RFC 822 explicitly states that it does not have anything to do with the
envelope.
Well, not quite. Yes, it has an initial statement to that effect, but then:
4.7.3. ENCRYPTED
....
Note: Unfortunately, headers must contain envelope, as well
as contents, information.
I think that's referring back to the following text, which is about
message submission:
However, some message systems may use information from the
contents to create the envelope. It is intended that this stan-
dard facilitate the acquisition of such information by programs.
The envelope comprises handling information that is created
for consumption by the handling service or created by the
handling service, primarily for consumption y email operators
or for operational analysis.
I don't think that's a useful definition because it leaves us without a
term to describe what all the SMTP-related RFCs call the envelope, and
it overlaps with the meaning of "trace fields" which already has a term of
its own. Your expanded definition might be useful in a broader context but
it doesn't accurately fit the way Internet email works. I thought that
non-Internet email was out of scope for this document.
Legal disclaimers and ads are often added by border-MTA manglers (e.g.
http://www.goldmark.org/jeff/stupid-disclaimers/). I was not thinking of
mailing lists exclusively - I was trying to be as broad as possible.
I'm inclined to class dislcaimer-type information as representing local
policy, so that their attachment comes under the umbrella of MSA.
That's a bit of a reach, but I do not think it unreasonable.
Border MTAs deal with incoming as well as outgoing email. Another kind of
mangling which might be more likely on an incoming border MTA is the
addition of a blurb saying that the message has been scanned for viruses.
In no way could this be considered an MSA function.
Tony.
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