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IESG approves publication of Anti-Spam mechanism as experimental RFCs
Reston, VA - 29 June 2005 - The Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG) has approved two groups of documents as experimental RFCs for proposed anti-spam mechanisms.
RFCs to be entitled 'Sender Policy Framework (SPF) for Authorizing Use of
Domains in E-Mail' and 'Sender ID: Authenticating E-Mail' describe two
different approaches to domain-based authorization for systems sending mail.
The current document approvals are part of ongoing activities within the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) to explore new technical solutions that combat the problem of spam. Experimental RFCs are not standards - they are specifications that are published for the general information of the Internet technical community.
While many proposals for domain-based authorization have been under consideration, no consensus has yet been reached concerning a single technical approach. The IESG does not endorse either of the two mechanisms documented in the experimental RFCs - their publication is intended to encourage further discussion and experimentation in order to gain experience that can be used to write future standards in this space.
While some solutions based on both mechanisms have already been deployed, the IETF cautions that an experimental phase is essential before moving towards standards because they affect such a significant part of the Internet infrastructure. Given the importance of the worldwide e-mail and DNS systems, it is critical that future standards support their continued stability and smooth operation.
At the same time, the IETF continues to consider other ways in which standards measures can be used to combat spam. Such measures will most likely need to work alongside social and legal mechanisms. Examples of other IETF anti-spam activities include:
- consideration of a proposal to use cryptographic signatures to authenticate e-mail senders.
- consideration of a draft for a protocol that would enable operators to communicate details of spam and phishing incidents in an automated real-time manner. This protocol (draft-jevans-phishing-xml-00) allows operators to have the information needed to take action against those sending spam or mounting phishing attacks.
- publication of RFC 3865, which provides a mechanism that legitimate commercial e-mailers can use to mark messages. This standard may provide a tool for governments and service providers to use when labeling e-mail. The IETF also published RFC 4096, which gives advice to regulatory authorities considering using the subject line of messages for mandatory labels.
NOTE TO EDITORS:
Texts of the related Internet Drafts are available here:
- Sender Policy Framework (SPF): http://www.ietf.org/internet-drafts/draft-schlitt-spf-classic-02.txt
- Sender ID: http://www.ietf.org/internet-drafts/draft-katz-submitter-01.txt
- http://www.ietf.org/internet-drafts/draft-lyon-senderid-core-01.txt
- http://www.ietf.org/internet-drafts/draft-lyon-senderid-pra-01.txt
Texts of the RFCs will be available here when published: http://www.ietf.org/rfc.html
About the IETF
The IETF (http://www.ietf.org), which has provided leadership in the development of Internet standards for nearly 20 years, is a large open international community of network designers, operators, vendors, and researchers concerned with the evolution of the Internet architecture and the smooth operation of the Internet. It is open to any interested individual. The technical work of the IETF is done in its working groups within areas managed by Area Directors (ADs). The ADs are members of the Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG).
About ISOC
The Internet Society (http://www.isoc.org) is a not-for-profit membership organization founded in 1991 to provide leadership in Internet related standards, education, and policy. With offices in Washington, DC, and Geneva, Switzerland, it is dedicated to ensuring the open development, evolution and use of the Internet for the benefit of people throughout the world. ISOC is the organizational home of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) and other Internet-related bodies who together play a critical role in ensuring that the Internet develops in a stable and open manner. For over 13 years ISOC has run international network training programs for developing countries and these have played a vital role in setting up the Internet connections and networks in virtually every country connecting to the Internet during this time
For further details
Peter Godwin
Communications Manager, Internet Society
E-mail: godwin@isoc.org
4, rue des Falaises
1205 Geneva
Switzerland
