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The most (in)famous fax-from-the-Internet service is the brainchild of Carl Malamud (the creator of Internet Talk Radio) and Marshall Rose. They're doing research on how to integrate special-purpose devices, like facsimile printers, into the fabric of the Internet.


The official name for this project is "an experiment in remote printing", or TPC.INT. The experiment is a good hack, enabling Internet users to easily send faxes via electronic mail. It works simply enough—send electronic mail to a special address, and soon after (if your recipient's fax machine is in a covered area) out comes a freshly-minted fax. After the deed is done, you will receive electronic mail telling you if your fax was successfully sent or not.



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Note: What does TPC stand for? Go rent the film The President's Analyst, Paramount Pictures, 1967.

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A variety of companies, institutions and citizens linked to the Internet have joined the experiment by linking a computer and fax modem to the Net. When an organization joins the remote-fax service, it specifies which areas it is willing to send faxes to. In most cases, an organization will allow faxes to be sent to any machine that is a local call from its fax server.


As a result, with just a smattering of organizations participating, you can't send a fax just anywhere. When you send an e-mail fax message, you (naturally) must include the phone number of the recipient's fax machine. The TPC.INT server looks at the phone number and decides if any participating fax machines cover the area to which you want to send a fax. If so, your message is routed to the appropriate machine for "faxation." Otherwise, you will receive electronic mail with the disappointing news that your fax couldn't be delivered.


Although the service is free, the service's creators are investigating ways to help the organizations recover the cost of sending faxes. So far, this has been primarily through little advertisements—sponsorship messages touting the good name of the organization operating the fax node—on the title page of the resulting fax.


To send a fax by e-mail, send this message:


To: remote-printer.info@phone_number.iddd.tpc.int
where info contains information for the cover page. In info, / is turned into a line break and _ is turned into a space. For example, the address:


To: remote-printer.Arlo_Cats/Room_123@12025551212.iddd.tpc.int
Would send a fax to +1-202-555-1212 with the cover page:


Please deliver this facsimile to:



Arlo Cats



Room 123

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Note: There's another way to address faxes which works more reliably sometimes. In this format, the phone number is backwards and the numbers are separated by periods. It looks ugly, but it works:

To: remote-printer.Arlo_Cats/Room_123@2.1.2.1.5.5.5.2.0.2.1.tpc.int

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For a FAQ about the TPC.INT service, send electronic mail (any subject line and message body will do) to tpc-faq@town.hall.org. For a list of the areas where faxing is currently available with the service, e-mail tpc-coverage@town.hall.org.


There is also a mailing list for discussion of the service. To subscribe, send e-mail to tpc-rp-request@aarnet.edu.au. Administrative questions about the project should be directed to the following:


tpc-admin@town.hall.org

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Note: There is also a World Wide Web page that serves as a central location for information about the TPC.INT fax service. If your Web browser can display forms, you can even fill out a form and send a fax interactively. Use your favorite Web browser to connect to http://linux1.balliol.ox.ac.uk/fax/faxsend.html

If you want to know the gory technical and implementation details of the TPC.INT experiment, there are three RFCs you might want to read:

RFC 1530 covers the general principles and policies of the experiment.

RFC 1529 covers administrative policies

RFC 1528 covers technical procedures for implementation

Here's an abbreviated list (as of this writing) of the places you can fax using the TPC.INT service. Many times, the entire country or area code is not covered, so check the current coverage list for a complete breakdown. You can get a complete and current list by sending e-mail (any subject line, any message body) to the following:

tpc-coverage@town.hall.org

Outside the United States and Canada

Australia (+61)
Denmark (+45)
Germany (+49)
Japan (+81)
Korea (+82)
New Zealand (+64)
Portugal (+351): Lisbon (+351-1)
Sweden (+46)
United Kingdom (+44):

Canada and the United States (+1)

+1-202: Washington, D.C. (except Congress)
+1-212: New York
+1-301: Maryland
+1-310: California
+1-313: Michigan
+1-317: Indiana
+1-408: Sunnyvale, California
+1-410: Maryland
+1-412: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
+1-415: San Francisco, California
+1-416: Toronto
+1-508: Massachusetts
+1-510: Central California
+1-516: New York
+1-608: Wisconsin
+1-613: Massachusetts
+1-617: Massachusetts
+1-703; Virginia
+1-714: Irvine, California
+1-718: New York
+1-800: Toll-free calls
+1-813: Tampa
+1-818: California
+1-819: Quebec, Canada
+1-905: Markham, Canada
+1-909: California
+1-917: New York, New York
+1-919: North Carolina