Protocol Action: 'Simple Mail Transfer Protocol extension for Message Transfer Priorities' to Proposed Standard (draft-melnikov-smtp-priority-21.txt)

[The IESG <[e-mail]>]

The IESG has approved the following document:
- 'Simple Mail Transfer Protocol extension for Message Transfer
   Priorities'
  (draft-melnikov-smtp-priority-21.txt) as Proposed Standard

This document has been reviewed in the IETF but is not the product of an
IETF Working Group.

The IESG contact person is Pete Resnick.

A URL of this Internet Draft is:
http://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/draft-melnikov-smtp-priority/




Working Group Summary

There are currently no appropriate email-related working groups.  The ADs and
AppsAWG chairs considered the document for the Apps Area WG, but decided that it
would be done best as an individual submission, and did not need the attention
of the working group.

Document Quality

There are at least 3 existing MTAs that implement multiple priority levels
internally, and which currently detect priorities from various header fields (in
non-standard ways).  These implementations can benefit from this SMTP extension.
There is at least one prototype implementation, and plans for at least one other
after publication.  This is largely being done for a particular use case, and
the proponents are aware of some of the tradeoffs they've made.  The shepherd
has some concern about the broader applicability of this as a standard, given
those trade-offs.  That said, some of them had to be made, and there is value in
implementing features from proprietary email systems in standardized ways on the
open Internet.  The shepherd supports that general effort.

Personnel

Barry Leiba is the document shepherd; Pete Resnick is the Responsible AD.

RFC Editor Note

Please make the following change to section 4.1:

OLD

Alternatively an SMTP server, which is an MSA, MAY reject a message

NEW

Alternatively, an SMTP server that is an MSA MAY reject a message