The IETF Instant Messaging and Presence Protocol Working Group has produced several RFCs and Internet Drafts defining "protocols and data formats necessary to build an internet-scale end-user presence awareness, notification and instant messaging system." A recently-published Common Presence and Instant Messaging Message Format proposes the mime type message/cpim message format for protocols that conform to the Common Profile for Instant Messaging (CPIM) specification. The draft Common Profile for Instant Messaging (CPIM) "meets the requirements specified in RFC 2779 [Instant Messaging / Presence Protocol Requirements] using a minimalist approach allowing interoperation of a wide range of IM and Presence systems." Sections 6-9 of this Internet Draft present the models using relevant XML DTDs: (1) The Common Service DTD; (2) The Messaging Service DTD; (3) The Presence Service DTD; (4) The Presence Information DTD. The IETF IMPP working group, chaired by Leslie Daigle and Harald Alvestrand, intends to submit initial specifications for IETF-wide review and then to extend the group's charter. Several other IMPP Protocol Candidates are being tracked through this IETF activity, e.g., APEX aka IMXP, PRIM (Presence and Instant Messaging Protocol), and SIMPLE aka SIP Extensions. The 'Wireless Village' initiative for mobile instant messaging has announced support for the CPIM draft standard, now under active development in the IETF WG.

Version 0.1 Profile draft: A Common Profile for Instant Messaging (CPIM). Network Working Group, Internet-Draft. 'draft-ietf-impp-cpim-01'. November 2000. Expires: May 2, 2001. By Dave Crocker, Athanassios Diacakis, Florencio Mazzoldi, Christian Huitema, Graham Klyne, Marshall Rose, Jonathan Rosenberg, Robert Sparks, and Hiroyasu Sugano. 37 pages. Abstract: "Semantics and data formats for common services of Instant Messaging and online Presence, independent of underlying transport infrastructure, are described. The CPIM profile meets the requirements specified in RFC 2779 using a minimalist approach allowing interoperation of a wide range of IM and Presence systems." [cache]

Version 0.1 Message Format draft: "Common Presence and Instant Messaging Message Format." IETF Internet draft 'draft-ietf-impp-cpim-msgfmt-01.txt'. IMPP working group. By Derek Atkins (Telcordia Technologies) and Graham Klyne (Baltimore Technologies). 30 March 2001, expires: September 2001. 30 pages. "This memo defines the mime type message/cpim, a message format for protocols that conform to the Common Profile for Instant Messaging (CPIM) specification... The Common Profile for Instant Messaging (CPIM) specification defines a number of operations to be supported and criteria to be satisfied for interworking diverse instant messaging protocols. The intent is to allow a veriety of different protocols interworking through gateways to support cross-protocol messaging that meets the requirements of RFC 2779. To adequately meet the security requirements of RFC 2779, a common message format is needed so that end-to-end signatures and encryption may be applied. This document describes a common canonical message format that must be used by any CPIM-compliant message transfer protocol, and over which signatures are calculated for end-to-end security."