April Fools' Day Request for Comments

A Request for Comments (RFC), in the context of Internet governance, is a type of publication from the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) and the Internet Society (ISOC), usually describing methods, behaviors, research, or innovations applicable to the working of the Internet and Internet-connected systems.

Almost every April Fools' Day (1 April) since 1989, the Internet RFC Editor has published one or more humorous Request for Comments (RFC) documents, following in the path blazed by the June 1973 RFC 527 called ARPAWOCKY, a parody of Lewis Carroll's nonsense poem "Jabberwocky". The following list also includes humorous RFCs published on other dates.

List of April Fools' RFCs

1978

M. R. Crispin (1 April 1978). TELNET RANDOMLY-LOSE option. IETF. doi:10.17487/RFC0748. RFC 748.

A parody of the TCP/IP documentation style. For a long time it was specially marked in the RFC index with "note date of issue".

1989

B. Miller (1 April 1989). TELNET SUBLIMINAL-MESSAGE option. IETF. doi:10.17487/RFC1097. RFC 1097.

1990

David Waitzman (1 April 1990). Standard for the transmission of IP datagrams on Avian Carriers. IETF. doi:10.17487/RFC1149. RFC 1149. (see IP over Avian Carriers)

Updated by RFC 2549; see below. Describes protocol for transmitting IP packets by homing pigeon.

In 2001, RFC 1149 was actually implemented[1] by members of the Bergen Linux User Group.

See also RFC 6214, as noted below. Describes the adaptation of RFC 1149 for IPv6.

1991

Poorer Richard; Prof. Kynikos (1 April 1991). Gigabit Network Economics and Paradigm Shifts. IETF. doi:10.17487/RFC1216. RFC 1216.

Vint Cerf (1 April 1991). Memo from the Consortium for Slow Commotion Research (CSCR). IETF. doi:10.17487/RFC1217. RFC 1217.

1992

C. Partridge (1 April 1992). Today's Programming for KRFC AM 1313 Internet Talk Radio. IETF. doi:10.17487/RFC1313. RFC 1313.

1993

N. Borenstein; M. Linimon (1 April 1993). The Extension of MIME Content-Types to a New Medium. IETF. doi:10.17487/RFC1437. RFC 1437.

A. Lyman Chapin; C. Huitema (1 April 1993). Internet Engineering Task Force Statements Of Boredom (SOBs). IETF. doi:10.17487/RFC1438. RFC 1438.

1994

William Shakespeare (1 April 1994). SONET to Sonnet Translation. IETF. doi:10.17487/RFC1605. RFC 1605.

Attributed to William Shakespeare.

J. Onions (1 April 1994). A Historical Perspective On The Usage Of IP Version 9. IETF. doi:10.17487/RFC1606. RFC 1606.

Vint Cerf (1 April 1994). A view from the 21st Century. IETF. doi:10.17487/RFC1607. RFC 1607.

1995

Steve Crocker (1 April 1995). The Address is the Message. IETF. doi:10.17487/RFC1776. RFC 1776.

1996

R. Elz (1 April 1996). A Compact Representation of IPv6 Addresses. IETF. doi:10.17487/RFC1924. RFC 1924.

R. Callon (1 April 1996). The Twelve Networking Truths. IETF. doi:10.17487/RFC1925. RFC 1925.

J. Eriksson (1 April 1996). An Experimental Encapsulation of IP Datagrams on Top of ATM. IETF. doi:10.17487/RFC1926. RFC 1926.

C. Rogers (1 April 1996). Suggested Additional MIME Types for Associating Documents. IETF. doi:10.17487/RFC1927. RFC 1927.

1997

J. Ashworth (1 April 1997). The Naming of Hosts. IETF. doi:10.17487/RFC2100. RFC 2100.

1998

A. Bressen (1 April 1998). RITA -- The Reliable Internetwork Troubleshooting Agent. IETF. doi:10.17487/RFC2321. RFC 2321.

K. van den Hout; et al. (1 April 1998). Management of IP numbers by peg-dhcp. IETF. doi:10.17487/RFC2322. RFC 2322.

This RFC is not solely for entertainment, but the described protocol has regularly been implemented at hacker events in Europe.

A. Ramos (1 April 1998). IETF Identification and Security Guidelines. IETF. doi:10.17487/RFC2323. RFC 2323.

L. Masinter (1 April 1998). Hyper Text Coffee Pot Control Protocol (HTCPCP/1.0). IETF. doi:10.17487/RFC2324. RFC 2324. (see Hyper Text Coffee Pot Control Protocol)

M. Slavitch (1 April 1998). Definitions of Managed Objects for Drip-Type Heated Beverage Hardware Devices using SMIv2. IETF. doi:10.17487/RFC2325. RFC 2325.

