DKIM TTPs (was Re: [ietf-dkim] editorials and nits)

[Jim Fenton]

Paul Hoffman wrote:
> At 12:44 PM -0700 7/5/06, Douglas Otis wrote:
>> DKIM generally represents a domain wide entity.  A trusted third
>> party (TTP) establishes trust between two parties when both trust the
>> third party.  For DKIM, the TTP would be the signing domain verified
>> by DNS.
>
> This is completely wrong, and goes against nearly everything that this
> WG has been working on. The signing domain is *not* trusted.
>
> Does anyone other than Doug think that it is?
We have talked about the concept of third-party signatures, although
this concept is really developed in the SSP draft, which hasn't come up
yet.  But DKIM does not in general depend on a trusted third party to
function, except possibly for DNS.

Doug does have a point though.  He says, "...nor does DNS represent a
discrete entity or party."  Describing DNS as a "party" to this protocol
is probably a stretch.

-Jim