Einar Stefferud
Encyclopedia
Einar A. Stefferud (11 January 1930 – 22 September 2011) was an Internet pioneer, computer researcher and entrepreneur, who made many significant contributions to the development of the Internet
, particularly in the areas of IETF
RFCs
and standards, secure online payment systems, DNS
, and secure email. Stefferud was one of the original designers of the MIME
protocol for sending multimedia Internet electronic mail.
Creating new paradigms was part of Stefferud's life. This experience was presented in his classic talk, What is the Internet Paradigm?
and earned a BA and MBA from University of California, Los Angeles
. He was a Retired Adjunct Professor of Information and Computer Science at the University of California, Irvine
.
Stefferud was active in ARPA/NSF/IETF DARPA Internet
research and development since 1975. He was involved in pre-standards work for X.400
/X.500
in the International Federation for Information Processing
(IFIP) WG 6.5, and post-standards profiling in the National Institute of Standards and Technology
OIW. He was involved in the US ANSI
OSI Registration Authority; the US National Mail Transfer Service Interest Group (USMTS) and the IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force) where he has been involved with email standards development (e.g. MIME, SMTP
Extensions and MHTML). He was Chair of IFIP Working Group 6.5 on Upper Layer Protocols, Architectures and Applications (ULPAA) from 1990 to 1996. He served as Chair of the 1988, 1990, 1992, 1994 IFIP WG 6.5 ULPAA Conferences.
Stefferud was founder (1969) and President of Network Management Associates, where he provided Strategic Technical and Management Advisory Information Services on internet environments until 2000. He was a co-founder (1994) and Chief Visionary Officer of First Virtual Holdings
, called "the first cyberbank" by the Smithsonian Institution
, that launched an Internet Payment System in October 1994. First Virtual technology and patents are still in current use.
Stefferud was honored by Communications Week Magazine as one of the Top 10 Visionaries in the Computer-Communications Industry for 1993. He was awarded Patent No. 5,757,917 with Marshall Rose
and Nathaniel Borenstein
for a "Computerized Payment System for Purchasing Goods and Services on the Internet".
In 1997 Stefferud, Brian K. Reid and Richard J. Sexton formed the Open Root Server Confederation as a potential organization to serve as an institutional version of John Postel's IANA, and a proposal was submitted to the US Government Department of Commerce NTIA, which eventually picked the joint Network Solutions/IANA proposal that became ICANN
.
In 1999, at the end of the DNS domain name registry management discussions during the formation of ICANN, Stefferud was nominated Registry Advisory Board Member at Network Solutions
(NSI), to provide independent external advisory review of the design and testing of the NSI Shared Registration System.
As the Internet developed, the next paradigm envisioned by Stefferud was trust. In the early days of the Internet every user was a trusted user, as authorized by DARPA, but this is no longer the case. Together with Ed Gerck, Stefferud was the co-founder (2001) of Network Manifold Associates Inc., working on the development of "target-free" technologies for secure Internet communications. Stefferud was also chairman of the NMA Advisory Board and was involved in the creation of "instant on" security products ZSentry and Zmail.
, near his daughter, son-in-law, and three grand-children.
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
, particularly in the areas of IETF
Internet Engineering Task Force
The Internet Engineering Task Force develops and promotes Internet standards, cooperating closely with the W3C and ISO/IEC standards bodies and dealing in particular with standards of the TCP/IP and Internet protocol suite...
RFCs
Request for Comments
In computer network engineering, a Request for Comments is a memorandum published by the Internet Engineering Task Force describing methods, behaviors, research, or innovations applicable to the working of the Internet and Internet-connected systems.Through the Internet Society, engineers and...
and standards, secure online payment systems, DNS
Domain name system
The Domain Name System is a hierarchical distributed naming system for computers, services, or any resource connected to the Internet or a private network. It associates various information with domain names assigned to each of the participating entities...