1999

D. Waitzman (1 April 1999). IP over Avian Carriers with Quality of Service. IETF. doi:10.17487/RFC2549. RFC 2549. Updates RFC 1149, listed above. (see IP over Avian Carriers)

S. Glassman; M. Manasse; J. Mogul (1 April 1999). Y10K and Beyond. IETF. doi:10.17487/RFC2550. RFC 2550.

S. Bradner (1 April 1999). The Roman Standards Process -- Revision III. IETF. doi:10.17487/RFC2551. RFC 2551.

2000

S. Christey (1 April 2000). The Infinite Monkey Protocol Suite (IMPS). IETF. doi:10.17487/RFC2795. RFC 2795.

Concerning the practicalities of the infinite monkey theorem.

2001

H. Kennedy (1 April 2001). Pi Digit Generation Protocol. IETF. doi:10.17487/RFC3091. RFC 3091.

D. Eastlake 3rd; C. Manros; E. Raymond (1 April 2001). Etymology of "Foo". IETF. doi:10.17487/RFC3092. RFC 3092.

M. Gaynor, S. Bradner (1 April 2001). Firewall Enhancement Protocol (FEP). IETF. doi:10.17487/RFC3093. RFC 3093.

2002

B. Rajagopalan (1 April 2002). Electricity over IP. IETF. doi:10.17487/RFC3251. RFC 3251.

H. Kennedy (1 April 2002). Binary Lexical Octet Ad-hoc Transport. IETF. doi:10.17487/RFC3252. RFC 3252.

2003

S. Bellovin (1 April 2003). The Security Flag in the IPv4 Header (Evil Bit). IETF. doi:10.17487/RFC3514. RFC 3514.

Proposal for the evil bit, an IPv4 packet header; later became a synonym for all attempts to seek simple technical solutions for difficult human social problems which require the willing participation of malicious actors.

2004

S. Bradner (1 April 2004). Omniscience Protocol Requirements. IETF. doi:10.17487/RFC3751. RFC 3751.

2005

A. Farrel (1 April 2005). Requirements for Morality Sections in Routing Area Drafts. IETF. doi:10.17487/RFC4041. RFC 4041.

M. Crispin (1 April 2005). UTF-9 and UTF-18 Efficient Transformation Formats of Unicode. IETF. doi:10.17487/RFC4042. RFC 4042.

Notable for containing PDP-10 assembly language code nearly 22 years after the manufacturer ceased production of the PDP-10, and for being technically possible as opposed to many of these other proposals.

2007

Jogi Hofmueller; Aaron Bachmann; IOhannes zmoelnig (1 April 2007). The Transmission of IP Datagrams over the Semaphore Flag Signaling System (SFSS). IETF. doi:10.17487/RFC4824. RFC 4824.

2008

A. Falk; S. Bradner (1 April 2008). Naming Rights in IETF Protocols. IETF. doi:10.17487/RFC5241. RFC 5241.

J. Klensin; H. Alvestrand (1 April 2008). A Generalized Unified Character Code: Western European and CJK Sections. IETF. doi:10.17487/RFC5242. RFC 5242.

2009

A. Farrel (1 April 2009). IANA Considerations for Three Letter Acronyms. IETF. doi:10.17487/RFC5513. RFC 5513.

E. Vyncke (1 April 2009). IPv6 over Social Networks. IETF. doi:10.17487/RFC5514. RFC 5514.

implemented on Facebook Ipv6 over Facebook.

2010

R. Hay; W. Turkal (1 April 2010). TCP Option to Denote Packet Mood. IETF. doi:10.17487/RFC5841. RFC 5841.

2011

K.-M. Moller (1 April 2011). Increasing Throughput in IP Networks with ESP-Based Forwarding: ESPBasedForwarding. IETF. doi:10.17487/RFC5984. RFC 5984.

B. Carpenter; R. Hinden (1 April 2011). Adaptation of RFC 1149 for IPv6. IETF. doi:10.17487/RFC6214. RFC 6214. (see IP over Avian Carriers)

T. Ritter (1 April 2011). Regional Broadcast Using an Atmospheric Link Layer. IETF. doi:10.17487/RFC6217. RFC 6217.

2012

C. Pignataro (1 April 2012). The Null Packet. IETF. doi:10.17487/RFC6592. RFC 6592.

C. Pignataro; J. Clarke; G. Salgueiro (1 April 2012). Service Undiscovery Using Hide-and-Go-Seek for the Domain Pseudonym System (DPS). IETF. doi:10.17487/RFC6593. RFC 6593.

2013

R. Barnes; S. Kent; E. Rescorla (1 April 2013). Further Key Words for Use in RFCs to Indicate Requirement Levels. IETF. doi:10.17487/RFC6919. RFC 6919.

R. Hinden (1 April 2013). Design Considerations for Faster-Than-Light (FTL) Communication. IETF. doi:10.17487/RFC6921. RFC 6921.

