Hi,

> Brandon Long <mailto:[email protected]>
> 24 August 2017 at 00:40
>
>
> On Tue, Aug 22, 2017 at 10:41 PM, Rick van Rein <[email protected]
> <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:
>
>     Hello,
>
>     Thanks for the work on ARC!
>
>     I would like to share a few remarks about
>
>
>       draft-ietf-dmarc-arc-protocol-08
>
>     that could improve its readability, and then there is one technical
>     remark.  I apologise if things are due to reading it not intensely
>     enoughh, but that is only a sign that I find the draft difficult
>     to read.
>
>
> [snip]
>  
>
>
>     11.
>     It is not clear to me how the market forces would work in getting all
>     those low-cost / low-effort email forwarding arrangements to implement
>     this (somewhat complex) technology.  Just the fact that keys have
>     to be
>     hunt in domains, presumably by users at the level of understanding of
>     forwarding, sounds like an irrational dream to me.  What is the
>     intention of ARC in that respect?  Is the intention to push such
>     situations out of the Internet [basically breaking email
>     functionality]
>     or to use SPF (without DMARC's additional envelope.From==header.From
>     check) and/or to trace back Received headers on an incoming "real"
>     mail
>     deal?  What would then be the expectations of SPF on the
>     forwarding mail
>     domain?  These kinds of impact on the email landscape are incredibly
>     important, especially because ARC intends to resolve them -- by being
>     rather heavy-weight.
>
>
> I really don't understand what you're saying here (hunt in domains?)
>
Typo.  "hung" in domains.

> For one, most forwarders, especially the low-cost / low-effort ones,
> don't modify mail when forwarding, so there is no DMARC issue.
>
I've seen at least one that touches the subject, and as a result they
have serious problems.

> If they do modify mail, they're already hurting today.
>
Yep.  Which is not the same as saying that it's acceptable -- ARC is
supposed to help overcome that kind of pain, after all.

> It's also true that the email ecosystem of today is more complicated,
> and although you can just send mail from anywhere, it's not clear that
> anyone will accept your mail without effort.
>
> The keys put in domains are already a requirement for DKIM, which, if
> not a requirement for sending, is a good step at getting your mail
> accepted anywhere.
>
I'm not fighting with the ideas of using crypto.  I'm only stating that
there may be a much lighter-weight alternative that could increase the
chances of getting the simpler forwarders on board.

> No one's trying to push anyone out of the Internet, but sometimes the
> bar for participation is raised.  And no one's saying that ARC will be
> a requirement for anything.
>
It would be sad to raise the bar without a need.  Hence the
alternative.  In practice, ARC will be a requirement for reliable delivery.

> One could argue that ARC usage by the larger providers actually allows
> you to send mail with only SPF auth and not DKIM, since the SPF auth
> will be forwarded with ARC.  Probably be a long time before that can
> be relied on.
>
"only SPF" -> "only SPF and a matching From in envelope and header"

> As for the rest of the paragraph about SPF and whatever... it sounds
> like you're proposing an alternative or something.
>
Yes, though I'm not sure if it would be added on the same nodes that
also do ARC, or on intermediate nodes.

> As for the heavy-weight issue, managing a key is the same weight as it
> was for DKIM, which isn't to say that most people get it right
> (someone should make a lets encrypt style system for managing DKIM
> keys, it wouldn't be too hard to do).  The rest is handled by the
> software, and frankly, although the software may be a bit tricky to
> get right, I wouldn't expect the low-cost / low-effort folks to be
> writing their own, they'll install something already written and use
> it.  And that software is much less complicated than say the TLS
> software they are also hopefully using.

I agree with all that.  It's just leaning on parties that hardly have a
model of earning an income (forwarders, unlike the senders and
recipients of email) that I find unwise.  Which made me think of an
alternative.


-Rick

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