In order to become a working group, we need general agreement on a charter.
I propose the following, which is a revision of the one I proposed in
February.
Description of the Working Group:
S/MIME is a method for encrypting and/or authenticating MIME data.
S/MIME defines a format for the MIME data, the algorithms that must be
used for interoperability, and the additional operational concerns
such as certificates and transport over the Internet.
Work on S/MIME has already begun before the formation of this Working
Group. This WG will use as a starting point the two drafts already
submitted to the IETF for S/MIME. These drafts are based on the PKCS7
message format. The Working Group will most likely maintain
interoperability with the message format from the current S/MIME work.
A modestly aggressive schedule is specified, due to the amount of existing
work on S/MIME.
Goals and Milestones:
March 1997: Submit first drafts of S/MIME message specification
and S/MIME certificate handling
July 1997: WG last call on S/MIME message specification
July 1997: Submit all reformatted PKCS documents as Informational
August 1997: Submit S/MIME message specification for Proposed
Standard
September 1997: WG last call on S/MIME certificate handling
October 1997: Submit S/MIME certificate handling for Proposed
Standard
--Paul E. Hoffman, Director
--Internet Mail Consortium