2014

I. Nazar (1 April 2014). The Hyper Text Coffee Pot Control Protocol for Tea Efflux Appliances (HTCPCP-TEA). IETF. doi:10.17487/RFC7168. RFC 7168. (see Hyper Text Coffee Pot Control Protocol)

S. Turner (1 April 2014). The NSA (No Secrecy Afforded) Certificate Extension. IETF. doi:10.17487/RFC7169. RFC 7169.

2015

M. Wilhelm (1 April 2015). Scenic Routing for IPv6. IETF. doi:10.17487/RFC7511. RFC 7511.

M. Luckie (1 April 2015). Really Explicit Congestion Notification (RECN). IETF. doi:10.17487/RFC7514. RFC 7514.

2016

An April 1st RFC was not published this year.[2]

2017

M. Danielson; M. Nilsson (1 April 2017). Complex Addressing in IPv6. IETF. doi:10.17487/RFC8135. RFC 8135.

B. Carpenter (1 April 2017). Additional Transition Functionality for IPv6. IETF. doi:10.17487/RFC8136. RFC 8136.

A. Farrel (1 April 2017). The Arte of ASCII: Or, An True and Accurate Representation of an Menagerie of Thynges Fabulous and Wonderful in Ye Forme of Character. IETF. doi:10.17487/RFC8140. RFC 8140.

2018

T. Mizrahi; J. Yallouz (1 April 2018). Wrongful Termination of Internet Protocol (IP) Packets. IETF. doi:10.17487/RFC8367. RFC 8367.

H. Kaplan (1 April 2018). Internationalizing IPv6 Using 128-Bit Unicode. IETF. doi:10.17487/RFC8369. RFC 8369.

2019

E. Fokschaner (1 April 2019). Hypertext Jeopardy Protocol (HTJP/1.0). IETF. doi:10.17487/RFC8565. RFC 8565.

E. Rye; R. Beverly (1 April 2019). Customer Management DNS Resource Records. IETF. doi:10.17487/RFC8567. RFC 8567.

2020

Mayrhofer, A.; Hague, J. (1 April 2020). The Internationalized Deliberately Unreadable Network NOtation (I-DUNNO). IETF. doi:10.17487/RFC8771. RFC 8771.

M. Welzl (1 April 2020). The Quantum Bug. IETF. doi:10.17487/RFC8774. RFC 8774.

Other humorous RFCs

• V. Cerf (21 January 1972). PARRY encounters the DOCTOR. IETF. doi:10.17487/RFC0439. RFC 439.
• R. Merryman, UCSD (22 June 1973). ARPAWOCKY. IETF. doi:10.17487/RFC0527. RFC 527.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• Vint Cerf (1 December 1985). Twas the night before start-up. IETF. doi:10.17487/RFC0968. RFC 968.
• B. Hancock (December 1995). The 12-Days of Technology Before Christmas. IETF. doi:10.17487/RFC1882. RFC 1882.
• The NULL Encryption Algorithm and Its Use With IPsec. IETF. November 1998. doi:10.17487/RFC2410. RFC 2410. Makes humorous statements about the NULL encryption algorithm.

Non-RFC IETF humor

• An announcement on the IETF list about the appointment of the Sesame Street character Bert as member of the IAB appears to have been the April Fools' Day 2006 stunt.

Submission of April Fools' Day RFCs

The RFC Editor accepts submission of properly formatted April Fools' Day RFCs from the general public, and considers them for publication in the same year if received at least two weeks prior to April 1st.[3][4] "Note that in past years the RFC Editor has sometimes published serious documents with April 1 dates. Readers who cannot distinguish satire by reading the text may have a future in marketing."[5]

Notes

1. "RFC 1149 implemented". Blug.linux.no. Archived from the original on 2011-10-04. Retrieved 2012-03-18.
2. Flanagan, Heather (2 April 2016). "hey, guys, where 1 april 2016 RFC. Ups..." rfc-i (Mailing list). Retrieved 6 April 2016.
3. "Instructions to Request for Comments (RFC) Authors". Archived from the original on 2012-03-27. Retrieved 2012-03-18.
4. "IETF RFC-Editor FAQ, Q20: How can I submit an April 1st RFC?". Rfc-editor.org. 2011-07-21. Retrieved 2012-03-18.
5. "Instructions to Request for Comments (RFC) Authors". Retrieved 2016-04-07.

References

This article is based on material taken from the Free On-line Dictionary of Computing prior to 1 November 2008 and incorporated under the "relicensing" terms of the GFDL, version 1.3 or later.

Further reading

• RFC Editor home page—hosts individual RFCs

External links

• Carolyn Duffy Marsan (March 28, 2005). "Yet Another Foolish Network Protocol". Network World. on RFC 3751 and April Fools' Day RFCs in general
• Limoncelli, Thomas A.; Peter H. Salus (2007). The Complete April Fools' Day RFCs. Peer-to-Peer Communications. ISBN 978-1-57398-042-5.