We did a general heads-up at the DC IETF, and my belief is there's
sufficient consensus that a WG is justified for MTA Filters and we can move
towards a standards-track proposal. Given that some of us will have "IETF
Cycles" freed up (no pun intended, Ned) with the ACAP work winding down, and
there are already a couple of SIEVE implementations in the works, this seems
like a good time to move with all due consideration.
I'm requesting a slot for either a BOF or a WG (preferred) at LA in March.
In the meantime, we should probably start work on a charter, and hear out
any discussion to the contrary. My draft of a charter is below.
I don't participate directly in any of the SPAM groups. Can somebody more
active in those areas cross-post this as a heads up? One really desirable
thing here is to get better general awareness in the SPAM activity of SIEVE
(including, very importantly, its scope limitations with respect to spam, so
we don't waste any time unnecessarily on turf issues).
- Matt
-----
Working Notes for a Proposed Charter:
Name: MTA Filters
Acronym: MTA-FILT [I'd considered suggesting MTAFILTH -- there's an 8-char
limit on acronyms -- short for MTA Filters on Headers, but in addition to
this possibly being confusing for the sake of cuteness, I didn't think the
acronym would be wildly popular given that it may be confused with
content-based filtering 8-(. Any other suggestions, please make them now].
Chair(s):
TBD. [Matt Wall <wall(_at_)cyrusoft(_dot_)com> and Ned Freed
<ned(_at_)innosoft(_dot_)com> {have
been proposed as co-chairs.]
Applications Area Director(s):
Keith Moore <moore(_at_)cs(_dot_)utk(_dot_)edu>
Harald Alvestrand <Harald(_dot_)T(_dot_)Alvestrand(_at_)uninett(_dot_)no>
Applications Area Advisor:
(proposed) Keith Moore <moore(_at_)cs(_dot_)utk(_dot_)edu>
Mailing List Info:
A mailing list was established Jan. 11, 1997, and has been in continuous
existence since.
General Discussion: <mailto:ietf-mta-filters(_at_)imc(_dot_)org>
Subscribe requests:
<mailto:ietf-mta-filters-request(_at_)imc(_dot_)org>
Archive (hyperarchive and FTP):
<http://www.imc.org/ietf-mta-filters/>
Description of Working Group:
A variety of delivery-time mechanisms for filtering and disposing of
messages have long been available for messages delivered via SMTP. Such
filtering schemes have become increasingly important with the advent of
increased volumes of mail and newer Internet-standard mail access models
with richer delivery capabilities. In this increasingly complex delivery
loop, it is desirable to have an architecture-independent, interoperable
filtering language for use in the MTA delivery process written and adopted
as an Internet Standard.
The working group will specify a simplified but generalizable mail filtering
language for filtering messages at the time of final delivery. It is
designed to be independent of protocol, though clearly appropriate to
RFC822/821 message handling, and implementable on either a mail client or
mail server, though specifically intended for MTA delivery-side
functionality. It is meant to be extensible, simple, and independent of
access protocol, mail architecture, and operating system.
Because there has been considerable past work on specific MTA Filtering
proposals, specifically the SIEVE draft, and there is a considerable body of
working implementation experience in this area, the proposed Working Group
anticipates fully completing the proposed Internet Standard in a relatively
timely manner as reflected in the goals and milestones.
Goals and Milestones:
[Past work: IMAP-related MTA Filtering BOF meetings at 1st and 2nd
International IMAP meetings, Seattle, January 1996 (15 attendees) and
November 1996, Seattle (about 25 attendees); Beer BOF discussion, Montreal
IETF, June 1996; informal BOF at San Jose IETF, December 1996 (about 20
attendees); mailing list established, Jan 11, 1997; 1st internet draft of
SIEVE (00), April 22, 1997; 2nd draft (01) June 29, 1997; 3rd draft (02)
(see reference below) October 24, 1997; informal discussion, DC IETF,
December, 1997.]
March 1998 Meet at LA IETF to finalize concepts, functionality, scope,
and to review current SIEVE draft proposal, and to define what (if any)
additional work is required by the WG to meet the functional goals in the
charter.
May 1998 Submit 4th draft of SIEVE draft proposal.
August 1998 Meet at Chicago IETF to discuss current draft and related
work.
October 1998 Submit final Internet Draft(s) to IESG for consideration as
Proposed Standard.
Internet-Drafts:
ftp://ds.internic.net/internet-drafts/draft-showalter-sieve-02.txt
[VACATION Extension -00 draft, not yet submitted to secretariat]:
http://www.club.cc.cmu.edu/~tjs/sieve-vacation.txt