POP is a communications protocol used to retrieve emails from a mail server. It was originally called POP but is now referred to as POP3. A terminal adapter (TA) connects a computer to the ISDN network and can also combine the functions of an ISDN TA and a modem, allowing connections over both ISDN and analog lines. The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) is an open standards organization that promotes Internet standards, particularly those related to the TCP/IP protocol suite. TCP and IP were the first two networking protocols defined in this standard and form the basis of today's Internet protocols.