XML Key Management Working Group
Charter XML Key Management Working Group
CharterStatus: This is a proposed W3C XML Key Management Charter being submitted for W3C AC consideration.
The XML Key Management Specification (XKMS 1.0), which was submitted as a W3C Note, builds upon elements defined in the XML Signature specification and anticipates the use of the XML Encryption specification to satisfy these requirements. The proposed work will result in an XML Key Management Recommendation on the basis of the XKMS submission. This proposal explains the need for such an activity from market and technical perspectives, identifies a number of interested companies and recommends that a W3C working group begin in December 2001.
The mission of this working group is to develop a specification of XML application/protocol that allows a simple client to obtain key information (values, certificates, management or trust data) from a web service. This specification will be based on the XML Key Management Specification (XKMS) which is comprised of two parts -- the XML Key Information Service Specification (X-KISS) and the XML Key Registration Service Specification (X-KRSS).
X-KISS defines a protocol for a Trust service that resolves public key information contained in XML Signature elements. The X-KISS protocol allows a client of such a service to delegate part or all of the tasks required to process <ds:KeyInfo> elements. A key objective of the protocol design is to minimize the complexity of application implementations by allowing them to become clients and thereby to be shielded from the complexity and syntax of the underlying PKI used to establish trust relationships. The underlying PKI may be based upon a different specification such as X.509/PKIX, SPKI or PGP.
X-KRSS defines a protocol for a web service that accepts registration of public key information. Once registered, the public key may be used in conjunction with other web services including X-KISS.
The core scope of this Working Group will be in specifying the necessary protocol elements and Trust Service behavior for the XML Key Management Specification.
The Working Group (WG) will:
The priority of the group shall be to achieve 1 and 2. However it is advantageous to consider at least one concrete example when considering the future extensibility of a specification and therefore the group may consider 3 at the same time as 1 provided that this does not delay the completion of the priority items.
The following additional requirements must be met by the WG; these requirements may be augmented and extended by the requirements document:
The working group will not address the following issues:
This working group will deliver the following:
This Working Group is scheduled for eleven months. Currently, its expected lifetime is from December 2001 through November 2002.
Once established, the Working Group can decide to perform tasks in parallel by forming subgroups. These dates are subject to revision due to editorial needs and external scheduling issues; updates will be negotiated with the affected working groups and participants and recorded on the XML Key Management WG home page. Any change in a deliverable date must be brought to the attention of the W3C Domain leader and Director.
This charter, the WG web page, and the mailing list and archives will be publicly accessible.
XML and XML derived activities have become a strategic technology in W3C and elsewhere.
The Working Group (WG) shall solicit comments from the following W3C working groups on the proposed requirements and during W3C Last Call, the Chair will procure reviews before the specification will be advanced further:
At the current time, there are no known dependencies on the work produced by the Working Group.
The XML Protocol Working Group should liaise with at least the following groups outside W3C:
Working group members are expected to participate in an electronic mailing list, periodic teleconferences and face-to-face meetings. The WG consensus venue is the mailing list. Note, straw polls and assessments of consensus may be taken on teleconferences and face-to-face meetings which will then be sent to the list via minutes. If those decision are not opposed or questioned on the list, they naturally stand as the WG's consensus.
(See Participants for information on the roles and commitments of working group members.)
NOTE: The proceedings of this Working Group are public.
In order to maintain shared context of the group and to provide access to the proceedings of the group, the Chair maintains a web page at http://www.w3.org/2001/XKMS/ (tbd).
Active participants are expected to have ready access to this page and be familiar with its contents.
Participants must subscribe to and participate in the (www-xkms@w3.org) mailing list.
As necessary, the Chair may convene teleconferences periodically for the purpose of quickly addressing and resolving open issues and tracking action items and deliverables.
The Chair is responsible for producing an agenda at least 24 hours in advance of each call, posting it along with the call details to the mailing list, and causing minutes of the call to be posted promptly after the call.
A public IRC channel may be available to complement/coordinate teleconference discussion. However, the IRC conversation is not necessarily part of the record: it must be stated on the teleconference as an IRC message is not necessarily a sufficient communication to the others on the teleconference.
The working group will have a day face to face meeting in December 2001. Meeting notice, advance agenda, and posting of minutes shall follow W3C timing rules.
This working group is public.
W3C promotes an open working environment. Whenever possible, technical decisions should be made unencumbered by intellectual property right (IPR) claims. W3C's policy for intellectual property is set out in section 1.5 of the W3C Process document.
Members of the XML Key Management Working Group and any other Working Group constituted within the XML Key Management Activity are expected to disclose any intellectual property they have in this area. Any intellectual property essential to implement specifications produced by this Activity must be at least available for licensing on a royalty free license. At the suggestion of the Working Group, and at the discretion of the Director of W3C, technologies may be accepted if they are licensed on reasonable, non-discriminatory terms.
Members disclose patent and other IPR claims by sending email to the publicly archived WG list and the archived patent issues list (that is readable by W3C Members and the W3C team): patent-issues@w3.org. Members must disclose all IPR claims to this mailing list but they may also copy other recipients.
The principal authors of the XKMS submission have stated their intent, upon formation of a W3C working group to standardize XKMS, to make all Intellectual Property Rights essential to implement XKMS available to all implementers under a royalty free license [W3C Patent Policy Framework]. During the AC Review and subsequent Working Group formation the authors (and their Advisory Committee representatives) will be asked to confirm that the XKMS Submission is a Working Group Contribution [W3C Patent Policy Framework] usable under a royalty free license.
This section describes the expectations and requirements of Staff, Member, and Public commitment necessary for this Working Group to be started -- and eventually succeed. The actual roles (chair, author, editor, contributor, implementor) and definitions are to be defined by W3C Process and to be compatible with those of the XML Signature Working Group Contributor Policies.
Contributors to this working group are expected to commit to 15% (6 hours a week). Commitments for Author and Editor positions are 25% and 35% respectively. The Chairing commitment is expected to require 40% of a single person's time.
The W3C Team will dedicate 20% of a single person to this activity for WG participation and the Staff Contact role: coordinating with other Staff Contacts of the identified WGs, and advising the Chair and WG on W3C Process and publishing requirements.
This is a public working group and anyone may contribute to the Working Group. However, at the outset of the Activity, the interested W3C member organizations are expected to identify one or more individual contributors to the Working Group and the level of contribution at which they are willing to participate.
Public contributors are welcome to commit to the completion of any action item or to the fulfillment of the roles described in the Contributor Policies. Note, materials sent to the public list are part of the W3C site and subject to W3C policies and licenses. The W3C holds the copyright of all Working Group deliverables (e.g., specifications).