an INSTANT MESSAGE SERVICE, or between an
     INSTANT MESSAGE SERVICE and an INSTANT INBOX.

  INSTANT MESSAGE SERVICE: accepts and delivers INSTANT MESSAGES.

     -- May require authentication of SENDER USER AGENTS and/or INSTANT
        INBOXES.

     -- May have different authentication requirements for different
        INSTANT INBOXES, and may also have different authentication
        requirements for different INSTANT INBOXES controlled by a
        single PRINCIPAL.

     -- May have an internal structure involving multiple SERVERS
        and/or PROXIES. There may be complex patterns of redirection
        and/or proxying while retaining logical connectivity to a
        single INSTANT MESSAGE SERVICE. Note that an INSTANT MESSAGE
        SERVICE does not require having a distinct SERVER -- the
        service may be implemented as direct communication between
        SENDER and INSTANT INBOX.

     -- May have an internal structure involving other INSTANT MESSAGE
        SERVICES, which may be independently accessible in their own
        right as well as being reachable through the initial INSTANT
        MESSAGE SERVICE.

  NOTIFICATION: a message sent from the PRESENCE SERVICE to a
        SUBSCRIBER when there is a change in the PRESENCE INFORMATION
        of some PRESENTITY of interest, as recorded in one or more
        SUBSCRIPTIONS.

        Motivation: We deliberately take no position on what part of
        the changed information is included in a NOTIFICATION.

  OPEN: a distinguished value of the STATUS marker. In the context of
     INSTANT MESSAGES, this value means that the associated INSTANT
     INBOX ADDRESS, if any, corresponds to an INSTANT INBOX that is
     ready to accept an INSTANT MESSAGE.  This value may have an
     analogous meaning for other COMMUNICATION MEANS, but any such
     meaning is not defined by this model. Contrast with CLOSED.

  OTHER PRESENCE MARKUP: any additional information included in the
     PRESENCE INFORMATION of a PRESENTITY. The model does not define
     this further.

  POLLER: a FETCHER that requests PRESENCE INFORMATION on a regular
     basis.



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  PRESENCE INFORMATION: consists of one or more PRESENCE TUPLES.

  PRESENCE PROTOCOL: The messages that can be exchanged between a
     PRESENTITY and a PRESENCE SERVICE, or a WATCHER and a PRESENCE
     SERVICE.

  PRESENCE SERVICE: accepts, stores, and distributes PRESENCE
     INFORMATION.

     -- May require authentication of PRESENTITIES, and/or WATCHERS.

     -- May have different authentication requirements for different
        PRESENTITIES.

     -- May have different authentication requirements for different
        WATCHERS, and may also have different authentication
        requirements for different PRESENTITIES being watched by a
        single WATCHER.

     -- May have an internal structure involving multiple SERVERS
        and/or PROXIES. There may be complex patterns of redirection
        and/or proxying while retaining logical connectivity to a
        single PRESENCE SERVICE. Note that a PRESENCE SERVICE does not
        require having a distinct SERVER -- the service may be
        implemented as direct communication among PRESENTITY and
        WATCHERS.

     -- May have an internal structure involving other PRESENCE
        SERVICES, which may be independently accessible in their own
        right as well as being reachable through the initial PRESENCE
        SERVICE.

  PRESENCE TUPLE: consists of a STATUS, an optional COMMUNICATION
     ADDRESS, and optional OTHER PRESENCE MARKUP.

  PRESENCE USER AGENT: means for a PRINCIPAL to manipulate zero or more
     PRESENTITIES.

     Motivation: This is essentially a "model/view" distinction: the
     PRESENTITY is the model of the presence being exposed, and is
     independent of its manifestation in any user interface. In
     addition, we deliberately take no position on how the PRESENCE
     USER AGENT, PRESENTITY, and PRESENCE SERVICE are colocated or
     distributed across machines.

  PRESENTITY (presence entity): provides PRESENCE INFORMATION to a
     PRESENCE SERVICE.




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     Motivation: We don't like to coin new words, but "presentity"
     seemed worthwhile so as to have an unambiguous term for the entity
     of interest to a presence service. Note that the presentity is not
     (usually) located in the presence service: the presence service
     only has a recent version of the presentity's presence
     information.  The presentity initiates changes in the presence
     information to be distributed by the presence service.

  PRINCIPAL: human, program, or collection of humans and/or programs
     that chooses to appear to the PRESENCE SERVICE as a single actor,
     distinct from all other PRINCIPALS.

     Motivation: We need a clear notion of the actors outside the
     system. "Principal" seems as good a term as any.

  PROXY: a SERVER that communicates PRESENCE INFORMATION, INSTANT
     MESSAGES, SUBSCRIPTIONS and/or NOTIFICATIONS to another SERVER.
     Sometimes a PROXY acts on behalf of a PRESENTITY, WATCHER, or
     INSTANT INBOX.

  SENDER: source of INSTANT MESSAGES to be delivered by the INSTANT
     MESSAGE SERVICE.

  SENDER USER AGENT: means for a PRINCIPAL to manipulate zero or more
     SENDERS.

