[wss] FW: SJC Statement on Terms and Definitions

[Monica Martin <mmartin@certivo.net>]

See below.

Thank you.
Monica J. Martin
Drake Certivo, Inc.

-----Original Message-----
From: Phillip H. Griffin [mailto:phil.griffin@asn-1.com]
Sent: Tuesday, December 17, 2002 9:05 AM
To: Monica Martin
Subject: SJC Statement on Terms and Definitions


Chairs,

I am writing on behalf of the OASIS Security Joint Committee 
(SJC) as the current chair. I have been informed that there 
is some concern over the perceived role and authority of the
SJC related to the definition of terms and their use in OASIS
standards.

First let me assure you that the SJC has no authority whatsoever
over any aspect of the work of any TC. This includes those TCs 
that are members of the SJC, whose complete charter can be found
at http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/security-jc/#charter.

Second, you should be aware that the SJC will soon propose to 
the TAB that a new TC be formed in OASIS whose purpose will be
to document in a single place the terms and definitions used in
OASIS security standards. We will make related recommendations
to the TAB, such as the establishment of a forum for discussion
of terminlogy issues.

The SJC intends to provide the TAB with an example of the form
and the content of such a document, by simply harvesting the 
current terms and definitions from its member TC documents, and
organizing this information in a useful way. No changes will be 
made to any term. Where a term is used with different definitions
in different standards, all usage cases will be listed. There will
be no value judgements or comments made on any term or its use.

The SJC understands that there is more than one TC working on the
concept of roles and identity as part of the development of their
standards. The SJC understands that sometimes a single definition
of a term can not be defined that meets the need of all parties. 

Within OASIS, there are many groups that are involved in defining
various aspects of role and identity, including the XML Common 
Biometric Format (XCBF) TC, WS-Security, SAML, and WSIA/WSRP. And
the SJC hopes that the creation of a new vocabulary TC will provide
the necessary a forum for discussion of such issues and will lead 
to greater cooperation and collaboration between OASIS TCs.

Phil Griffin
Chair, OASIS SJC