Please find attached the following newscast that was written after a
phone call to me about two weeks ago.
Carl-Uno
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This ran in Computergram and Online Reporter. It may have also been
picked up by other APT publications.
-Bob
+ XEROX, IBM, NOVELL & SUN NET PRINTING STANDARD GAINS SUPPORT
A new Internet printing standard, the IPP Internet Printing
Protocol that would let users manage print jobs across TCP/IP
networks is gathering support at the Internet Engineering Task
Force. The protocol, which is being developed by companies such
as Xerox Corp, IBM Corp, Novell Inc and Sun Microsystems Inc,
will define simple printing instructions, like how to print a
page, inquire on the status of a print job, or how to delete an
item from the printer queue. If the protocol comes together,
intranet users could more easily go to TCP/IP for print
services, and other companies could set up Internet fax
services where print jobs could be sent to Universal Resource
Locators over the Internet at a fraction of today's fax rates.
Carl-Uno Manros, an engineer with Xerox who is working on the
protocol, says he expects the IPP working group to have an
intermediate draft ready by the next Task Force meeting in
April, with a formal Request for Comments finished by June.
More advanced printing features, like pausing or redirecting
print jobs would follow. Manros says he would like to see the
protocol supported on web browsers by year's end, most likely
as a feature of the HTTP HyperText Transfer Protocol. Microsoft
Corp has apparently become more involved in IPP of late and
Netscape Communications Corp is also beginning to show an
interest. But the key stumbling block at this time seems to be
what kind of security mechanism to use with the protocol. The
working group has not decided how it will manage security or
authentication with IPP, though Manros claims that several
possibilities are being considered.
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Robert McMillan Associate Editor
Online Reporter
624 Filbert Street tel: (415) 291-8764
San Francisco, CA 94133 fax: (415) 291-8891
bobm at computerwire.comhttp://www.computerwire.com
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