A New Internet-Draft is available from the on-line Internet-Drafts directories.
Title : Mandatory MIME Security Considered Harmful
Author(s) : D. Crocker
Filename : draft-crocker-mime-security-00.txt
Pages : 0
Date : 2002-11-4
MIME is the preferred Internet mechanism for labeling and aggregating bulk data
objects, such as for email and the web, and it is essential to have useful, MIME-based
mechanisms. Indeed, two standards have existed for some years: OpenPGP and S/MIME. A
current IESG policy for new application protocols requires that they mandate
conforming implementations to support a single security mechanism. For applications
using MIME security, this means that the specification is required to choose between
S/MIME and OpenPGP.
Although well-intentioned, the policy is at least useless and at worst
counter-productive. This note discusses the problem and suggests returning to the
previously acceptable policy that better reflects the lack of market resolve for MIME
security.
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