RFC 790 - Assigned Numbers

RFC 790 is a “Request For Comments” (RFC) document that lists protocol numbers, port numbers, and IP addresses assigned in the early days of what would become the Internet. It is the document that first established the assignment of network 44 for amateur radio purposes.

History

Before the Internet came to exist as we know it today, what was then known as ARPANET was administered somewhat manually. Whenever there was a new development concerning the network, like a new protocol, application, or network assignment, an RFC document proposing the change would be typewritten and circulated among the network operators. If there was general agreement, the change was adopted.

Jon Postel at the University of Southern California's Information Sciences Institute (USC-ISI) served as editor of the RFC series from its inception in 1969 until his death in 1998. During that time, if someone needed a new network assigned, he would generally be the one to assign it.

In 1981, seeing an opportunity to support the amateur packet radio networks emerging along the west coast, Hank Magnuski (now KA6M) contacted Postel to ask about setting a network aside for amateur radio use. Jon agreed. The next available number for a network was 44.

Postel included the assignment of network 44 for amateur radio use in RFC 790, published in September 1981, and network 44 was born.

Errors

The document makes two small mistakes related to network 44. It misspells “amateur” as “amature,” and it shows networks 44 through 126 as “unassigned,” even though network 44 was assigned on the immediately preceding line.

RFCs are archival and not retroactively corrected in place. When ARDC publishes images or copies of RFC 790 in relation to the creation of network 44, it preserves these errors as part of the historical record.