Subject: R: I: R: RFC3280: doubt on the use of UTF8String in encoding RDNs

From: Santoni Adriano <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 23 Apr 2004 09:54:19 +0200

A rule that is "at odds with reality" should not be expressed in terms of
MUST, but rather in terms of SHOULD. I wonder how it came that RFC 3280
reached the status of an official IETF standard, if it contains one or more
areas that are "at odds with reality". 

I suppose the answer is one of these:
- RFC 3280 does not really contain areas that are "at odds with reality" -
it's just that we do not understand them;
- containing areas that are "at odds with reality" is not an obstacle to
becoming a standard;
- expressions like "MUST" in IETF standard are really to be taken as mere
suggestions;
- nobody really cares.

Adriano

-----Messaggio originale-----
Da: pgut001 [mailto:[email-masked]] Per conto di
[email-masked]
Inviato: venerdì 23 aprile 2004 4.33
A: [email-masked]; [email-masked]; [email-masked];
[email-masked]; [email-masked]
Cc: [email-masked]
Oggetto: Re: I: R: RFC3280: doubt on the use of UTF8String in encoding RDNs

Santoni Adriano <[email-masked]> writes:

>If the answer is YES, I would like your personal opinion about the 
>great majority (sai 99,9%) of all CAs all over the planet not being 
>conformant to RFC 3280 and neither to RFC 2459, as far as this 
>particular PKIX prescription is concerned.

Here we go again... this really should be an FAQ, given the number of times
it's come up, and will no doubt continue to come up.  So the standard answer
is:

  Most people are ignoring the UTF-8 requirement because of backwards-
  compatibility concerns, both for existing certs and for existing
  applications.  Don't worry about it, it's quite normal, this is just
another
  area where the RFC is at odds with reality.

Peter.

*******************Internet Email Confidentiality Footer******************* 
Qualsiasi utilizzo non autorizzato del presente messaggio nonche' dei suoi
allegati e' vietato e potrebbe costituire reato. Se lei ha ricevuto
erroneamente il presente messaggio, Le saremmo grati se, via e-mail, ce ne
comunicasse la ricezione e provvedesse alla distruzione del messaggio stesso
e dei suoi eventuali allegati. Le dichiarazioni contenute nel presente
messaggio nonche' nei suoi eventuali allegati devono essere attribuite
esclusivamente al mittente e non possono essere considerate come trasmesse o
autorizzate da SIA S.p.A.; le medesime dichiarazioni non impegnano SIA
S.p.A. nei confronti del destinatario o di terzi. 
SIA S.p.A. non si assume alcuna responsabilita' per eventuali
intercettazioni, modifiche o danneggiamenti del presente messaggio e-mail. 

Any unauthorized use of this e-mail or any of its attachments is prohibited
and could constitute an offence. If you are not the intended addressee
please advise immediately the sender by using the reply facility in your
e-mail software and destroy the message and its attachments. The statements
and opinions expressed in this e-mail message are those of the author of the
message and do not necessarily represent those of SIA. Besides, The contents
of this message shall be understood as neither given nor endorsed by SIA
S.p.A.. 
SIA S.p.A. does not accept liability for corruption, interception or
amendment, if any, or the consequences thereof.