this version: D1 [2001-12-10 12:51]

Good morning.

I think there are a few things here that are being discussed that are
both Really Good Ideas and Really Bad Ideas.

Let me give you my hypothetical workflow:

(1) Alice writes an e-mail message to Bob using her MUA and favorite
	text editor.
(2) Alice sends the message.  Her MUA transfers it to her local IM2000
	server via IMTP.  IMTP, the Internet Mail Transfer Protocol, will
	use TCP.  This transaction specifies a recipient (bob@@example.biz),
	some other standard metadata (format, priority) and a body.  All
	messages are transferred and stored encrypted with Bob's public key.
(3) The IM2000 server marks this as a new message and sends a
	notification to Bob's IM2000 server via IMNP.  IMNP, the Internet
	Mail Notification Protocol, will use UDP.  This message informs Bob's
	server that Bob has a new message, and includes the message's location
	and ID.  If Bob does not retrieve his message within a given interval
	(say, 48 hours) and the message still exists, another IMNP message is
	sent.
(3) Bob comes home from work and logs in.  He runs his MUA and it
	contacts his IM2000 using WYWOP.  WYWOP, the While You Were Out
	Protocol, is TCP and uses Bob's ISP's preferred method of user
	authentication.  The WYWOP conversation informs Bob's MUA that he
	has a new message from Alice, and provides his MUA with the unique
	message identification and location.  This will be a standard URI
	for the IM2000 protocol suite.
(4) Bob decides to read the message now, and selects the message from his
	list.  Bob's MUA contacts Alice's IM2000 server using IMRP.  IMRP
	operates on TCP, and uses public key authentication.  Once Alice's
	IM2000 server has authenticated Bob's signature, it transfers Alice's
	message to Bob.  Bob's MUA uses his private key to decrypt the message
	locally, and he asks Alice's IM2000 to discard the message. 
	(Presumably, Alice had the option to disallow him from doing this.)

In the case of a mailing list, the messages are simply stored unsigned and
there is no authentication to retrieve them.  IMNP messages are sent to
all list subscribers.

Thoughts?

--
rjbs