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Re: [ietf-dkim] Re: ISSUE 1525 -- Restriction to posting by firstAuthor breaks email semantics

2008-01-16 14:01:34

On Jan 16, 2008, at 12:13 PM, Jim Fenton wrote:

The roles of sender and author are different. The fact that a Sender header field is required when there are multiple authors is not an assertion that the sender is, in fact, an author. It's merely a consequence of the fact that the sender (agent responsible for the actual transmission of the message) cannot be inferred from the From header field in this case.

SSP seeks to determine the author's policy.

SSP asserts the policy of "first author's" _domain_. It is not accurate to describe SSP as the "first author's" policy. Nothing within SSP offers this level of policy granularity.

There is no need for a signature to always be on-behalf-of any specific header of the message to be compliant with "all" or "strict". Efforts at restricting the i= parameter are doomed by the complexity. Referencing policy should be limited to the "first author", otherwise validating a dearth of unsigned email is doomed by overhead.

Provided the _domain_ of the signature is able to have signed for the "first author", a message can be defined as compliant with "strict" or "all" assertions when signed by an unrestricted key on-behalf-of _any_ identity.

Specifically signing for the "first author" is _not_ required. DKIM or SSP is not about assuring the identity of the "first author", or providing "first author" specific policies. Compliance is determined by whether the originating _domain_ of the message is compliant with the "first author's" _domain's_ assertions.

Whenever a message does not contain an unrestricted signature applied by the _domain_ of the "first author", SSP needs to be checked. An exception should be made for restricted keys. Restricted keys should only be compliant when on-behalf-of the "first author".

By not restricting the i= parameter, DKIM is able to clarify which entity introduced the message. The identity of this entity can even be opaque.

-Doug
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