The results of the text/paragraph test were abysmal. The rule which
requires MIME MUAs to treat unrecognized subtypes of text as "text/plain"
is documented in both RFC 2046 and RFC 2049. The fact that three MIME
MUAs failed one of the most basic MIME requirements is unacceptable.
I'd like to see the IMC gather as many MIME MUAs as possible (regardless
of IMC membership), test them against the MIME conformance rules in RFC
2049 and generate an industry MIME report card listing percentage of
conformance to each rule (without naming names). Vendors who failed
conformance rules would be notified privately. I would consider this an
excellent use of IMC dues money. This might cause some of the problems to
get fixed and would certainly be helpful when considering the impact of
certain MIME extension or media type proposals.
- Chris