What is the MCG?

1. The MCG

The Meta-Certificate Group - MCG, is an international non-profit open group. The MCG is a fresh exploration of applied cryptography to solve real-world Internet security issues of today, for both individuals, corporations and governments, as represented by the current certificate questions.

The MCG is currently drafting proposals for a series of open standards Internet protocols, describing a layered certification protocol called "Meta-Certificate", designed to enhance security and flexibility, that will allow either standalone operation or interoperation with current technologies such as X.509, CAs, PGP, SKIP, etc.

No parts of this general work will be patented, but published in source code and shared under the common protection of the copyright law to avoid third-party patenting. Members of the MCG will profit by contributing towards a better and easier communications standard and by being at the forefront of said development. Applications will be independently developed by any individual or organization, not necessarily connected with the MCG. Presently, the entities that compose the MCG envision the following applications that will be marketed worldwide:

the Meta-Certificate API, client and server, compiled in Java and in C
Internet commerce,
telecommunication services using the Internet,
support for SSL, SET, etc.,
Internet routing in a three-tier architecture,
etc.

It is noteworthy that because the Meta-Certificate design avoids the international security issues such as TTPs, it has the potential to be the vehicle of choice for international products and services. One of the design goals is to make it as transparent as possible in regard to any national legislation in existence or in planning.

All interested parties, with all backgrounds, of all countries, are invited to cooperate with the MCG either as a participant or as an observer, in order to discuss the first draft and help prepare the first public disclosure. The MCG believes in publicly-discussed algorithms, design rules and limitations.

The MCG is connected by a Home-Page with published material and two listservers, with hosts located in a country that currently has no restrictions on the use or distribution of cryptographic tools or any other area of cryptography or certification. If you want to participate in this focused enquiry, please verify below which listserver, or both, may interest you. The available lists are fully independent and must be separately subscribed, for each one that if you may wish to participate in:

trust-ref: an unmoderated, open entry and open posting listserver, with HTML repository.
mcg-talk: a moderated-entry free-posting anonymized listserver, with HTML repository. All mcg-talk group participants with names and e-mails, as well as all contributors, are held under absolute non-disclosure terms, hereby binding, unless otherwise explicitly desired in writing.

It is the desire of the MCG group to be open and yet to protect the privacy of any and all who wish to participate or observe. This is in no way an attempt to violate any law in any country.

2. Publications and Current Work

The MCG publishes papers on-line, that are peer-reviewed, on the areas of cryptography, certification, security and other related subjects. Selected e-mails are also published, as part of work in progress.

The current work centers on such documents, available in the "Papers" and "e-mails" sections.

3. Contact the MCG

To contact the MCG, write to the MCG Coordinator, Ed Gerck.