Re: Bug#40394: forwarding an encrypted PGP message is useless

Marc Mutz wrote:

> Both camps here agree that you can't stop the receiver from sending the 
> formerly encrypted message wherever she wants - in the clear.
> Why I am sceptic about allowing forwarding formerly encrypted mails 
> unencryptedly or after re-encryption is that - for me - forwarding shouldn't 
> change the original message. If you want to change the message, reply to it 
> and edit the recipients. If you forward, you actually want to annotate the 
> original message with a few lines of notes, then send the stuff on the the 
> recipient, much like sticking these yellow post-it strips to a folder and 
> write "you do that!" on them before telling the secretary to carry it to the 
> next room.
I like bringing up the secretary/post-it metaphor. But assume the letter 
was encrypted, or, in "real-world terms", written in Suaheli, a language 
which nobody else in your office speaks. Putting a "you do that!" 
post-it on the letter won't be useful to your secretary, you first need 
to decrypt (aka "translate") the letter first [*]. This is what I 
believe should be done (after the appropriate warning to the user about 
the consequences).
-Marcel

[*] And this brings us back to the very subject of this e-mail 
conversation :-)