Re: Access Control Draft

H:Date: Mon, 19 May 1997 14:43:42 -0700 (PDT)
H:From: "Gregory J. Woodhouse" <gjw@wnetc.com>
H:To: Jim Whitehead <ejw@ics.uci.edu>
H:cc: howard.s.modell@boeing.com, w3c-dist-auth@w3.org
H:Subject: Re: Access Control Draft
H:
H:I agree that our approach to access control should not imply a set of
H:roles which are too specific to a particular application or document
H:management strategy. Instead, I think we should adopt a general scheme
H:such as UNIX-style groups, VMS style privileges and rights, or our system
H:of keys. Any one of these schemes would suit our needs without locking us
H:into a specific set of roles.
H:
H:---
H:Gregory Woodhouse
H:gjw@wnetc.com    /    http://www.wnetc.com/home.html
H:If you're going to reinvent the wheel, at least try to come
H:up with a better one.
H:

a silly question perhaps (excuse me if this has been discussed previously):

	is there some reason why something vaguely like the "certificate"
	systems being used in electronic commerce couldn't work in this
	context?  That is, the "document-set-owner" issues "tokens" to
	authors who need to be allowed to access/modify documents in the
	set.  When one of those authors wants to "check in" a modified
	document or document-part, he or she must be able to accompany his
	work with the proper "token".

Note: I'm not saying anything about the complexity of the token, nor the 
protocol for issuing or recognition nor any of the details.  
I'm just sketching a model.

<signed>
Howard S. Modell
________________________________________________________________________
 Adv.Computing Technologist/2         POBox 3707, m/s 4A-25, Boeing D&SG
 howard.s.modell@boeing.com           Seattle, WA 98124-2207
 http://warlok.ds.boeing.com/~howie/  (206)662-0189[v] (206)662-4018[f]

Received on Monday, 19 May 1997 18:27:49 UTC