Technical Activities Group Meeting Minutes
HEPKI-TAG Conference Call

September 27, 2000
Attendees

* Jim Jokl (chair) - Virginia
* Judith Boettcher - CREN
* Patty Gaul - CREN
* Keith Hazelton - Wisconsin
* Eric Norman - Wisconsin
* Bob Morgan - Washington
* Neal McBurnett - Avaya
* Deb Crocker - Alabama
* Ariel Glenn - Columbia
* Bob James - Pitt
* Ben Chinowsky (scribe) - Internet2
* Others joined and left the call at various times.

Discussion

The meeting opened with approval (after two small changes) of the minutes of the previous meeting. The group then moved on to formulating a plan for TAG's mobility work.

Jim reviewed the mobility group's agenda so far: software tokens, in particular the work of ietf-sacred (Securely Available CREDentials; see http://www.imc.org/ietf-sacred/); hardware tokens ("iButtons" etc.); and token readers (along with PINs and other related issues). Eric noted that ietf-sacred is working on security credentials only (as vs. credentials that also store "all your personal stuff"), and that there is a close tie-in between ietf-sacred's work, and both the heDRCD problem and dealing with what happens when you lose your smartcard. Eric also suggested use of the Personal Entropy Protocol (www.counterpane.com/personal-entropy.html) as a possible solution to the lost-card problem. It was agreed that the mobility workplan should include a section on this topic. Keith noted that the Madison PKI Lab has some people who are interested in working on mobility. Jim volunteered to help with the mobility work. [AI] Renee will ask the Michigan smartcards manager she has been in touch with for names of people interested in participating in TAG's mobility work. [AI] Keith will talk to Bill Weems about TAG's mobility work. [AI] Eric will track ietf-sacred. Eric suggested that ietf-sacred produce a format-only spec, so that the protocol could be embedded in other things and alternative transport mechanisms could be used. Keith noted that he expects the PKI Labs will be able to contribute to an ietf-sacred requirements doc.

Next was a discussion of the TAG web presence. Jim has incorporated many of the suggestions from the last call into a prototype TAG home page. Neal asked that links be underlined, as this is much better for the many people with "variant color vision", as well as being standard HTML style. It was agreed that "ephemeral" working groups need not be listed on the site; their recommendations will be incorporated into the documents of more permanent working groups. TAG discussed making the order of items on the page better reflect their importance, and agreed that the main divisions of the page should be, from the top: the TAG charter, recommendations and documents (including advice to implementers), minutes, and references. The Roadmap is to be a HEPKI-level (as vs. TAG-level) document, and will be placed accordingly; it will be based on the matrix from Snowmass. Suggestions for references included the CREN FAQ, more books, and links (which can probably be found quickly with Google) on the reference topics suggested in the last meeting. It was agreed to display links to related groups under three headings: higher education, government and commercial. Ariel volunteered to be the "point person" for gathering open-source CA material, in particular contact information. [AI] Ken and Ariel will confer about gathering open-source information.

Ken noted that a second certificates triage call is scheduled for Sept. 29 at 1 PM Eastern. The CREN Directories FAQ is ready to go out for review; Judith asked for volunteers from TAG, and Bob volunteered MACE-Dir. [AI] Judith will send the Directories FAQ to Ken to send to MACE-Dir for review. Judith is planning to send the draft by Sept. 29. [AI] Keith will help Judith with a response to a query from Arizona State University about free metadirectory software.


Action Items

* [AI] Renee will ask the Michigan smartcards manager she has been in touch with for names of people interested in participating in TAG's mobility work.
* [AI] Keith will talk to Bill Weems about TAG's mobility work.
* [AI] Eric will track ietf-sacred.
* [AI] Ken and Ariel will confer about gathering open-source information.
* [AI] Judith will send the Directories FAQ to Ken to send to MACE-Dir for review.
* [AI] Keith will help Judith with a response to a query from Arizona State University about free metadirectory software.