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

Dear Dennis,

The Last Call review period for the Guidelines for Web Content 
Transformation Proxies is over and we have not yet heard from you. We 
were wondering whether you had time to review the response to your 
comments below and the updated document, and whether you could let us 
know if you agree with it or not via email.

The header of the previous email was generated from a template that did 
not give us the opportunity to apologize for the time it took us to get 
back to you. Comments received during the first Last Call review period 
generated a lot of discussions within the group. Resolutions of the 
issues took more time than expected. The group thinks the document has 
quite improved as a consequence, apologizes for the delay and would like 
to thank you again for your contribution!

Thanks,

For the Mobile Web Best Practices Working Group,
Francois Daoust,
W3C Staff Contact.


fd@w3.org wrote:
>  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/
> 
> 
> =====
> 
> 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
> 
> ----
> 
> 
> 
>

Received on Monday, 16 November 2009 12:52:00 UTC