The National Bureau of Standards' Specification for Message Format for Computer Based Message Systems mentioned in the February 1982 issue of LSN has been adopted by six of the major electronic mail systems. InfoMail, Comet, Dialcom's Electronic Mail System, DECmail, Telemail, and OnTyme have each adopted the standard which enables the exchange of electronic messages among different messaging systems. The standard covers the format of messages-requiring that a message contain fields such as destination, origin, and date, but does not fix display or transmission formats. Adoption of the standard assures compatibility but allows for diversity in the services provided by each system.
https://librarytechnology.org/document/3865/