spf-discuss
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Re: Re: Email Forwarder's Protocol ( EFP )

2005-02-26 17:59:14
At 11:34 PM 2/26/2005 +0100, Frank wrote:

Classic SPF supporters don't believe in Dave's "bounces-to"
concept and prefer the original STD 10 "originator" concept:
| Once the transmission channel is established, the SMTP-sender
| sends a MAIL command indicating the sender of the mail.

The key idea is that we MUST avoid sending bounces to a forged address. Return-Path is usually forged in a spam. Even with IP authentication at each hop, reliance on the Return-Path requires a chain of trust with no broken links from the sender to the receiver.

That's one hell of a difference between STD 10 and the
email-arch-02 ideas.  (Most probably Dave sticks to his
"bounces-to" idea in draft 03, I haven't checked it yet).

I think you are confusing me with Dave Crocker, who wrote <http://www.ietf.org/internet-drafts/draft-crocker-email-arch-03.txt>http://www.ietf.org/internet-drafts/draft-crocker-email-arch-03.txt - Internet Mail Architecture. DC's document isn't a proposal for any protocol, but a clarification of email terminology and an explanation of the way things are. It cleared up a lot of confusion for me. I highly recommend it as a framework for any discussion of email protocols. DC's figures.3 and 5 are what I started with in making my sketches of "spam flows" at http://www.ece.arizona.edu/~edatools/etc/Spam%20Flows.txt

The suggestion of using a different path for Bounces vs Delivery Status Notices is mine, although I'm sure someone has thought of it before. It seems like there is no way to avoid the problems with Return-Path forgery. I would like to see DSN's also go the Bounce path, but that would probably break too much with existing practice. Either way there is less harm in sending DSNs to a forged Return-Path than in sending Bounces to the Return-Path. The latter should never have been done. Not only does it spam the Return-Path, but it rewards spammers with a 2 for 1 hit.

Note: Bounce (with a capital B) is my device to distinguish Bounces from DSNs ( and MDNs, which we haven't even talked about yet ). I think in DC's diagram, a bounce ( as it is done now) would be a rude form of DSN. :>)

-- Dave MacQuigg


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