ietf-smime
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Using S/MIME to Improve The Acceptance Of Our Work

1998-04-30 08:50:48
I am wondering if the ultimate completion and final IETF acceptance of
the work from this very important group would be significantly enhanced
if participants identified themselves using the S/MIME technologies
being proposed for implementation by the global Internet community?

Not long ago a new registration for this group was for someone using the
alias of "happy hacker".  This started me thinking that we ought to
practice what we preach here, i.e., use S/MIME certificates which can be
verified through a trusted third party as a prerequisite for posting to
this forum.  While it may not be necessary for all observers/lurkers to
possess a valid S/MIME certificate, why should we trust postings from
individuals who are not willing to accurately identify themselves with
verifiable S/MIME signatures?

It is now practical to establish such a procedure since we all have low
cost access to S/MIME applications and commercial CA services.  And,
even though much of the current work for this group is coming to a
conclusion, future work in this group (and others within the IETF) could
benefit from using S/MIME to improve the acceptance levels of the end
results.

Robert E. Frank
CEO, Open Commerce, Inc.
San Ramon, CA 94583
http://www.opencommerce.com/company.html

Attachment: smime.p7s
Description: S/MIME Cryptographic Signature

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