Re: Re: Comments on Content Transformation Guidelines? ( LC-2065)

 Dear Dennis Bournique ,

The Mobile Web Best Practices Working Group has reviewed the comments you
sent [1] on the Last Call Working Draft [2] of the Content Transformation
Guidelines 1.0 published on 1 Aug 2008. Thank you for having taken the time
to review the document and to send us comments!

The Working Group's response to your comment is included below, and has
been implemented in the new version of the document available at:
http://www.w3.org/TR/2009/WD-ct-guidelines-20091006/.

Please review it carefully and let us know by email at
public-bpwg-comments@w3.org if you agree with it or not before 6 November
2009. In case of disagreement, you are requested to provide a specific
solution for or a path to a consensus with the Working Group. If such a
consensus cannot be achieved, you will be given the opportunity to raise a
formal objection which will then be reviewed by the Director during the
transition of this document to the next stage in the W3C Recommendation
Track.

Thanks,

For the Mobile Web Best Practices Working Group,
Dominique Hazaël-Massieux
François Daoust
W3C Staff Contacts

 1. http://www.w3.org/mid/957588.75347.qm@web81603.mail.mud.yahoo.com
 2. http://www.w3.org/TR/2008/WD-ct-guidelines-20080801/


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Your comment on the document as a whole:
> My name is Dennis Bournique. I write about mobile browsing, primarily
> from a user perspective, at http://wapreview.com.  I've done a little
> web development, mostly mobile specific sites, but I'm by no means an
> expert on the technical side of this issue.
> 
> Putting on my user hat, I'd like to make a request that the Content
> Transformation Guidelines include a requirement that content
> transformation proxies "must" provide end users (consumers of web
> content) with a way to turn off transformation both globally and on a
> site by site basis.
> 
> As an end user, I’ve experienced both the joys and the frustrations
> of using content transformation proxies.
> 
> In general, I believe in content transformation as a valuable tool to
> make web content, which would otherwise be difficult or impossible to
> use, available through the limited browsers of many mobile phones.
> 
> I have also been frustrated when a carrier or content provider
> unilaterally imposes content transformation with no way for me to
> disable it. I've been unable to access content through content
> transformation proxies that was previously available on the same device
> using a direct connection. This has happened both with installable
> content such as midlets and ringtones and also with pure html and xhtml
> pages, including mobile optimized pages and those that are not.  I have
> also seen my secure end to end HTTPS traffic being forced through
> content transformation proxies, exposing it to the potential for a "man
> in the middle" attack.
> 
> I understand that the Guidelines are intended to prevent these sorts of
> problems by specifying when content transformation proxies must allow
> content to flow directly between server and user agent without
> modification. This is good, but no technical solution can ever be
> perfect.  There will always be edge cases where content transformation
> does more harm than good. For this reason it is important that end users
> have the option to opt-out of content transformation.  
> 
> I propose that the Guidelines be amended to include the following or
> similar language.
> 
> "...1. Content transformation proxies, if they are modifying traffic
> between a server and a user agent in any way, MUST provide a mechanism
> allowing the end user to resubmit the request and disable content
> transformation for the duration of the current session."
> 
> "...2. Content transformation proxies, must provide a means for end
> users of that proxy to disable all content transformation until they
> take explicit action to re-enable it."


Working Group Resolution (LC-2065):
We agree and have modified the wording, and have added an appendix that
spells out where the various user preference clauses are to be found in the
document.

The appendix is available at:
http://www.w3.org/TR/2009/WD-ct-guidelines-20091006/Overview.html#sec-Summary-User-Preference-Handling

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Received on Tuesday, 6 October 2009 15:49:36 UTC