Re: Thread 1: Sharing

[Kent Crispin <kent@songbird.com>]

Dave Crocker allegedly said:
> 
> >If the code existed, and agreed on, it might work.
> >But it doesn't exist.
> >IAHC is implementing vapor-ware in shared TLDs.
> 
> 	This is, of course, an incorrect assertion.
> 
> 	But before we dive into yes-it-is/no-it-isn't, I'll ask what
> criteria will satisfy those who wish to believe that the technology for
> sharing is sufficiently available?  How many deployed examples will suffice
> and what are the required characteristics of those deployments?
> 
> d/
> 
> ps. Discussion at the open IAHC session at the IETF did not, in any way,
> demonstrate a strong consensus that sharing wasn't technically viable.
> Some debate, yes, but no clear consensus that it was not viable.  Having
> someone assert otherwise might be comforting, but it is not accurate.  In
> point of fact, my own sense of the discussion was just as I've been
> summarizing:  no public standards, but plenty of propriety, off-the-shelf
> experience.

I have just submitted to IAHC a draft draft describing a Simple
Registrar Protocol which can be used to communicate securely between
registrars and a Trusted Third Party.  It uses an RFC-822 style format
and PGP to construct SRP Certificates, which are in turn used to
update DNS, or, with suitable interface code, any database you choose. 
I have about half implemented a client and server that use this
protocol, which I will release to the public.  It should be complete 
within the next couple of weeks (it is a simple protocol).

SRP works essentially as a secure front end for database transactions 
-- it is not a database itself.  It uses PGP to supply authentication 
because PGP is widely and freely available worldwide.

SRP is intended to be a public standard by which registrars can 
communicate.  It does not dictate any particular database 
technology.  Because it is so simple, it is very easy to extend or 
modify it to suit different environments.

-- 
Kent Crispin				"No reason to get excited",
kent@songbird.com,kc@llnl.gov		the thief he kindly spoke...
PGP fingerprint:   5A 16 DA 04 31 33 40 1E  87 DA 29 02 97 A3 46 2F