A possibly useful concept from of all things the old X11 graphics standards days was the oft-heard slogan: Mechanism, Not Policy! Ok, that's a blurred line. But it can be a useful construct to dissect potential solutions. What is mechanism? What is policy? Registering in TMCH and the results of that such as warnings about strings is largely mechanism. Of course all mechanism either implements or constrains -- "that's impossible to implement!" -- policy. But when one has a potentially large problem it's helpful to try to break it into useful parts. For example talk about certificates has been revolving around mechanism here, to a great extent. How do they work? How might they help? And policy is, well everyone here knows what policy means, it's the "why" part and what one is trying accomplish, mechanism is the "how". -- -Barry Shein Software Tool & Die | bzs@TheWorld.com | http://www.TheWorld.com Purveyors to the Trade | Voice: +1 617-STD-WRLD | 800-THE-WRLD The World: Since 1989 | A Public Information Utility | *oo*