Re: S/MIME Minutes - CMS section

[[e-mail] (John Pawling)]

All,

After reviewing the tape recording of the 3/17/99 S/MIME WG meeting, I agree
with Denis that the minutes could have been more accurate regarding the
discussion of his comments.  I do not believe that the minutes include any
false or misleading statements.  I disagree with Denis' proposed
modification to the minutes because it does not accurately capture the
events of the meeting.  

Based on the tape recordings of the meeting, this is what could have been
written in the minutes:  "Russ stated that Denis Pinkas submitted comments
to the S/MIME WG mail list requesting additional text in CMS to explain how
the correct signer's public key used to perform signature verification is
obtained.  Russ stated that there was no response to Denis' message on the
list.  Russ stated that he had discussions with Denis off the list.  Russ
stated that he was still working with Denis to derive the exact words to be
proposed for addition to CMS.  Russ stated that Denis is especially
concerned with the case in which multiple certificates contain the same
public key.  John Pawling stated that the PKIX X.509 Certificate and CRL
Profile (RFC2459) (referred to by the CERT I-D) specifies how key validation
is performed and that CMS should not replicate that information.  There were
many attendees who expressed their agreement with John's statement.  Russ
stated that he would work with Denis to derive the exact words to be
proposed for addition to CMS and then the S/MIME WG members would be given
the opportunity to review the proposed changes."  

If the S/MIME WG would like me to change the official minutes to include the
aforementioned text and then re-submit them to the IETF, then I will be
happy to do so.  Please note that the IETF guidelines for writing meeting
minutes (http://www.ietf.org/instructions/minutes.html) state that they
should summarize the significant events of the meeting.  The minutes are not
intended to capture every statement made in the meeting.  If that were the
case, then the minutes would greatly exceed the IETF-recommended limit of
six pages.

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John Pawling,  Director - Systems Engineering
J.G. Van Dyke & Associates, Inc., a Wang Global Company
[e-mail]
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