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rfc:rfc4337

Network Working Group Y. Lim Request for Comments: 4337 net&tv Inc. Category: Standards Track D. Singer

                                                        Apple Computer
                                                            March 2006
                 MIME Type Registration for MPEG-4

Status of This Memo

 This document specifies an Internet standards track protocol for the
 Internet community, and requests discussion and suggestions for
 improvements.  Please refer to the current edition of the "Internet
 Official Protocol Standards" (STD 1) for the standardization state
 and status of this protocol.  Distribution of this memo is unlimited.

Copyright Notice

 Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2006).

Abstract

 This document defines the standard MIME types associated with MP4
 files.  It also recommends use of registered MIME types according to
 the type of contents.

Table of Contents

 1. Introduction ....................................................2
 2. Selection of MIME Types for MP4 Files ...........................3
 3. IANA Considerations .............................................3
    3.1. MP4 File ...................................................4
    3.2. MP4 File with Audio but without Visual Presentation ........5
    3.3. MP4 File with MPEG-4 System Stream and neither
         Visual nor Audio Presentation ..............................6
    3.4. Initial Object Descriptor (IOD) in Binary Format ...........7
    3.5. Initial Object Descriptor (IOD) in Textual Format ..........8
 4. Security Considerations .........................................9
 5. Acknowledgements ................................................9
 6. Normative References ............................................9

Lim & Singer Standards Track [Page 1] RFC 4337 MPEG-4 MIME Types March 2006

1. Introduction

 This document describes a standard definition of MIME types
 associated with MP4 files and the guidelines for using them.
 MPEG-4 (ISO/IEC 14496) is a standard designed for the representation
 and delivery of multimedia information over a variety of transport
 protocols [1].  It includes interactive scene management and visual
 and audio representations, as well as system functionality like
 multiplexing, synchronization, and an object descriptor framework
 [2].
 The historical approach for MPEG data has been to declare it under
 "video", and this approach is followed for ISO/IEC 14496.  In
 addition, some MIME types are defined under "audio" and "application"
 for the streams not containing visual presentation.
 Amendment 1 of the ISO/IEC 14496 standard (also known as version 2)
 introduced a standard file type, called MP4 files, for encapsulating
 ISO/IEC 14496 data.  This is now separately specified as the MP4 file
 format [4], which in turn is based on the ISO base media file format
 [3].  A separate specification [5] covers the storage of Advanced
 Video Coding (AVC) (also known as H.264) [6] material in files based
 on the ISO base media file format.  The MP4 file type can be used in
 a number of ways; perhaps the most important of these is its use as
 an interchange format for ISO/IEC 14496 data, as a content-download
 format, and as the format read by streaming media servers.
 These first two uses will be greatly facilitated if there is a
 standard MIME type for serving these files (e.g., over HTTP).
 The ISO/IEC 14496 standard is broad, and therefore the type of data
 that may be in such a file can vary.  In brief, simple compressed
 video and audio (using a number of different compression algorithms)
 can be included; interactive scene information; meta-data about the
 presentation; references to ISO/IEC 14496 media streams outside the
 file and so on.  Different top-level MIME types are used to identify
 the type of the contents in the file.

Lim & Singer Standards Track [Page 2] RFC 4337 MPEG-4 MIME Types March 2006

2. Selection of MIME Types for MP4 Files

 The MIME types to be assigned to MP4 files are selected according to
 the contents.  Basic guidelines for selecting MIME types are as
 follows:
 a) if the file contains neither visual nor audio presentations, but
    only, for example, MPEG-J or MPEG-7, use application/mp4;
 b) for all other files, including those that have MPEG-J, etc., in
    addition to video or audio streams, video/mp4 should be used;
    however:
 c) for files with audio but no visual aspect, including those that
    have MPEG-J, etc., in addition to audio streams, audio/mp4 may be
    used.
 In any case, these indicate files conforming to the "MP4"
 specification, ISO/IEC 14496-1:2000, systems file format.

3. IANA Considerations

 This section describes the MIME types and names to be used with
 various MPEG-4 contents.  Sections from 4.1 to 4.5 register five new
 MIME types with the IANA.

