[arin-discuss] Template-based email as a third registry access method

Wed Apr 4 12:19:15 EDT 2012

Yes, if we're going to use secure email, it really should be S/MIME.

PGP is so 1990s.

Owen

On Apr 4, 2012, at 8:52 AM, Robert Marder wrote:

> That's really an issue of secure communication, not authentication.
> 
> Personally, I would like to see some kind of challenge response to email template submissions. PGP email is a pain to implement, and those of us such as myself that routinely use web email instead of rich client email will continue to be able to use templates (as most webmail clients can't do PGP email).
> 
> On 04.04.2012 10:46, Alec Ginsberg wrote:
>> eMail is sent clear textŠ
>> 
>> Web Services can require SSL encrypted payloads.
>> 
>> On 4/4/12 10:42 AM, "Robert Marder" <ram at robertmarder.com> wrote:
>> 
>>> I would imagine that doesn't really do anything as far as maintenance
>>> costs, as all you're doing is changing the existing system of piping an
>>> email into a program into piping a text box into a program. You're
>>> basically replacing the smtp server with a web server and web form.
>>> 
>>> As far as addressing the authentication issue, while that's true, there
>>> are various other ways to do that, such as the API key already used, and
>>> various other methods that could be considered in future.
>>> 
>>> It's worth noting that the RESTful interface also has the same
>>> authentication limitation reliant on an API key as email templates do at
>>> the moment, so in light of that I don't really see an email
>>> authentication issue (presuming members think all interfaces to ARIN
>>> having equal levels of authentication is acceptable, as is the case now
>>> with email vs RESTful interactions).
>>> 
>>> On 04.04.2012 10:15, Gary T. Giesen wrote:
>>>> To address some of the security and email parsing concerns, what
>>>> about the possibility of having a giant text box in ARIN Online where
>>>> multiple email templates can be pasted in at once (and of course
>>>> saved
>>>> for later editing before submission).  This would ensure users are
>>>> properly authenticated, allow bulk submission of requests, allow easy
>>>> editing/copy/paste, and no format changes for people who are already
>>>> used to the email templates (other than the transport method).
>>>> 
>>>> I would imagine that would go a long way towards addressing some of
>>>> Owen's concerns while not having to deal most of the issues of
>>>> receiving and parsing email. I would imagine the maintenance headache
>>>> would be greatly reduced as well.
>>>> 
>>>> GTG
>>>> 
>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>> From: arin-discuss-bounces at arin.net
>>>> [mailto:arin-discuss-bounces at arin.net] On Behalf Of Owen DeLong
>>>> Sent: April 4, 2012 1:17 AM
>>>> To: David Farmer
>>>> Cc: arin-discuss List; John Curran
>>>> Subject: Re: [arin-discuss] Template-based email as a third registry
>>>> access method
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> On Apr 3, 2012, at 5:50 PM, David Farmer wrote:
>>>> 
>>>>> On 4/3/12 19:29 CDT, Kevin Blumberg wrote:
>>>>> 
>>>>>> I would also suggest that the ability to save a draft of a
>>>>>> submission be supported.
>>>>> 
>>>>> As I was reading this thread I was thinking much the same thing.  I
>>>>> was thinking about why people might want Email Templates back vs. a
>>>>> Web Form.  Other than not wanting to change, I thought about how the
>>>>> work flow has changed.  With a email template you had a form you could
>>>>> work on offline and collect all the information you needed and fill it
>>>>> in as you go. Then submit the form, via email when you had it
>>>>> complete.
>>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> You also had:
>>>> 
>>>> 	1.	A single consolidated document you could review as a cohesive
>>>> unit.
>>>> 	2.	Easy navigation back and forth checking the document for internal
>>>> consistency
>>>> 	3.	A set of pre-defined well documented fields.
>>>> 	4.	The ability to easily attach files ad-hoc and reference them
>>>> within justification fields
>>>> 		(ARIN On-Line pretends to have this, but, the file checking rarely
>>>> accepts my files
>>>> 		in spite of them conforming to the rules specified. These problems
>>>> have proven
>>>> 		intermittent and nearly impossible to track down so far.)
>>>> 	5.	Full-text email updates and the ability to easily transfer the
>>>> template in progress
>>>> 		back and forth between myself and my clients for review, update,
>>>> etc. prior to
>>>> 		submission to ARIN.
>>>> 
>>>> The work flow has changed substantially and is costing my clients on
>>>> average $500-$750 more per request just in my time alone.
>>>> 
>>>>> With the Web Form, I believe as implemented, you essentially need
>>>>> all the info for a request all at once, then you do the data entry and
>>>>> submit it.  If you could save partially completed web forms and create
>>>>> your own partially complete templates, maybe we can keep the kind of
>>>>> workflow we had with email templates but keep moving forward with the
>>>>> other improvements ARIN Online has brought.
>>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> It's much worse than that. You have to navigate several disconnected
>>>> pages in sequence with no useful ability to navigate back and forth
>>>> in
>>>> the process. It's not entirely clear from the first page what will be
>>>> requested on the subsequent pages, etc.
>>>> 
>>>>> I have to say I like ARIN Online and the many improvements, but the
>>>>> web form based workflow can be frustrating at times.  So is workflow
>>>>> the real issue here?
>>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> Most definitely, but, in so many ways, it's hard to imagine making
>>>> the web-based workflow as useful as the email-based one was.
>>>> 
>>>> Owen
>>>> 
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