The Extension of MIME Content-Types to a New Medium
Nathaniel S. Borenstein, M. Linimon · 1993
A previous document, RFC 1341, defines a format and general framework for the representation of a wide variety of data types in Internet mail.This document defines one particular type of MIME data, the matter-transport/sentient-life-form type.The mattertransport/sentient-life-form MIME type is intended to facilitate the wider interoperation of electronic mail messages that include entire sentient life forms, such as human beings.Other informally proposed subtypes, such as "non-sentient-life-form", "non-sentient-non-life-form", and the orthogonally necessary but nevertheless puzzling "sentient-non-life-form", are not described in this memo.The matter-transport/sentient-life-form MIME type In order to promote the wider interoperability of life-bearing email, this document defines a new MIME content-type, "matter-transport", and for an initial subtype, "sentient-life-form".This subtype was designed to meet the following criteria:1.The syntax must be extremely simple to parse, to minimize the risk of accidental death due to misinterpretation of the standard.2. The data format must be extremely robust, with redundancy to ensure that individual life forms will survive and be reconstituted in such a form as to be nearly indistinguishable from their initial state, no matter how many bizarre email gateways are encountered in transit.3. The syntax must be extensible to allow for the description of all yet-undiscovered aspects of life forms which will be required