comment for draft 071124

As a content provider, I take issue with this sentence in section  
2.3.1 and 2.5.1:

"As an exception to the previous requirement, a CT proxy should deny  
CP directives that would result in dangerous markup being sent to the  
browser."

How does that work in relation to Cache-Control: no-transform ? Does  
the Cache-Control: no-transform take precedence, i.e. the proxy sends  
the markup unaltered IN ANY CASE back to the browser, or does the  
above requirement take precedence?

It will be problematic if it is the latter. I understand this  
requirement is noble, and we have all seen what bad markup will do to  
mobile browsers. However, this may be a difficult requirement to  
fulfill in practice. The problem is in the definition of "dangerous  
markup." This assumes the content transformation proxy knows better  
than the content owner what is "dangerous" for the phone. What if it  
is wrong? What if the content owner sends the markup for a reason?  
What do you mean by "dangerous?" Without a clear definition of  
"dangerous markup" one can go down the slippery slope of banning  
content that the proxy operator deems "dangerous."

I propose that this sentence be removed from the requirement entirely.

Thanks,
Nigel.

Received on Sunday, 9 December 2007 19:38:26 UTC