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Re: RFC compliance and the European Parliament

2014-06-10 02:44:26

Erik, colleagues,

I am top-posting since I am not responding directly to anything in your message 
but on the general thread.

I’d like to argue that this is not an IETF issue as such. Regardless whether 
Erik is trying to solve a real problem, this is only an IETF issue if there is 
a problem with the specification or the interpretation of the specs. If 
individual IETFers want to be involved Euro-citizens than that is fine (and if 
it comes to secure communication, a Good Thing TM), but lets try to keep the 
institution out of it. Remember that the IETF is about voluntary adoption and 
that we, as institution, do not do certification of implementations.

It is a thin line. Any question about what the IETF can do to make the Internet 
better is fine. In this case I am a bit concerned that the IETF could be 
perceived it is telling the EP how to run its business. Lets try to keep clear 
of the latter and keep the ball on the first.

—Olaf 
(no hats)



[ Nothing but rough context below] 
On 10 jun. 2014, at 07:40, JOSEFSSON Erik 
<erik(_dot_)josefsson(_at_)europarl(_dot_)europa(_dot_)eu> wrote:

Dear Jaldora, dear Mr Moonesamy,

I am overwhelmed by your thoughtful feedback!  Thanks for taking time!!

I have tried to edit the pad with your comments in mind.

I do agree the request should not be rude. However, Regulation 1049/2001[0] 
which provides the legal basis for the Access to Documents requests puts an 
obligation on the institution to assist citizens exercising their rights, in 
particular "If an application is not sufficiently precise, the institution 
shall ask the applicant to clarify the application and shall assist the 
applicant in doing so [...]" (art 6.2).

There is another request in the pipeline on transparency in EP security 
procedures that you might find interesting to follow (and maybe help with):

http://www.asktheeu.org/en/request/man_in_the_middle_attack_on_the
http://pad.epfsug.eu/p/epfsug-eod-accessnetwork

Taken together, these requests stem from concerns that despite our efforts[1] 
the EP "does not yet have the necessary means for secure electronic 
communications" (see point 4 in [2] below), which explains (but does not 
justify) why I was reaching out on the perpass list.

Again, thank you for your kind help!

Best regards.

//Erik


[0] 
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2001:145:0043:0048:EN:PDF
[1] https://wiki.debian.org/DebianParl/GreensEFA 
[2] 
http://epfsug.eu/wws/arc/epfsug/2014-06/msg00039/DG-IPOL-and-DG-EXPO-priorities.pdf

________________________________________
From: Alexander Burton-Vulovic [aburtonvulovic(_at_)siliconsteed(_dot_)com] 
on behalf of jaldorakyor(_at_)gmail(_dot_)com 
[jaldorakyor(_at_)gmail(_dot_)com]
Sent: Monday 9 June 2014 22:59
To: JOSEFSSON Erik; S Moonesamy; ietf(_at_)ietf(_dot_)org
Cc: pawal(_at_)blipp(_dot_)com
Subject: RE: RFC compliance and the European Parliament

Erik;

Well, the original message doesn't seem to clearly convey what you wanted and 
the follow-up is simply unnecessarily rude.

The original request, as I read it, is for two things:

1. Documents relating to EP mail systems, policies, and server settings 
relating to RFC 5321 sec. 3.9;
2. Documents relating to forecasts or plans relating to (1).

The response is "we have not found any documents that meet those criteria". 
Now, they may or may not have any of those documents, but berating them for 
'forget[ting] to address any of my requests' when as far as I can tell they 
exactly answered the question you asked is more than a little unfair.

Reading the follow-up, though, I get the impression that what you asked for 
is not really what you wanted to know and there has been a miscommunication. 
On re-reading your follow up, it seems clear to me that the original request 
was worded ambiguously and doesn't properly convey what you want to obtain.

What's wrong with saying, "Sorry, must have been a miscommunication. My 
concern is that someone working in the EP with a @europarl mail address won't 
receive mailing list messages. Can I have any documents relating to the EP's 
mail handling policy and server settings and future changes to same?"

-Jaldora


-----Original Message-----
From: ietf [mailto:ietf-bounces(_at_)ietf(_dot_)org] On Behalf Of JOSEFSSON 
Erik
Sent: June 9, 2014 3:39 PM
To: S Moonesamy; ietf(_at_)ietf(_dot_)org
Cc: pawal(_at_)blipp(_dot_)com
Subject: RE: RFC compliance and the European Parliament

Dear Mr Moonesamy,
Dear Mr Wallström,

Thank you for placing my call in the right context. I hope this list 
<ietf(_at_)ietf(_dot_)org> allows me to reply without subscribing first. If 
not, please advice on how to subscribe.

Assuming I was already subscribed, the problem is the following: If anyone 
else working in the EP is subscribed to this list with his @europarl mail 
address, he will never receive this email. That's it.

The request asks for the documentation of the reasons for this fact, or more 
precisely, access to all documents relating to the EP's policies and server 
settings for interacting with RFC 5321 compliant mailing lists.

No such documentation has been provided by the EP.

We are preparing a follow-up request here:

http://pad.epfsug.eu/p/epfsug-eod-emailrfccompliance

Grateful for any help and comments on the pad.

Best regards.

//Erik

________________________________________
From: S Moonesamy [sm+ietf(_at_)elandsys(_dot_)com]
Sent: Monday 9 June 2014 17:55
To: JOSEFSSON Erik; ietf(_at_)ietf(_dot_)org
Subject: Re: RFC compliance and the European Parliament

Hi Erik,

I am copying this message to ietf(_at_)ietf(_dot_)org instead of the perpass 
mailing list as the question is not related to surveillance.

At 04:00 09-06-2014, JOSEFSSON Erik wrote:
I need help from the standards community with regards to RFC-compliance
in the European Parliament.

I reach out here because I believe you expect your work on improving
the internet will be implemented, maybe in particular by public bodies
we hold to a higher standard wrt transparency than others[0].

In an Access to Documents request the EP just stated that "conformity
with RFC-5321 section 3.9 is by nature outside EP's responsibilities"
[1].

Do you agree? Are there RFCs which correct implementation would, by
nature, fall within the responsibilities of the EP?

I read the reply.  In my opinion the text quoted (above) from the reply 
conveys a different meaning.  My understanding of that part of the reply is 
that mailing lists managed outside that email system is outside EP's 
responsibility.  The question you asked could be stated as follows:

  Is it the responsibility of the EP to set the standards for email systems
  to adhere to?

Please find a link to our documentation of the particular issue with
RFC-5321 section 3.9 below[2]

The issue in that document is about whether the mail relays for 
europarl.europa.eu can reject a message from a (external) mailing list if the 
"From:" header contains "europarl.europa.eu" as the domain part.  There is be 
a mail delivery problem if the external email system implements and follows 
what is written in RFC 5321.

Regards,
S. Moonesamy




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