I-D ACTION:draft-gellens-submit-04.txt

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       Title     : Message Submission and Relay                            
       Author(s) : R. Gellens, H. Alvestrand
       Filename  : draft-gellens-submit-04.txt
       Pages     : 11
       Date      : 03/26/1997

SMTP was defined as a message *relay* protocol, that is, a means for 
message transfer agents (MTAs) to route finished (complete) messages.  SMTP
forbids MTAs from altering the message text, except to add 'Received' 
header fields.    

However, SMTP is now also widely used as a message *submission* protocol, 
that is, a means for message user agents (MUAs) to introduce new messages 
into the MTA routing network.  Regardless of whether this is good or 
bad, it is far too late to change.   

Messages being submitted are in some cases finished (complete) messages, 
and in other cases are unfinished (incomplete) in some aspect or other. 
Unfinished messages need to be completed to ensure they conform to 
[RFC-822], [RFC-1123], and later requirements.  For example, 
the message may lack proper Date or Message-ID headers, and 
domains might not be fully qualified.  In some cases, the MUA may be 
unable to generate finished (complete) messages (for example, 
it might not know its time zone).  Even when submitted messages are 
finished (complete), local site policy may dictate that the message 
text be modified in some ways. Such completions or modifications 
violate the letter and spirit of SMTP when used as a relay protocol.

This memo proposes a low cost, deterministic means for messages to
be identified as submissions or relays, and specifies what actions
are to be taken by a submission server.

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