Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!mcvax!ukc!strath-cs!jim
From: jim@cs.strath.ac.uk (Jim Reid)
Newsgroups: comp.misc
Subject: Re: Standardizing Email?
Message-ID: <1208@stracs.cs.strath.ac.uk>
Date: 23 Aug 88 11:31:52 GMT
References: <788@vsi.UUCP> <79700010@p.cs.uiuc.edu> <3677@polya.Stanford.EDU>
Reply-To: jim@cs.strath.ac.uk
Organization: Comp. Sci. Dept., Strathclyde Univ., Scotland.
Lines: 40

In article <3677@polya.Stanford.EDU> andy@cayuga.Stanford.EDU (Andy Freeman) writes:
>Arpa mailers predate sendmail.  X.400 is not immune to poor
>implementations either, and whatever's "free" will become dominant,
>whether or not it meets the standard.  (Unless X.400 has an
>enforcement mechanism; it may in Europe.  BTW - An effective
>enforcement mechanism must be able to shut down sites running
>incompatible software.)

The X.400 standards are being driven by the CCITT - the international 
association of telephone companies. In most European states, the
telephone network is a regulated monopoly owned by the government.
It is often called the PTT and this name can be applied generically.

In some cases, users must only use telecom equipment provided by the
PTT. Presumably, such equipment meets with the PTT's standards. In
others, the equipment has to be tested and approved by the PTT
before it can be (legally) connected to the network.

Now with X.400, the PTT's will be in total control. If you wish to use
the (inter)national X.400 service provided by the PTT, you will probably
have two options. Either you buy the X.400 service that the PTT sells or
you buy an implementation that has PTT approval because it conforms to
their defined standard. If you attempt to use a non-conforming (or not
approved) implementation, it will be a crime. You could be taken to
court and fined - now there's a way to deal with mail systems that break
the protocols! - or the PTT could disconnect (or refuse to connect) you.

This will certainly be an "effective enforcement mechanism", though it's
no guarantee that each PTT's interpretation of X.400 will be the same.
There's nothing to stop you using a free X.400 implementation on your
own network, but it'll be unlikely that the PTT's will want to know
about it.

		Jim
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