Charlie,
I'm not at all surprised that very few have been willing to speak up
here. I've had to remind people to send their flames privately more
frequently than I've had to in years. Most people won't risk even mild
public disapproval, much less the public ridicule used by a small number
here.
I've gotten about as many private messages encouraging me as trying to
discourage me. Given how much more often people tend to complain than
compliment, that tells me I'm probably right on track.
If you take the trouble to get your facts straight, Charlie, you'll find
I've said that authentication, non-repudiation, etc. have a valid role.
Requiring them on every single message when privacy is only optional
doesn't meet the stated goals of this group. Those features -- or
"services" as someone here insisted -- are just not as important to the
people here as privacy is. I've also said that I personally feel they'll
do significant damage.
As I've pointed out in private exchanges with others, as soon as we
accept the idea that these extras might not be absolutely and universally
essential, the changes to PEM are relatively easy. It looks like all we
need to do is declare some services as optional, and provide for out of
band keys.
Doug