Lim & Singer Standards Track [Page 3] RFC 4337 MPEG-4 MIME Types March 2006

3.1. MP4 File

 MIME media type name: video
 MIME subtype name: mp4
 Required parameters: none
 Optional parameters: none
 Encoding considerations: base64 IS generally preferred; files are
    binary and should be transmitted without CR/LF conversion, 7-bit
    stripping, etc.
 Security considerations: See section 5 of RFC 4337.
 Interoperability considerations: A number of interoperating
    implementations exist within the ISO/IEC 14496 community, and that
    community has reference software for reading and writing the file
    format.
 Published specification: ISO/IEC 14496-1:2001.
 Applications: Multimedia
 Additional information:
    Magic number(s): none
    File extension(s): mp4 and mpg4 are both declared at
       <http://pitch.nist.gov/nics/>.
    Macintosh File Type Code(s): mpg4 is registered with Apple.
 Person to contact for info: David Singer, singer@apple.com
 Intended usage: Common
 Author/Change controller: David Singer, ISO/IEC 14496 file format
    chair

Lim & Singer Standards Track [Page 4] RFC 4337 MPEG-4 MIME Types March 2006

3.2. MP4 File with Audio but without Visual Presentation

 MIME media type name: audio
 MIME subtype name: mp4
 Required parameters: none
 Optional parameters: none
 Encoding considerations: base64 IS generally preferred; files are
    binary and should be transmitted without CR/LF conversion, 7-bit
    stripping, etc.
 Security considerations: See section 5 of RFC 4337.
 Interoperability considerations: A number of interoperating
    implementations exist within the ISO/IEC 14496 community, and that
    community has reference software for reading and writing the file
    format.
 Published specification: ISO/IEC 14496-1:2001.
 Applications: Multimedia
 Additional information:
    Magic number(s): none
    File extension(s): mp4 and mpg4 are both declared at
       <http://pitch.nist.gov/nics/>.
    Macintosh File Type Code(s): mpg4 is registered with Apple.
 Person to contact for info: David Singer, singer@apple.com
 Intended usage: Common
 Author/Change controller: David Singer, ISO/IEC 14496 file format
    chair.

Lim & Singer Standards Track [Page 5] RFC 4337 MPEG-4 MIME Types March 2006

3.3. MP4 File with MPEG-4 System Stream and neither Visual nor

    Audio Presentation
 MIME media type name:application
 MIME subtype name: mp4
 Required parameters: none
 Optional parameters: none
 Encoding considerations: base64 IS generally preferred; files are
    binary and should be transmitted without CR/LF conversion, 7-bit
    stripping, etc.
 Security considerations: See section 5 of RFC 4337.
 Interoperability considerations: A number of interoperating
    implementations exist within the ISO/IEC 14496 community, and that
    community has reference software for reading and writing the file
    format.
 Published specification: ISO/IEC 14496-1:2001.
 Applications: Multimedia
 Additional information:
    Magic number(s): none
    File extension(s): mp4 and mpg4 are both declared at
       <http://pitch.nist.gov/nics/>.
    Macintosh File Type Code(s): mpg4 is registered with Apple.
 Person to contact for info: David Singer, singer@apple.com
 Intended usage: Common
 Author/Change controller: David Singer, ISO/IEC 14496 file format
    chair

Lim & Singer Standards Track [Page 6] RFC 4337 MPEG-4 MIME Types March 2006

3.4. Initial Object Descriptor (IOD) in Binary Format

 MIME media type name: application
 MIME subtype name: mpeg4-iod
 Required parameters: none
 Optional parameters: none
 Encoding considerations: base64 is generally preferred; files are
    binary and should be transmitted without CR/LF conversion, 7-bit
    stripping, etc.
 Security considerations: See section 5 of RFC 4337.
 Interoperability considerations: A number of interoperating
    implementations exist within the ISO/IEC 14496 community, and that
    community has reference software for reading and writing the file
    format.
 Published specification: ISO/IEC 14496-1:2001
    Applications: Multimedia
    Additional information:
    Magic number(s): none
    File extension(s): none mp4 and mpg4 are both declared at
       <http://pitch.nist.gov/nics/>.
    Macintosh File Type Code(s): mpg4 is registered with Apple.
 Person to contact for info: David Singer, singer@apple.com
 Intended usage: Common
 Author/Change controller: David Singer, ISO/IEC 14496 file format
    chair

Lim & Singer Standards Track [Page 7] RFC 4337 MPEG-4 MIME Types March 2006

3.5. Initial Object Descriptor (IOD) in Textual Format

 MIME media type name: application
 MIME subtype name: mpeg4-iod-xmt
 Required parameters: none
 Optional parameters: none
 Encoding considerations: none
 Security considerations: See section 5 of RFC 4337.
 Interoperability considerations: A number of interoperating
    implementations exist within the ISO/IEC 14496 community, and that
    community has reference software for reading and writing the file
    format.
 Published specification: ISO/IEC 14496-1:2001 AMD2.
 Applications: Multimedia
 Additional information:
    Magic number(s): none
    File extension(s): mp4 and mpg4 are both declared at
       <http://pitch.nist.gov/nics/>.
    Macintosh File Type Code(s): mpg4 is registered with Apple.
 Person to contact for info: David Singer, singer@apple.com
 Intended usage: Common
 Author/Change controller: David Singer, ISO/IEC 14496 file format
    chair

