We were merely
trying to sum up the positive work that has taken place over the last
few months in a manner that would answer the questions frequently put
to
us by the press.
So, first, nomenclature. The word "applied" was used only to convey
that the appropriate letters, drafts, and charter has been discussed
and
published.
? Let me quote from the RSA Press Release headline:
RSA Data Security Formally Applies to IETF to
Establish S/MIME as Electronic Messaging Standard
Publication of RC2 Algorithm, Creation of IETF Working
Group Facilitate Development of S/MIME as Industry's
Preferred Standard for E-Mail Encryption
...[snip]
RSA Data Security, Inc., a wholly owned
subsidiary of Security Dynamics Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq: SDTI), today
announced that it has formally applied to the Internet Engineering Task
Force
(IETF) to establish S/MIME as a security standard for electronic messaging
...[snip]
The proposed S/MIME charter, now under consideration by the IETF, is
expected to lead to the formation of an IETF-sponsored S/MIME Working
Group.
Second, we in no way intended to take credit for the good work of the
authors and editors. RSA has been the focal point for S/MIME
development and comment for some time, so we took the step of
announcing
all of the good progress. Anyone who feels miffed has my apology.
I wont bother quoting the rest of the release, but it extensively references
RSA as the developer's of S/MIME and gives the impression that they are
solely responsible for it. Netscape & Microsoft are mentioned as supporting
*RSA*'s efforts.
The intent and meaning of the press release seems quite clear and unambiguous
- S/MIME is the province of RSA and they are running it.
This prevailing attitude, and RSA's intransigeant attitude re the encumbered
algorithms etc in S/MIME is what lead us to drop S/MIME development and
switch to OpenPGP, and move to merely monitoring S/MIME occasionally.
By the way - is RSA still a part of S/MIME, and do RSA (the company) still
claim copyright on it?
Yours Sincerely,
Lindsay Mathieson
Black Paw Communications
--
Lindsay Mathieson
Black Paw Communications
Using MailCat for Win32 Beta Vs 2.6.1.2, on November 6, 1997, in Win95
4.0
http://www.blackpaw.com/