Subject: [pkix] Actions taken at current ITU-T meeting

From: Tony Rutkowski <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 26 Apr 2013 09:39:06 -0400

WARNING: contains banned part

Subject: Actions taken at current ITU-T meeting
From: Tony Rutkowski <[email-masked]>
To: [email-masked], Tony <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 26 Apr 2013 09:39:06 -0400

The attached material has just been
"approved" at the ITU-T SG17 meeting
in Geneva.  It is worth being aware of.
They IETF may wish to take a position,
although it's not apparent the ITU is
soliciting the IETF's views.

It is also possible to contact your
favorite national government representative
to the ITU-T to assert a position,
as the ITU-T is an intergovernmental
body and the changes can have global
normative consequences.

Although X.509 is a fairly fundamental
security spec that emerged from the ITU-T
years ago, PKIX and other bodies have
effectively taken over the spec.  This has
not set well at the ITU-T where the couple
of people still there dealing with X.509
are seeking a role.  It is a subgroup known
as "Rapporteur Group Q11/17."

One of the remaining persons introduced an
academic paper at the meeting in which he
and a few colleagues provided their views
on the world of PKI provisioning, as well
as some fundamental changes they see
desirable. He and a colleague or two then
approved the proposal to make fundamental
changes to X.509 at the meeting - including
adding the notion of a new PKI "juridical expert"
described in his paper.  See TD 131 attached.

I've also attached the Q11/17 Report with
this action highlighted in yellow, as
well as the changes being made to X.509.
See TDs 43 and 241.

Although these are interesting (perhaps
even desirable) ideas, the potential
consequences are significant, and the
actions here seem premature at best.
These matters should be vetted among a broad
array of parties affected.

--tony