Lim & Singer Standards Track [Page 8] RFC 4337 MPEG-4 MIME Types March 2006

4. Security Considerations

 It is possible to inject non-compliant MPEG streams (Audio, Video,
 and Systems) in the MP4 file to overload the receiver/decoder's
 buffers.  This might compromise the functionality of the receiver or
 even crash it.  This is especially true for end-to-end systems like
 MPEG, where the buffer models are precisely defined.
 An MP4 file supports the storage of stream types, including commands
 that are executed on the terminal such as OD command and BIFS
 commands, and programmatic content such as MPEG-J (Java(TM) Byte
 Code) and ECMASCRIPT.  It is possible to use one or more of the above
 in a manner non-compliant to MPEG to crash the receiver or
 temporarily make it unavailable.
 Authentication mechanisms can be used to validate of the sender and
 the data to prevent security problems due to non-compliant malignant
 MP4 files.
 A security model is defined in ISO/IEC 14496 Systems MP4 files
 containing MPEG-J contents that comprises Java(TM) classes and
 objects.  MPEG-J defines a set of Java(TM) APIs and a secure
 execution model.  MPEG-J content can call this set of APIs and
 Java(TM) methods from a set of Java packages supported in the
 receiver within the defined security model.  According to this
 security model, downloaded byte code is forbidden to load libraries,
 to define native methods, to start programs, to read or write files,
 or to read system properties.

5. Acknowledgements

 This document has benefited greatly by contributions from many
 people, including Mike Coleman, Jean-Claude Duford, Viswanathan
 Swaminathan, Peter Westerink, Carsten Herpel, Olivier Avaro, Paul
 Christ, Zvi Lifshitz, and many others.  Their insight, foresight, and
 contribution is gratefully acknowledged.  Little has been invented
 here by the author; this is mostly a collation of greatness that has
 gone before.

6. Normative References

 [1]  Schulzrinne, H.,  Casner, S., Frederick, R., and V. Jacobson,
      "RTP: A Transport Protocol for Real-Time Applications", STD 64,
      RFC 3550, July 2003.
 [2]  ISO/IEC 14496-1 "Information technology - Coding of audio-visual
      objects - Part 1 : Systems", 3rd ed. 2004.

Lim & Singer Standards Track [Page 9] RFC 4337 MPEG-4 MIME Types March 2006

 [3]  ISO/IEC 14496-12 "Information technology - Coding of audio-
      visual objects - Part 12 : ISO Base Media File Format", December
      2003.
 [4]  ISO/IEC 14496-14 "Information technology - Coding of audio-
      visual objects - Part 14 : MP4 File Format", January 2004.
 [5]  ISO/IEC 14496-15 "Information technology - Coding of audio-
      visual objects - Part 15 : AVC File Format", 2004.
 [6]  ISO/IEC 14496-10:2004 "Information technology -- Coding of
      audio-visual objects -- Part 10: Advanced Video Coding", 2nd
      edition, 2004.

Authors' Addresses

 Young-Kwon LIM
 net&tv Inc.
 Room 802 Hanseo Building
 1582-6 Seocho-3-Dong Seocho-Gu
 Seoul, 137-875, Korea
 Phone: +82-2-581-2305
 EMail: young@netntv.co.kr
 David Singer
 Apple Computer, Inc.
 One Infinite Loop, MS:302-3MT
 Cupertino  CA 95014
 USA
 Phone: +1 408 974 3162
 EMail: singer@apple.com

Lim & Singer Standards Track [Page 10] RFC 4337 MPEG-4 MIME Types March 2006

Full Copyright Statement

 Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2006).
 This document is subject to the rights, licenses and restrictions
 contained in BCP 78, and except as set forth therein, the authors
 retain all their rights.
 This document and the information contained herein are provided on an
 "AS IS" basis and THE CONTRIBUTOR, THE ORGANIZATION HE/SHE REPRESENTS
 OR IS SPONSORED BY (IF ANY), THE INTERNET SOCIETY AND THE INTERNET
 ENGINEERING TASK FORCE DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED,
 INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTY THAT THE USE OF THE
 INFORMATION HEREIN WILL NOT INFRINGE ANY RIGHTS OR ANY IMPLIED
 WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

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 The IETF invites any interested party to bring to its attention any
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Acknowledgement

 Funding for the RFC Editor function is provided by the IETF
 Administrative Support Activity (IASA).

Lim & Singer Standards Track [Page 11]

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