Port 1713 sits in the registered ports range (1024-49151), assigned by IANA to a service called ConferenceTalk on both TCP and UDP. The registrant is listed as George Kajos, whose background includes video networking and conferencing software.
That's where the trail ends. There's no surviving documentation of the ConferenceTalk protocol, no active deployments, no RFC. The software — whatever it was — didn't make it.
The Registered Ports Range
Ports 1024 through 49151 are registered ports. Anyone can apply to IANA to claim one for a specific service, and historically, IANA has accommodated most requests. The result is a registry that's part operating infrastructure and part archaeology — thousands of entries for services that range from ubiquitous (port 1433 for Microsoft SQL Server) to completely obscure.
Port 1713 is firmly in the obscure category. It has a name and a registrant. It does not have a community, a protocol specification, or any observed traffic in the wild.
What's Actually on This Port
If you see something listening on port 1713 on your system, it's not ConferenceTalk. It's whatever application decided to use an available port number. Registered ports are not reserved in any enforced sense — any software can bind to any port. The registration just means IANA has noted the intent.
Common reasons something might appear on port 1713:
- A development server or application using it as a non-conflicting port
- Dynamic port assignment that happened to land here
- Legitimate internal tooling configured to this port
How to Check What's Listening
On Linux or macOS:
On Windows:
The output will show you the process ID and protocol. Cross-reference the process ID with your task manager or ps aux to identify the application.
Why These Entries Exist
The registered ports range serves a real purpose: it lets software developers claim a consistent port so their application doesn't collide with others. When ConferenceTalk was registered, the registrant presumably had plans to ship software that used port 1713. Whether it shipped and failed, or never shipped at all, the record persists.
IANA doesn't aggressively reclaim abandoned registrations. The registry grows; it rarely shrinks. Port 1713's entry is a small fossil in that record — evidence that someone, at some point, was building something for video conferencing and thought they'd need a port.
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