-----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Stefan Kelm
Sent: Tuesday, December 23, 2003 1:44 AM
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Re: Non-repudiation (was RE: The PAIN mnemonic)
Ah. That's why they're trying to rename the corresponding keyUsage bit to "contentCommitment" then:
http://www.pki-page.info/download/N12599.doc
:-)
Cheers,
Stefan.
Maybe, but that page defines it as:
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contentCommitment: for verifying digital signatures which are intended to signal that the signer is committing to the content being signed. The precise level of commitment, e.g. "with the intent to be bound" may be signaled by additional methods, e.g. certificate policy.
Since a content commitment signing is considered to be a digitally signed transaction, the digitalSignature bit need not be set in the certificate. If it is set, it does not affect the level of commitment the signer has endowed in the signed content.
Note that it is not incorrect to refer to this keyUsage bit using the identifier nonRepudiation. However, the use this identifier has been deprecated. Regardless of the identifier used, the semantics of this bit are as specified in this standard.
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Which still refers to the "signer" having an "intent to be bound". One can not bind a key to anything, legally, so the signer here must be a human or organization rather than a key. It is that unjustifiable linkage from the actions of a key to the actions of one or more humans that needs to be eradicated from the literature.
This is going a little far, isn't it? If the human controls the setting of the bit, then it is signalling their intent.
Cheers,
Ben.
-- http://www.apache-ssl.org/ben.html http://www.thebunker.net/
"There is no limit to what a man can do or how far he can go if he doesn't mind who gets the credit." - Robert Woodruff
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