The TPKI "watershed" issue

Sorry for the abundance of messages, but the 
following message should IMHO be of interest to the whole group.

 

Essentially one simple question will determine 
how the rest of the TPKI project will be.  

 

The "watershed" issue is:

 

Is the anticipated TPKI mechanism supposed to work 
IDENTICALLY in the targeted leading 
browsers?   This would imply no less 
than a STANDARDS EFFORT.

 

Or is the goal rather to find out what the 
various browsers in their current versions 
can do in terms signing and encryption?  This is a MARKET RESEARCH project.  Given the plugin constraint (no ActiveX 
etc) in the current TPKI draft, this can 
be done in a month or so.

 

If OTOH, the 50+ 
plugin schemes are to be included, this is a MAJOR effort. Much of the information is in foreign languages, poorly 
documented, and often NDA protected.  The latter for example is always the 
case for schemes created by the financial sector.  The biopharma 
industries' USSI is currently also NDA protected.

 

Since there are only two voting members in the 
AGSC, and the rest are mainly passive members, I 
suggest a "straw poll" to get some indications of 
what other people think of this.  If there is no or few response, I 
don't think that we have to bother much 
about ANY TPKI issue :-)

 

Also, I would like to know how much the 
"wiz-kid" is supposed to work for this SC and if 
possible who he or she is.

 

thanx

Anders