On Jul 16, 2013, at 8:46 PM, Roland Turner <[email protected]> wrote:
> On 07/17/2013 12:15 AM, Douglas Otis wrote: > >> >From a specification standpoint, it seems odd to invalidate email from >> >otherwise uninvolved domains that are technically RFC compliant. Wouldn't >> >such specifications make the DMARC specification RFC ignorant? RFC5322 is a >> >draft standard and RFC6854 is standards track. Requiring rejection of >> >otherwise valid messages is hostile to those following standards. > > This viewpoint is incorrect and reflects an error in understanding that > senders frequently make. > > An SMTP server (or the host that it runs on) is the property of a receiver. > When a sender offers a message for delivery, the sender is asking the > receiver to extend a delivery privilege, a privilege that the receiver is > free to decline for any reason or for no reason. This > commercial/organisational relationship is the context in which SMTP operates, > not the other way around. The SMTP specification can never compel a receiver > to accept a message. If the specification appears to have this effect (I > don't believe that RFC 5321 has this effect, but perhaps I have missed an > interpretation that you are relying upon), then one might realistically > describe the specification as reality-ignorant. > > Any time an RFC and reality diverge, it it the RFC that is reality-ignorant, > not reality that is RFC-ignorant. > > If it happens that the DMARC specification reflects reality better than > existing RFCs - even standards track ones - then once again, it is those RFCs > that are in error, not the DMARC specification. > I like to put it that way when people rely too much in theories (or specifications): The map is right, it is the road which is at the wrong place. _______________________________________________ dmarc-discuss mailing list [email protected] http://www.dmarc.org/mailman/listinfo/dmarc-discuss NOTE: Participating in this list means you agree to the DMARC Note Well terms (http://www.dmarc.org/note_well.html)
