I encourage the MARID working group, it's Chairs and the IETF to embrace
SenderID and help to promote it as a standard.
There is wide agreement, myself included, that the Microsoft IPR license
would be best removed from the proposal. However, SenderID is a good
solution and the it's the best that we can offer the internet user
community at this time. We can work through the licensing, it cannot be
a deal breaker. MARID's objective is to put forth an authentication
solution that can be a best first-step in solving the spam problem that
plagues all of us. Whether we represent the open source community or the
furtune 500, we have a responsibility to the users of the internet and
to protect the email medium.
The IETF and the MARID group is comprised of individuals who are
involved in *developing* and *improving* the internet. The IETF has a
long tradition of significant contributions to the internet. The
internet would not be relevant today, if not for the IETF, and the IETF
is relevant to the internet. We have a responsibility to the *users* of
the internet.
If the MARID chairs abandon SenderID, SenderID will not die. Microsoft
will move forward with SenderID at MSN, HotMail, within Outlook and
Exchange. SendMail will move forward with SenderID. That represents
enough user email boxes that the spam-fighters BrightMail, CloudMark,
Senderbase, Tumbleweed have already announced SenderID support. The
Email Service Provider Coalition, representing a very significant
portion of legitimate commercial email will publish SenderID in DNS.
ISP's that want their users email to reach inboxes at MSN, HotMail,
Exchange or SendMail supported email boxes may want to publish SenderID
records in DNS. My company will certainly publish both SPF1 and SPF2
regardless of the MARID decision.
If MARID abandons SenderID, it might be a step towards IETF irrelevance,
as both SPF Classic and SenderID will live on. If MARID embraces
SenderID, with it's flaws, there is hope for a unified approach to
solving the SPAM problem (SenderID as step 1). The flaws can be
addressed, the licensing can be addressed, the solution must start now.
We all know that the solution starts with authentication; it can be
improved with accreditation and reputation.
Thank you for your consideration.
--KEN
Ken Schmidt
VP Operations
Savicom