Re: Where is SPF?

John Hinton wrote:

> I just checked pobox and it seems that all the news/info is pretty old 
> right now. The noise level on this list is so great, that I must 
> apologize, but I'm really lost as to just what is happening with SPF.
> Could someone provide a link to the state of affairs, like is the 
> standard submitted, what is the anticipated 'go-live' date and just a 
> general overview of where we are at the moment and what we service 
> providers should be doing?
> Seems like a simple question that needs to be asked with all the tail 
> spinning due the the M$ patents. Perhaps a weekly summary would be a 
> good thing? I must apologize. I'm sure it is all there in the 
> digests... but, I really have so much on me right now that I just 
> don't have time to go back and read the whole archive. Meanwhile, 
> January 1st approacheth! :)
Sorry to reply to my own post. I'm really surprised this only got one 
response.
I guess what bothers me is the 'word on the street' is SPF is no 
standard and so we aren't even looking at it and doubt that it will ever 
become a standard.
That said, I'm a small hosting provider with about 400 hosting accounts. 
I'm sorry, but I simply need a 'report' on the state of affairs. I just 
can't keep up with this list.
Now, before you go off and tell me to read the archives, I would suggest 
that we think about all the providers out there who are not on this 
list. They are totally blind as to what is going on. This does leave the 
door wide open for Microsoft to push its Sender-ID on all of us 
'uninformed'. All they have to do is require sender authentication on 
hotmail and MSN, and I'll be forced to put up records so our clients can 
be properly served. Yes, I do know all 'I' have to do it put up SPF 
records, but those who are uninformed will likely be taken by some 
bounce message off to a howto on setting up a Sender-ID record.
I know (or hope I know) the main players out there are aware of SPF and 
seem to be heading in that direction. But, if we want SPF to become the 
defacto standard, I think we desparately need some public information on 
where SPF is right now. PR for SPF.... there seems to be none readily 
available right now (September news is very old and inaccurate now). 
Ever since the Sender-ID tailspin occurred, SPF has been disjointed and 
without a clear direction.
I also expect, that a sender authentication line in 'all' dns entries 
will become a must. Just like reverse DNS has become a standard for ISPs 
like AOL, we must have rev dns entries. Not a bad thing. I personally am 
looking forward to the day when AOL and others do start bouncing 
messages with no authentication record. At that point, I can start doing 
the same on my systems, perhaps 6 months later after the world catches up.
Now, I'm not trying to start a flame war please.... But instead, please 
understand that I desparately want SPF to succeed. I envision that 
success as hinging in having good information readily available to the 
general public. I know it will take work to put together, but this bit 
of work might be the only thing that actually keeps SPF alive and saves 
the huge number of hours of work already put into the project. I'm 
really concerned.
Again, please no flames... I'm not trying to be critical of all the work 
that has been done.. But when I post questions about SPF to other active 
lists, such as Whitebox EL, there is nothing but a baaa humburg coming 
back, with a 'it will never happen'. I personally think it IS going to 
happen, but I just don't want to see it happen as Sender-ID, and then in 
five or six years, when the whole world is on it, suddenly something 
about it is changed and you have to run an
Exchange server to be compliant. (can you say IE? where is Netscape 
these days? can you say WordPerfect? and on and on).
Meng went a long way to try to bring on board major players. Some 
sacrafice was made. It blew up. That is the world of politics, 
particularly when dealing with a company that likely has more lawyers 
than developers. I commend Meng for his direction and insight in that 
world. Right or wrong, a system like this will not work if people don't 
use it. I just think it is time to have something for the people to 
read. Please help the public understand, so this open standards system 
can come to fruition.
And please, lets not pick this email to death on sniggly details (some 
of which might not be accurate as I'm lost at the moment), increasing 
the noise level on this list. I'm only trying to provide my insight as a 
very interested bystander, who is hoping to make good use of SPF.
Respectfully,
John Hinton