and one more thing on the permission, obligation, ... topics related to policy and trust

[Ken Laskey <klaskey@mitre.org>]

In a previous comment to PR1, I suggested the following that I think  
may be relevant both to the policy and the trust discussions:

Social Structure

	A social structure establishes (formally or informally) the rights  
and responsibilities of its members, including the relationships and  
permissible interactions among members and with non-members.

Any number of participants can be members of a social structure and a  
given participant can be a member of multiple social structures. Thus,  
there is frequent interaction among social structures, sometimes  
resulting in disagreements when the goals of the social structures do  
not align.

The goals of the social structure lead to activities to further those  
goals and manifests itself in the intent of the social structure and  
its members.

Intent

	Intent is a willingness by a member of a social structure to perform  
actions to achieve a stated goal.

The ways in which intent can be manifested must still fit within the  
rules and responsibilities defined by the social structure. The social  
structure defines rights and responsibilities which can be categorized  
as the following:

Commitment

	A commitment is a stated intent regarding the status of a shared  
state in the future.

In the future, some fact will be true and a participant has the  
current responsibility of ensuring that that fact will indeed be true.  
A commitment to deliver some good is a classic example of a fact about  
the future.

Permission

	A permission is an activity in which the social structure allows some  
subset of its members to engage.

A social structure may have criteria before it will give its members  
permission to make a commitment. For example, a member may have to  
post a bond before that member can engage in an activity that might  
cause a loss to others.

Obligation

	An obligation is a requirement by the social structure on some subset  
of its members to perform activities that will result in a defined  
status for certain shared states.

An obligation is most often associated with responsibilities and may  
be the counterpart to having certain rights. For example, someone may  
have the right to buy a house in a certain neighborhood but the city  
may impose obligations that ensure the house is kept in good repair.

Prohibition

	A prohibition is an activity in which the social structure disallows  
some subset of its members to engage.

The informal social structure of basketball players at a public gym  
may decide that certain expressions of language are not permitted  
because young children are in the area.

The shared state provides a set of facts against which commitments can  
be promised, permissions can be granted, obligations can be measured,  
and adherence to prohibitions can be assessed. For example, if, as a  
result of interacting with a service, a buyer incurs the obligation of  
paying for some good or service, this obligation (and the discharge of  
it) is measurable (perhaps by further interactions with the same or  
other services).

 From its various components, rights and responsibilities can then be  
collectively defined as

Rights

	A right is an activity that is allowed or a stance that may be  
adopted in relation to the social structure.

A right is often in the form of a permission or the allowing of a  
commitment, but a social structure may consider it a right to engage  
in any activity that is not expressly prohibited. Conversely, a social  
structure may consider anything not expressly stated as a right to be  
prohibited. Having or exercising a right may subject the social  
structure member to associated obligations.

Responsibilities

	A responsibility is an activity that is required in relation to the  
social structure.

A responsibility is often in the form of an obligation and may require  
a commitment on the part of the social structure member. In general, a  
social structure may be consider it a responsibility to follow through  
on commitments, fulfill obligations, and not engage in prohibited  
activities.


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Ken Laskey
MITRE Corporation, M/S H305      phone: 703-983-7934
7515 Colshire Drive                         fax:       703-983-1379
McLean VA 22102-7508