John Levine <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> 
> Over in DKIM land there is a battle going on with respect to the
> treatment of domains that don't exist, with "don't exist" meaning
> something like an authoritative DNS server doesn't return an MX or A
> or AAAA or CNAME for the name.

   I'm guessing you mean the thread containing

http://mipassoc.org/pipermail/ietf-dkim/2008q2/009986.html

where you wrote:
] Jim Fenton wrote:
]>> If ADSP can depend on a well-specified requirement for
]>> checking for the existence of the domain, please indicate
]>> where this is specified.
]
] The current 2821bis draft says in sec 5:
]
]  Only resolvable, fully-qualified, domain names (FQDNs) are permitted
]  when domain names are used in SMTP.  In other words, names that can
]  be resolved to MX RRs or address (i.e.  A or AAAA) RRs (as discussed
]  in Section 5) are permitted, as are CNAME RRs whose targets can be
]  resolved, in turn, to MX or address RRs.  Local nicknames or
]  unqualified names MUST NOT be used. 

which, in fact, comes from section 2.3.5.

> Looking through the current draft, it looks to me like everyone
> assumes that domain names have to exist, with the explicit exception
> of the HELO/EHLO name, but it never says so in so many words.

   This language is also found in RFC 2821 Section 3.6; and it does,
IMHO, say that a domain which does not exist in the DNS is out-of-spec.

   However, I see no plausible reading of this text to _require_
testing for the existence of a domain, which is what I believe the
DKIM WG was hoping for.

   (OTOH, it _would_ seem to legitimize any existence-testing that
the DKIM WG might require as _part_of_ using the DKIM protocol.)

> Is this a deliberate omission, or is it so obvious that it wasn't
> worth stating explicitly?

   I most seriously doubt that consensus could be found to _require_
such testing as part of 2821bis.

--
John Leslie <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>

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