  SERVER: an indivisible unit of a PRESENCE SERVICE or INSTANT MESSAGE
     SERVICE.

  SPAM: unwanted INSTANT MESSAGES.

  SPOOFING: a PRINCIPAL improperly imitating another PRINCIPAL.

  STALKING: using PRESENCE INFORMATION to infer the whereabouts of a
     PRINCIPAL, especially for malicious or illegal purposes.

  STATUS: a distinguished part of the PRESENCE INFORMATION of a
     PRESENTITY. STATUS has at least the mutually-exclusive values OPEN
     and CLOSED, which have meaning for the acceptance of INSTANT
     MESSAGES, and may have meaning for other COMMUNICATION MEANS.
     There may be other values of STATUS that do not imply anything
     about INSTANT MESSAGE acceptance. These other values of STATUS may
     be combined with OPEN and CLOSED or they may be mutually-exclusive
     with those values.







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     Some implementations may combine STATUS with other entities. For
     example, an implementation might make an INSTANT INBOX ADDRESS
     visible only when the INSTANT INBOX can accept an INSTANT MESSAGE.
     Then, the existence of an INSTANT INBOX ADDRESS implies OPEN,
     while its absence implies CLOSED.

  SUBSCRIBER: a form of WATCHER that has asked the PRESENCE SERVICE to
     notify it immediately of changes in the PRESENCE INFORMATION of
     one or more PRESENTITIES.

  SUBSCRIPTION: the information kept by the PRESENCE SERVICE about a
     SUBSCRIBER's request to be notified of changes in the PRESENCE
     INFORMATION of one or more PRESENTITIES.

  VISIBILITY RULES: constraints on how a PRESENCE SERVICE makes WATCHER
     INFORMATION available to WATCHERS. For each WATCHER's WATCHER
     INFORMATION, the applicable VISIBILITY RULES are manipulated by
     the WATCHER USER AGENT of a PRINCIPAL that controls the WATCHER.

     Motivation: We need a way of talking about hiding watcher
     information from people.

  WATCHER: requests PRESENCE INFORMATION about a PRESENTITY, or WATCHER
     INFORMATION about a WATCHER, from the PRESENCE SERVICE. Special
     types of WATCHER are FETCHER, POLLER, and SUBSCRIBER.

  WATCHER INFORMATION: information about WATCHERS that have received
     PRESENCE INFORMATION about a particular PRESENTITY within a
     particular recent span of time. WATCHER INFORMATION is maintained
     by the PRESENCE SERVICE, which may choose to present it in the
     same form as PRESENCE INFORMATION; that is, the service may choose
     to make WATCHERS look like a special form of PRESENTITY.

     Motivation: If a PRESENTITY wants to know who knows about it, it
     is not enough to examine only information about SUBSCRIPTIONS. A
     WATCHER might repeatedly fetch information without ever
     subscribing. Alternately, a WATCHER might repeatedly subscribe,
     then cancel the SUBSCRIPTION.  Such WATCHERS should be visible to
     the PRESENTITY if the PRESENCE SERVICE offers WATCHER INFORMATION,
     but will not be appropriately visible if the WATCHER INFORMATION
     includes only SUBSCRIPTIONS.

  WATCHER USER AGENT: means for a PRINCIPAL to manipulate zero or more
     WATCHERS controlled by that PRINCIPAL.







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     Motivation: As with PRESENCE USER AGENT and PRESENTITY, the
     distinction here is intended to isolate the core functionality of
     a WATCHER from how it might appear to be manipulated by a product.
     As previously, we deliberately take no position on whether the
     WATCHER USER AGENT, WATCHER, and PRESENCE SERVICE are colocated or
     distributed across machines.

4. Security Considerations

  This document provides a model and vocabulary for systems with
  certain intrinsic security issues. In particular, presence and
  instant messaging systems must deal with "the three S's": STALKING,
  SPOOFING, and SPAM. ACCESS RULES, VISIBILITY RULES, and WATCHER
  INFORMATION are intended to deal with STALKING.  The several kinds of
  authentication mentioned for INSTANT MESSAGE SERVICE and PRESENCE
  SERVICE are intended to deal with SPOOFING. DELIVERY RULES are
  intended to deal with SPAM.

5. Conclusion

  This document has provided a model for a presence and instant
  messaging system. The purpose of the model is to provide a common
  vocabulary for the further work of defining and implementing
  interoperable presence and instant messaging protocols.

6. Acknowledgements

  This document has been improved by comments from Jesse Vincent and
  Colin Benson, by the participants in the Cambridge, MA meeting on
  June 11, 1999, and by Roy Salisbury, who contributed the original
  version of Figure 5. The authors gratefully acknowledge their
  assistance.



















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7. Authors' Addresses

  Mark Day
  SightPath, Inc.
  135 Beaver Street
  Waltham, MA 02452
  USA

  EMail: [email protected]
  (Formerly [email protected])


  Jonathan Rosenberg
  dynamicsoft
  200 Executive Drive
  Suite 120
  West Orange, NJ 07046

  Email: [email protected]


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

  EMail: [email protected]























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8. 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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