Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!clyde!att!osu-cis!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!bloom-beacon!apple!bionet!lear From: lear@NET.BIO.NET (Eliot Lear) Newsgroups: comp.protocols.tcp-ip Subject: Re: Internet Mail Addressing Question !! Message-ID: Date: 24 Oct 88 07:45:48 GMT References: <8810240122.AA18599@FORD-COS2.ARPA> Organization: Natl Computer Resource for Mol. Biology Lines: 14 To: wrl@FORD-COS2.ARPA Bill Lewandowski asks about the use of '%' in addresses. I don't remember if/when '%' was mentioned as far as the RFCs are concerned. I am fairly certain it is not listed in the RFCs you mentioned. RFC822 doesn't mention '%' so I assume it is treated as a local character. In theory, a route-addr requires a host to be registered. I am told that this is what made '%' popular. People needed ways to send mail to other networks, such as BITNET, where machines were not registered. -- Eliot Lear [lear@net.bio.net]