Funny RFCs

They are usually on dry topics like "Exclusive XML Canonicalization, Version 1.0" (RFC3741) or "Network Time Protocol (NTP) over the OSI Remote Operations Service" (RFC1165).

However, a few humorous RFCs bave been written. Most of them are intentionally humorous (altho a few others make you wonder). Here are links to the intentionally humorous or epigrammatic ones:

• RFC5242 A Generalized Unified Character Code: Western European and CJK Sections. J. Klensin, H. Alvestrand. April 1 2008. (Format: TXT=31314 bytes) (Status: INFORMATIONAL)
• RFC5241 Naming Rights in IETF Protocols. A. Falk, S. Bradner. April 1 2008. (Format: TXT=25304 bytes) (Status: INFORMATIONAL)
• RFC4824 The Transmission of IP Datagrams over the Semaphore Flag Signaling System (SFSS) J. Hofmueller, Ed., A. Bachmann, Ed., IO. zmoelnig, Ed. April 1 2007.
• RFC4042 UTF-9 and UTF-18 Efficient Transformation Formats of Unicode. M. Crispin. 1 April 2005.
• RFC4041 Requirements for Morality Sections in Routing Area Drafts. A. Farrel. 1 April 2005.
• RFC3751 Omniscience Protocol Requirements. S. Bradner. 1 April 2004.
• RFC3514 The Security Flag in the IPv4 Header. S. Bellovin. 1 April 2003.
• RFC3252 Binary Lexical Octet Ad-hoc Transport. H. Kennedy. 1 April 2002.
• RFC3251 Electricity over IP. B. Rajagopalan. 1 April 2002.
• RFC3093 Firewall Enhancement Protocol (FEP). M. Gaynor, S. Bradner. 1 April 2001.
• RFC3092 Etymology of "Foo". D. Eastlake 3rd, C. Manros, E. Raymond. 1 April 2001.
• RFC3091 Pi Digit Generation Protocol. H. Kennedy. 1 April 2001. (Format: TXT=10375 bytes)
• RFC2795 The Infinite Monkey Protocol Suite (IMPS). S. Christey. Apr-01-2000.
• RFC2551 The Roman Standards Process -- Revision III. S. Bradner. Apr-01-1999.
• RFC2550 Y10K and Beyond. S. Glassman, M. Manasse, J. Mogul. Apr-01-1999.
• RFC2549 IP over Avian Carriers with Quality of Service. D. Waitzman. Apr-01-1999. (Updates RFC1149) (Status: INFORMATIONAL)
• RFC2325 Definitions of Managed Objects for Drip-Type Heated Beverage Hardware Devices using SMIv2. M. Slavitch. March 1998. (Format: TXT=12726 bytes)
• RFC2324 Hyper Text Coffee Pot Control Protocol (HTCPCP/1.0). L. Masinter. March 1998.
• RFC2323 IETF Identification and Security Guidelines. A. Ramos. March 1998.
• RFC2322 Management of IP numbers by peg-dhcp. K. van den Hout, A. Koopal, R. van Mook. March 1998. (Status: INFORMATIONAL)
• RFC2321 RITA -- The Reliable Internetwork Troubleshooting Agent. A. Bressen. March 1998. (Status: INFORMATIONAL)
• RFC2100 I J. Ashworth, "The Naming of Hosts", 04/01/1997.
• RFC1927 I C. Rogers, "Suggested Additional MIME Types for Associating Documents", 04/01/1996.
• RFC1926 I J. Eriksson, "An Experimental Encapsulation of IP Datagrams on Top of ATM", 04/01/1996.
• RFC1925 I R. Callon, "The Twelve Networking Truths", 04/01/1996.
• RFC1882 I B. Hancock, "The 12-Days of Technology Before Christmas", 12/26/1995.
• RFC1776 I S. Crocker, "The Address is the Message", 04/01/1995.
• RFC1607 I V. Cerf, "A VIEW FROM THE 21ST CENTURY", 04/01/1994.
• RFC1606 I J. Onions, "A Historical Perspective On The Usage Of IP Version 9", 04/01/1994.
• RFC1605 I W. Shakespeare, "SONET to Sonnet Translation", 04/01/1994.
• RFC1437 I N. Borenstein, M. Linimon, "The Extension of MIME Content-Types to a New Medium", 04/01/1993.
• RFC1313 I C. Partridge, "Today's Programming for KRFC AM 1313 Internet Talk Radio", 04/01/1992.
• RFC1216 P. Kunikos, P. Richard, "Gigabit Network Economics and Paradigm Shifts", 03/30/1991.
• RFC1217 V. Cerf, "Memo from the Consortium for Slow Commotion Research (CSCR)", 04/01/1991.
• RFC1149 D. Waitzman, "A Standard for the Transmission of IP Datagrams on Avian Carriers", 04/01/1990.
• RFC1097 B. Miller, "Telnet subliminal-message option", 04/01/1989.
• RFC0968 V. Cerf, "Twas the night before start-up", 12/01/1985.
• RFC0748 M. Crispin, "Telnet randomly-lose option", 04/01/1978.
• RFC0527 ARPAWOCKY. D.L. Covill. May-01-1973.
• RFC0439 PARRY encounters the DOCTOR. V. Cerf. January-21-1972.

Sean M. Burke