ACTION-298: Clarification needed for user intervention requirements in 7.3.1

Hey folks,

In 7.3.1 (the robustness sections I added recently) there is a line  
that states:

> Web user agents MUST NOT expose programming interfaces which permit  
> installation of software, or execution of privileged code without   
> user intervention.

Tyler asked on a call whether this would be intended to cover things  
like signed ActiveX controls, which some browsers might want to  
execute automatically.  I took an action to put the question to the  
list.

My own sentiment is that yes, executing privileged code without  
asking the user's permission -- even if that code is signed -- is  
explicitly non-conforming.  Unless we want to start specifying or  
referencing acceptable kinds of code-signing or -validation in some  
detail, I don't think it's worthwhile to try to write exceptions into  
this requirement, so my proposal is to leave the wording as-is.

If you're unhappy with this restriction and want to propose  
alternative wording, or if you're basically in agreement, but think  
explanatory text needs to be added which addresses this situation,  
now's your chance!

Cheers,

J

---
Johnathan Nightingale
Human Shield
johnath@mozilla.com

Received on Friday, 5 October 2007 12:53:09 UTC