There is a strongly perceived need within the Usenet-Format group for
a reliable method for the digital signing of headers. It would, on the
face of it, be foolish to devise a mechanism applicable to news that
would not work also for email, even though that does indeed make the
mechanism more complex.
And even though there may not be such a strong requirement for this
facility in email, one can imagine some applications that would find it
useful.
The draft that I have prepared therefore tries to solve the problem in
both environments. However, before we get too bogged down in the details
of what I am proposing, I suggest we first establish the proper forum
for this discussion, and the form that it should take. For this, I need
some advice from the various IETF gurus on these lists.
1. In the first place, should I aim it at a Draft Standard, or at an
Experimental Protocol? Note that we shall eventually want to refer to it
in the final USEFOR document, which is certainly supposed to be on the
Standards Track, but it might still be useful (and quicker) to have an
Experimental Protocol before then.
2. For the moment, I am posting this to both the ietf-82 and the
usenet-format lists, with Reply-To set to both, and I request that the
debate continue in BOTH places for now. Would it be useful for me to set
up a mailing list somewhere that automatically posted to both?
3. In the slightly longer term (and especially if it is to become a
Draft Standard in due course) do I need to apply to the IETF to have a
proper working group set up? That seems perhaps a slight overkill, so
would formal discussion on these two lists in parallel be in order even
in the longer term?
4. And finally, please do not tear into the nitty gritty and the
details just yet. Let us discuss the overall principles first, and the
mechanisms. Clearly, there is much detail to be sorted out eventually,
but first things first.
Cc: to David Lawrence (who is on at least one of the lists) because it impinges
upon his pgpverify.
Charles H. Lindsey ---------At Home, doing my own thing------------------------
Email: chl(_at_)clw(_dot_)cs(_dot_)man(_dot_)ac(_dot_)uk Web:
http://www.cs.man.ac.uk/~chl
Voice/Fax: +44 161 437 4506 Snail: 5 Clerewood Ave, CHEADLE, SK8 3JU, U.K.
PGP: 2C15F1A9 Fingerprint: 73 6D C2 51 93 A0 01 E7 65 E8 64 7E 14 A4 AB A5
signed
Description: signed