Name: Authenticated Transfer

Description

Self-Certifying data structures make it possible to efficiently synchronize public content across organizational boundaries, while preserving authenticity. These techniques have found broad adoption in some areas (such as software code versioning with git), but for the most part not in traditional web publishing or social web applications. On the social web today, authority and authenticity remain rooted in specific network locations and service providers, not network identities controlled by individuals or organizations.

Authenticated Transfer (AT) is a collection of protocol components which together provide a generic framework for interoperable social web applications, using self-certifying network data. The framework includes several components which could be in-scope for the IETF, as well as other components which are likely not. It builds on existing IETF technologies including CBOR, OAuth, HTTP, WebSockets, and DNS. The overall framework includes a schema system, but does not specify application-specific document formats.

This BoF is to discuss developing a narrowly-defined subset of protocol components within the IETF: the public repository data structure, wire serialization format, and public synchronization mechanism.

This follows a successful side-meeting at IETF 123 in Madrid, and many conversations with individuals over the years. The goal of this non-working-group-forming BoF is to open the topic to the entire IETF community for feedback, share experiences from early experimentation and implementation, and address as many chartering and scope questions as possible. This BoF would be followed on by a formal WG-forming BoF, possibly in an interim meeting.

Details

• Status: Not WG forming
• Responsible AD: TBD (likely ART)
• BoF Proponents: Bryan Newbold <bryan@blueskyweb.xyz>, Daniel Holmgren <daniel@blueskyweb.xyz>
• Number of people expected: 100 (TBD)
• Length of session: 2 hr
• Conflicts:
• Chair Conflicts: TBD
• Technology Overlap: OAuth, CBOR
• Key Participant Conflict: AI-Pref

Info for IAB/IESG

• Open source projects (if any) implementing this work:
• https://github.com/blacksky-algorithms/rsky)
• https://github.com/snarfed/bridgy-fed
• https://github.com/haileyok/cocoon
• https://github.com/bluesky-social/atproto

Agenda

• Speakers and timing TBD

Links

• Relevant Internet-Drafts: will be posted to the datatracker by the end September, and this document updated with links (if appropriate)
• Mailing List: TBD