From: Hal <hfinney@shell.portal.com>
Date: Mon, 17 Jun 1996 07:37:15 +0800
To: sophi@best.com
Subject: Re:  Netscape Mail Security and PGP Plugins
Message-ID: <199606161838.LAA03355@jobe.shell.portal.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


From: Greg Kucharo <sophi@best.com>
>  A couple of questions I have right off the bat are;
>  1. In Hal's Java mail encryptor, what are the legal aspects of
> sending code across that contains crypto?

There are two main issues, export and patent.  Export laws keep it from
being used outside the U.S., and patent laws keep it from being used
within the U.S.  Everyone else should have no problem.

>  2. Can any plugin access the Netscape Mail program.

According to discussion on the coderpunks list, this is not presently
possible:

: From coderpunks-errors@toad.com  Sat Jun  8 18:33:32 1996
: Date: Sat, 8 Jun 1996 18:07:06 -0700 (PDT)
: From: Kurt Thams <thams@thams.com>
: Subject: Re: plugging in
: 
: On Sat, 8 Jun 1996, strick -- henry strickland wrote:
: 
: > > >> >You could hand any websurfer a Netscape PGP plugin without much work
: > > >> >at all, and you could easily build it on lots of platforms. After all,
: > > >> >look at how many platforms that lowly C code like PGP runs on.
: > 
: > not knowing what Netscape plugins do, 
: > let me ask the plumbing question: what would this do, and how?
: > allow users to send/receive encrypted PGP mail in the "netscape mail" window,
: > transparently like Raef's sendmail wrapper?
: > how do you invoke a plugin, when & why? 
: 
: This is not possible yet. The Netscape API doesn't expose the mail service
: to plug-ins. One would think that future versions of Navigator will do
: this, however. 
: 
: -- kurt thams
: -- thams@thams.com

However as has been mentioned here a PGP/MIME mail type could
theoretically be used to activate a handler for that incoming mail.  I
don't know exactly how this would work.  Glancing at the netscape plug
docs near <URL:
http://home.netscape.com/eng/mozilla/2.0/handbook/plugins/ > it appears
that plugins are activated on HTML page downloads, not (necessarily) on
mail receipt.  So unless you typically find your incoming mail on a web
page, it doesn't look like this will work.  I will ask about it on
coderpunks for clarification.

>  3. When is S/MIME going to be in Netscape, I tried to find info on the
> web site but thier statements about S/MIME seem vague.

Sorry, can't help you here.

>  I hope I'm not running over old ground, but this has to be alot more
> intresting than discussing that PBS show!

Agree!

Hal