Abstract

Internet mail defines the From: field to indicate the author of the message's content and the Sender: field to indicate who initially handled the message. The Sender: field is optional, if it has the same information as the From: field. That is, when the Sender: field is absent, the From: field has conflated semantics, as both a handling identifier and a content creator identifier. This was not a problem, until development of stringent protections on use of the From: field. It has prompted Mediators, such as mailing lists, to modify the From: field, to circumvent mail rejection caused by those protections. This affects end-to-end behavior of email, between the author and the final recipients, because mail from the same author is not treated the same, depending on what path it followed. In effect, the From: field has become dominated by its role as a handling identifier. The current specification augments the current use of the From: field, by specifying the Author: field, which identifies the original author of the message and is not subject to modification by Mediators.

Authors

Dave Crocker (dcrocker@bbiw.net)

(Note: The e-mail addresses provided for the authors of this Internet-Draft may no longer be valid.)