Subject: ECC in OpenPGP ready to be submitted to IETF

From: Andrey Jivsov <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 11 Apr 2008 03:16:58 -0700

... or so it seems.

I think there is rough consensus (or the lack of strong disagreement, if 
you prefer) on the scope of the draft, how it fits into RFC 4880, and 
expectations about interoperability arising from the use of ECC keys.

I plan to summit the document in a few days as an OpenPGP WG item to IETF.

I updated http://brainhub.googlepages.com/pgp , I hope I haven't 
overlooked anything substantial.

Thank you.

---

From: "David Crick" <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 11 Apr 2008 18:01:25 +0100

>  ... or so it seems.

I saw the subject and my initial thought was "whoa, seems
a bit hasty!"

Believe me, I'm all in favour of getting ECC into OpenPGP
ASAP, but the above was my initial reaction.

> expectations about interoperability arising from the use of ECC keys.

If you put it that way, then I suppose it could be "ready."

I do kind of feel discussions tailed off once we'd run out of
stream - or at least, once all the arguments (er, viewpoints ;))
had been voiced _ad nauseam_.

>  I plan to summit the document in a few days as an OpenPGP WG item to IETF.

I take it there's still "scope" for revision/refinement after that?

(I seem to recall 2440bis took an awful long time to go round
this bit, if it's that stage you're referring to.)

>  I updated http://brainhub.googlepages.com/pgp , I hope I haven't overlooked
> anything substantial.

I diff'ed ietf-00 with your pre-9 and didn't see anything major...

>  Thank you.

...except this!:

|   The author would like to acknowledge the help of many individuals
|   who kindly voiced their opinions on IETF OpenPGP Working Group
|   mailing list and, in particular the help of David Crick. [to be
|   continued]

I hope this is merely an accolade for "loudest objector"!! and
I do hope that "[to be continued]" signifies the adding of other
people in due course.

I've still on my "to do" list the "clarity/brevity/structure" polishing
that I said I felt could still be achieved.  If I manage to get around
to having a stab at that, I think I'd feel more comfortable/justified
in having my name mentioned!  But thank you for the gesture.

---

From: Andrey Jivsov <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 11 Apr 2008 12:40:47 -0700

> this bit, if it's that stage you're referring to.)
Yes, definitely.
> I do hope that "[to be continued]" signifies the adding of other
I singled you out so far because of volume of comments originating from 
you and the degree to which they are constructive to the progress of the 
document.

There are many other people who have voiced their valuable opinions, and 
I can expect there will be others who come later. I will definitely add 
more people as the document progresses, including individuals who 
already posted their comments.
> in having my name mentioned!  But thank you for the gesture.
Yes, you briefly mentioned this work 3 weeks back. I suppose this work 
can continue once the document is an IETF draft. I would appreciate if 
you at least summarize the changes you seek.

Derek Atkins mentioned to me that once the document is an IETF draft, 
more people will see it and may provide additional feedback. It seems 
wise to me to get all the technical feedback first and only then 
transition to editorial changes. Plus, it is interesting to see how the 
issue of closed WG will play out during submission.