A posting from Pete Resnick announces that IETF's Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG) approved the charter for a new Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP) Working Group. XMPP is "an open, XML-based protocol for near real-time extensible messaging and presence. It is the core protocol of the Jabber Instant Messaging and Presence technology which is currently deployed on thousands of servers across the Internet and is used by millions of people worldwide. The XMPP working group will adapt the XMPP for use as an IETF Instant Messaging and Presence technology." Three IETF Internet Drafts for XMPP will serve as a basis for the deliverables of the IETF working group: XMPP Core describes the core features XMPP which is used by the servers, clients, and other applications that comprise the Jabber network; XMPP Instant Messaging describes the specific extensions necessary to create a basic instant messaging and presence application; XMPP CPIM Mapping describes a mapping of XMPP to the IETF Common Presence and Instant Messaging specification. "The main focus of the Working Group will be on XML streams (including stream-level security and authentication), the core data elements (<message/>, <presence/>, and <iq/>), and the namespaces required to achieve basic instant messaging and presence."

From the Jabber announcement 2002-10-31:

"Today [2002-10-31] the Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG) approved the formation of an XMPP Working Group within the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). This Working Group will be dedicated to discussion and improvement of the Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol that is used throughout the Jabber community."

"Because the Jabber community has always been focused on the importance of true interoperability in the domain of instant messaging and presence, prominent individuals within the community have been interested and involved in the IETF standards process for the last three years; see the history page for details. However, the formation of a dedicated working group provides an opportunity to receive feedback from the broader Internet community, and to ensure that the protocol used in the Jabber community adheres to IETF standards regarding security, internationalization, and the like."

"As defined in the charter, the scope of the Working Group is to explore and, where necessary, modify the existing protocol in order to meet the requirements defined in RFC 2779 as well as the interoperability requirements defined in the CPIM specification. The main focus of the Working Group will be on XML streams (including stream-level security and authentication), the core data elements (<message/>, <presence/>, and <iq/>), and the namespaces required to achieve basic instant messaging and presence."

"Parallel to the Working Group, the Jabber Software Foundation (JSF) will continue to use its Jabber Enhancement Proposal (JEP) Process, itself modelled on the IETF's standards process, to explore requirements not addressed in RFC 2779, such as multi-user chat, publish-subscribe systems, file transfer, whiteboarding, and calendaring. As such specifications are defined and adopted within the Jabber community, they too may be submitted to the IETF for consideration on top of the XMPP framework."