Directory · 11 entries

Standards and rules for web captures and timestamps: directory

This directory lists the technical standards and legal rules that shape web captures. Some define how captures are stored and found, such as the WARC format in ISO 28500 ³ and the Memento protocol in RFC 7089 ¹. Others define signed time proof, such as RFC 3161 ² and the EU eIDAS rules on qualified electronic time stamps ⁴. The rest are court and patent office rules on proving what a page showed. Each row cites the text it comes from.

Last checked 6 November 2026

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RFC 7089, Memento (December 2013)
Issuer
RFC Editor, Informational RFC ¹
Type
Technical standard
What it defines
Datetime negotiation over HTTP with TimeGates and TimeMaps, and the Accept-Datetime and Memento-Datetime headers ¹
Source
RFC 7089 ¹
RFC 3161, Time-Stamp Protocol (August 2001)
Issuer
IETF, Standards Track ²
Type
Technical standard
What it defines
How a Time Stamping Authority signs a token binding a hash of data to a UTC time, with serial number, policy and optional nonce ²
Source
RFC 3161 ²
ISO 28500:2017, WARC file format
Issuer
ISO/TC 46/SC 4 ³
Type
Technical standard
What it defines
A file format storing harvested payloads, request headers, metadata and duplicate detection events, with record integrity. Edition 2, August 2017, confirmed in 2023 ³
Source
ISO ³
Wayback Machine URL date code
Issuer
Internet Archive (provider convention) ⁵
Type
Provider practice
What it defines
A 14-digit capture date and time in the archived URL, read as yyyymmddhhmmss ⁵
Source
Internet Archive help page ⁵
Regulation (EU) No 910/2014 (eIDAS), Articles 3, 41 and 42
Issuer
European Parliament and Council, 23 July 2014 ⁴
Type
Law
What it defines
Electronic and qualified electronic time stamps. Qualified stamps are presumed accurate in date, time and data integrity and must use a time source linked to UTC ⁴
Source
EUR-Lex ⁴
Legal Deposit Libraries (Non-Print Works) Regulations 2013
Issuer
UK Government, made 5 April 2013 ⁶
Type
Law
What it defines
How UK deposit libraries may request online works by web harvester, the UK connection test, and one terminal per item for reader access ⁶
Source
legislation.gov.uk ⁶
Federal Rule of Evidence 901(a)
Issuer
United States federal courts ⁷
Type
Court rule
What it defines
Authentication. The proponent must produce evidence sufficient to support a finding that the item is what the proponent claims it is, applied to Wayback screenshots in 2018 ⁷
Source
United States v. Gasperini ⁷
Federal Rule of Evidence 201, judicial notice
Issuer
United States federal courts ⁸
Type
Court rule
What it defines
Notice of facts from sources whose accuracy cannot reasonably be questioned. The Fifth Circuit held in 2022 that a private internet archive falls short of this ⁸
Source
Weinhoffer v. Davie Shoring ⁸
Evidence Act 1995 (Cth), sections 69 and 190
Issuer
Australian Parliament, as applied by the Federal Court ⁹
Type
Law
What it defines
Business records exception, which did not cover Wayback captures, and the power to dispense with the hearsay rule, which was used ⁹
Source
Dyno Nobel v Orica (No 2) ⁹
EPO Guidelines for Examination, G-IV 7.5.4
Issuer
European Patent Office ¹⁰
Type
Guidance
What it defines
How examiners use archiving services such as the Wayback Machine to date internet disclosures, and that the archive's incompleteness does not detract from the credibility of what it holds ¹⁰
Source
EPO Guidelines ¹⁰
Article 6a of Directive 98/6/EC
Issuer
European Parliament and Council, inserted by Directive (EU) 2019/2161 ¹¹
Type
Law
What it defines
The prior price in a price reduction announcement, the lowest price in at least the 30 days before the reduction, applying from 28 May 2022 ¹¹
Source
EUR-Lex ¹¹

Notes

RFC 7089 says a Memento-Datetime header is a promise that the captured state will no longer change ¹. It is the archive's own statement, not a third-party signature as in RFC 3161 ².

Rules and charges change. Check the official source linked on this page before you pay or travel. Spotted an error? Email hello@whatitsaidthen.com.

RFC 7089, Memento (December 2013)

RFC 3161, Time-Stamp Protocol (August 2001)

ISO 28500:2017, WARC file format

Wayback Machine URL date code

Regulation (EU) No 910/2014 (eIDAS), Articles 3, 41 and 42

Legal Deposit Libraries (Non-Print Works) Regulations 2013

Federal Rule of Evidence 901(a)

Federal Rule of Evidence 201, judicial notice

Evidence Act 1995 (Cth), sections 69 and 190

EPO Guidelines for Examination, G-IV 7.5.4

Article 6a of Directive 98/6/EC

Notes

Sources