since computer programs cannot be held accountable  for  their
        behavior, it is strongly recommended that when a computer pro-
        gram generates a message, the HUMAN  who  is  responsible  for
        that program be referenced as part of the "Sender" field mail-
        box specification.

     4.4.3.  REPLY-TO / RESENT-REPLY-TO

        This field provides a general  mechanism  for  indicating  any
        mailbox(es)  to which responses are to be sent.  Three typical
        uses for this feature can  be  distinguished.   In  the  first
        case,  the  author(s) may not have regular machine-based mail-
        boxes and therefore wish(es) to indicate an alternate  machine
        address.   In  the  second case, an author may wish additional
        persons to be made aware of, or responsible for,  replies.   A
        somewhat  different  use  may be of some help to "text message
        teleconferencing" groups equipped with automatic  distribution
        services:   include the address of that service in the "Reply-
        To" field of all messages  submitted  to  the  teleconference;
        then  participants  can  "reply"  to conference submissions to
        guarantee the correct distribution of any submission of  their
        own.

        Note:  The "Return-Path" field is added by the mail  transport
               service,  at the time of final deliver.  It is intended
               to identify a path back to the orginator  of  the  mes-
               sage.   The  "Reply-To"  field  is added by the message
               originator and is intended to direct replies.

     4.4.4.  AUTOMATIC USE OF FROM / SENDER / REPLY-TO

        For systems which automatically  generate  address  lists  for
        replies to messages, the following recommendations are made:

            o   The "Sender" field mailbox should be sent  notices  of
                any  problems in transport or delivery of the original
                messages.  If there is no  "Sender"  field,  then  the
                "From" field mailbox should be used.

            o   The  "Sender"  field  mailbox  should  NEVER  be  used
                automatically, in a recipient's reply message.

            o   If the "Reply-To" field exists, then the reply  should
                go to the addresses indicated in that field and not to
                the address(es) indicated in the "From" field.




     August 13, 1982              - 22 -                      RFC #822
 

 
     Standard for ARPA Internet Text Messages


            o   If there is a "From" field, but no  "Reply-To"  field,
                the  reply should be sent to the address(es) indicated
                in the "From" field.

        Sometimes, a recipient may actually wish to  communicate  with
        the  person  that  initiated  the  message  transfer.  In such
        cases, it is reasonable to use the "Sender" address.

        This recommendation is intended  only  for  automated  use  of
        originator-fields  and is not intended to suggest that replies
        may not also be sent to other recipients of messages.   It  is
        up  to  the  respective  mail-handling programs to decide what
        additional facilities will be provided.

        Examples are provided in Appendix A.

     4.5.  RECEIVER FIELDS

     4.5.1.  TO / RESENT-TO

        This field contains the identity of the primary recipients  of
        the message.

     4.5.2.  CC / RESENT-CC

        This field contains the identity of  the  secondary  (informa-
        tional) recipients of the message.

     4.5.3.  BCC / RESENT-BCC

        This field contains the identity of additional  recipients  of
        the  message.   The contents of this field are not included in
        copies of the message sent to the primary and secondary  reci-
        pients.   Some  systems  may choose to include the text of the
        "Bcc" field only in the author(s)'s  copy,  while  others  may
        also include it in the text sent to all those indicated in the
        "Bcc" list.

     4.6.  REFERENCE FIELDS

     4.6.1.  MESSAGE-ID / RESENT-MESSAGE-ID

             This field contains a unique identifier  (the  local-part
        address  unit)  which  refers to THIS version of THIS message.