IETF Publishes WebFinger Specification

WebFinger is a protocol that allows one to discover information about people or other entities on the Internet. It is possible, for example, to take one's email address (actually an "acct:" URI that looks like an email address) and discover information that that person wishes to share.

For example, a user might share an avatar, various means to contact them, or even their Bitcoin address to receive money.

The specification was published today by the IETF as RFC 7033, after several years of effort by a large number of interested people.

You can learn more about WebFinger here.