Author Header Field
draft-crocker-dmarc-author-01

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DMARC                                                         D. Crocker
Internet-Draft                               Brandenburg InternetWorking
Intended status: Standards Track                           July 27, 2020
Expires: January 28, 2021

                          Author Header Field
                     draft-crocker-dmarc-author-01

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.

Status of This Memo

   This Internet-Draft is submitted in full conformance with the
   provisions of BCP 78 and BCP 79.

   Internet-Drafts are working documents of the Internet Engineering
   Task Force (IETF).  Note that other groups may also distribute
   working documents as Internet-Drafts.  The list of current Internet-
   Drafts is at https://datatracker.ietf.org/drafts/current/.

   Internet-Drafts are draft documents valid for a maximum of six months
   and may be updated, replaced, or obsoleted by other documents at any
   time.  It is inappropriate to use Internet-Drafts as reference
   material or to cite them other than as "work in progress."

   This Internet-Draft will expire on January 28, 2021.

Crocker                 Expires January 28, 2021                [Page 1]
Internet-Draft                    DMARC                        July 2020

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (c) 2020 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the
   document authors.  All rights reserved.

   This document is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal
   Provisions Relating to IETF Documents
   (https://trustee.ietf.org/license-info) in effect on the date of
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   described in the Simplified BSD License.

Table of Contents

   1.  Introduction  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   2
   2.  Author Header Field . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
   3.  Discussion  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
   4.  Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
   5.  IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
     5.1.  Registration of the Author header field . . . . . . . . .   5
   6.  References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
     6.1.  Normative References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
     6.2.  Informative References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
   Author's Address  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5

1.  Introduction

   Internet mail conducts asynchronous communication from an author to
   one or more recipients, and is used for ongoing dialogue amongst
   them.  Email has a long history of serving a wide range of human uses
   and styles, within that simple framework, and the mechanisms for
   making email robust and safe serve that sole purpose.

   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.  [Mail-Fmt] 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.  These
   fields were initially defined in [RFC733] and making the redundant
   Sender: field optional was a small, obvious optimization, in the days
   of slower communications, expensive storage and less powerful
   computers.

Crocker                 Expires January 28, 2021                [Page 2]
Internet-Draft                    DMARC                        July 2020

   The dual semantics was not a problem, until development of stringent