S/MIME Conference Call
March 28, 2002

*Attendees*

Andrew Newman - Yale
Morrow Long - Yale
Charles Powell - Yale
Eric Rivas - Yale
Tim O'Connor  NYU
Gary Chapman - NYU
Bob Brentrup - Dartmouth (Co-Chair)
Steve Wadlow - Tufts
Jim Jokl - Virginia (Co-Chair)
Steve Olshansky - Internet2
Neal McBurnett - Internet2
Renee Frost - Internet2
Eric Norman - UW-Madison
Bruce Benson - Stanford
Michelle Gildea - CREN
Brent Zionic - scribe

*Discussion*

   The call began with some discussion of the meeting minutes from the 
previous call, and some focus on the previous action items.  Although there 
had been requests for information from the participating universities, 
responses had been stalled by Spring Break and the lack of a standardized 
FAQ or information to give to the potential testers.  It was re-emphasized 
that we need to be gathering as much information at this stage as we can.

   Most of the discussion on this call focused on the question of how to 
use the email lists.  The concern is that despite looking for relatively 
sophisticated testers, would the volume of technical issues and detail 
overwhelm the users?

   Michelle recommended the use of a web board or a web log for tracking 
the discussion of the users, keeping it as a separate entity from an email 
list.  However, the fact that a web board requires more action on the part 
of the users was generally considered a negative aspect.

   It was generally agreed upon that sending and receiving signed messages 
is one action the testers should be taking, but the discussion about the 
sending and receiving of those messages is best kept separate.

   So, the question was raised of what to tell the users?  Bob Brentrup 
suggested that we try to anticipate the content of some of the 
discussions.  One email list should cover all the issues that the users 
come across, and this can include technical details.  But anything related 
to project management should be kept separate.  Anything that needs to be 
technically resolved should also be confined to this PM list, but issues 
that are theoretically technical, and relate to usage or recommendations, 
can probably be handled by the user list.

   It appeared that we achieved consensus on this viewpoint after some 
discussion.

   Michelle then raised another issue regarding encryption.  She questioned 
whether we could use one public key to generate signed emails for the list 
of users, rather than needing a key for each separate user.  Bob and Eric 
Norman both noted that this raises the question of who can unencrypt these 
messages, then.  They also speculated that users who encrypt their emails 
usually do it for one specific intended recipient.

   Jim Jokl noted that these types of issues are exactly what needs to be 
discussed in the FAQ that is being developed for the 
testers.  Communicating a stance on the use of encryption became an action 
item for everyone on the call to discuss.

   We also discussed the possibility of participating in the Secure 
Messaging Challenge, however it was discovered that there was a NDA 
attached to it -- this meant the likelihood of NSF-funded Internet2 
participation was highly improbable.

   The call ended with some discussion of S/MIME phase two 
applications.  The Tumbleweed S/MIME plugin (aka "WorldTalk") was discussed 
for use, but the status of the product was not verifiable.  Michelle 
volunteered to try to contact Tumbleweed to follow up.  Everyone was 
encouraged to make further suggestions.

*New Action Items*

1. [AI] 28-Mar-02 (All): Reach consensus ASAP re: sending and receiving 
encrypted messages to the lists, so we can add it to the FAQ that is being 
compiled for the testers.

2. [AI] 28-Mar-02 (All): continue to consider recommendations for Phase II 
applications

3. [AI] 28-Mar-02 (Michelle): contact WorldTalk/Tumbleweed to discuss 
open-sourcing Eudora S/MIME plugin

4. [AI] 28-Mar-02 (All): send suggested links for the S/MIME webpage to SteveO

5. [AI] 28-Mar-02 (SteveO) {Done} : Add all current mw-smime list 
subscribers to new list mw-smime-testers (Note: contact SteveO if you would 
like to be removed from this list)

6. [AI] 28-Mar-02 (SteveO, Jim, Bob, TBD): compile FAQ for website 
(Volunteers welcome and encouraged, contact SteveO)

*Old Action Items*

1. [AI] 27-Feb-02 (All): collect and send names of initial testers (still 
in progress, many have not responded yet)

2. [AI] 27-Feb-02 (All): determine which e-mail client(s) you wish to test 
(still in progress, many have not responded yet)

3. [AI] 27-Feb-02 (All) For those schools who already have their test or 
production CAs set up now, send root certs to Jim to get into repository if 
you have not already done so.

4. [AI] 27-Feb-02 (All) Send to list f you have any existing in-house 
S/MIME client docs that you are ready to share. Be sure to note if you are 
comfortable sharing this information on the Web