Subject: Re: Delivery/Read norification discussion

From: Sead Muftic <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 16 Jun 1999 23:46:25 +0200

Claudio (and other friends):

I also agree that the protocol created by Royal Mail is not delivering
what it promises. In fact, it may be shown that it is equivalent to
the simpler scheme, where the receipient is asked kindly to confirm
the receipt of the E-mail.

The protocols for registered mail with absolute security and guaranteed
confirmation are known in the area of computer networks security and they
are based on security schemes for cooperation of so called mutually
suspicious users.

So, registered E-mail is solvable protocol, but not in the way as explained by
the Royal Mail.

Regards,

Sead Muftic

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From: Dan Wing <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 16 Jun 1999 15:59:50 -0700 (PDT)

> So, registered E-mail is solvable protocol, but not in the way as explained by

A reasonable, and deployable, mechanism would be a hotmail.com-like
service where mail is delivered and stored by a disinterested third-party
(such as Royal Mail) and when it is retreived by the recipient the sender
is issued the 'read receipt'.

This would be very similar to the physical act of going to the post office
and signing for a return-receipt letter.  When you sign, the post office
gives you the letter and they mail the receipt to the sender.

-Dan Wing