, and secure email. Stefferud was one of the original designers of the MIME
MIME
Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions is an Internet standard that extends the format of email to support:* Text in character sets other than ASCII* Non-text attachments* Message bodies with multiple parts...
protocol for sending multimedia Internet electronic mail.
Creating new paradigms was part of Stefferud's life. This experience was presented in his classic talk, What is the Internet Paradigm?
Career
Stefferud was born in Wausau, WisconsinWausau, Wisconsin
Wausau is a city in and the county seat of Marathon County, Wisconsin, United States. The Wisconsin River divides the city. The city is adjacent to the town of Wausau.According to the 2000 census, Wausau had a population of 38,426 people...
and earned a BA and MBA from University of California, Los Angeles
University of California, Los Angeles
The University of California, Los Angeles is a public research university located in the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, USA. It was founded in 1919 as the "Southern Branch" of the University of California and is the second oldest of the ten campuses...
. He was a Retired Adjunct Professor of Information and Computer Science at the University of California, Irvine
University of California, Irvine
The University of California, Irvine , founded in 1965, is one of the ten campuses of the University of California, located in Irvine, California, USA...
.
Stefferud was active in ARPA/NSF/IETF DARPA Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
research and development since 1975. He was involved in pre-standards work for X.400
X.400
X.400 is a suite of ITU-T Recommendations that define standards for Data Communication Networks for Message Handling Systems — more commonly known as "email"....
/X.500
X.500
X.500 is a series of computer networking standards covering electronic directory services. The X.500 series was developed by ITU-T, formerly known as CCITT, and first approved in 1988. The directory services were developed in order to support the requirements of X.400 electronic mail exchange and...
in the International Federation for Information Processing
International Federation for Information Processing
The International Federation for Information Processing is an umbrella organization for national societies working in the field of information technology. It is a non-governmental, non-profit organization with offices in Laxenburg, Austria...
(IFIP) WG 6.5, and post-standards profiling in the National Institute of Standards and Technology
National Institute of Standards and Technology
The National Institute of Standards and Technology , known between 1901 and 1988 as the National Bureau of Standards , is a measurement standards laboratory, otherwise known as a National Metrological Institute , which is a non-regulatory agency of the United States Department of Commerce...
OIW. He was involved in the US ANSI
American National Standards Institute
The American National Standards Institute is a private non-profit organization that oversees the development of voluntary consensus standards for products, services, processes, systems, and personnel in the United States. The organization also coordinates U.S. standards with international...
OSI Registration Authority; the US National Mail Transfer Service Interest Group (USMTS) and the IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force) where he has been involved with email standards development (e.g. MIME, SMTP
Simple Mail Transfer Protocol
Simple Mail Transfer Protocol is an Internet standard for electronic mail transmission across Internet Protocol networks. SMTP was first defined by RFC 821 , and last updated by RFC 5321 which includes the extended SMTP additions, and is the protocol in widespread use today...
Extensions and MHTML). He was Chair of IFIP Working Group 6.5 on Upper Layer Protocols, Architectures and Applications (ULPAA) from 1990 to 1996. He served as Chair of the 1988, 1990, 1992, 1994 IFIP WG 6.5 ULPAA Conferences.
Stefferud was founder (1969) and President of Network Management Associates, where he provided Strategic Technical and Management Advisory Information Services on internet environments until 2000. He was a co-founder (1994) and Chief Visionary Officer of First Virtual Holdings
First Virtual
First Virtual Holdings was a company formed in early 1994 to facilitate Internet commerce. The first product offering from First Virtual was an Internet payment system, which was developed quietly and publicly announced as a fully operational open Internet service on October 15, 1994.First Virtual...
, called "the first cyberbank" by the Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...
, that launched an Internet Payment System in October 1994. First Virtual technology and patents are still in current use.
Stefferud was honored by Communications Week Magazine as one of the Top 10 Visionaries in the Computer-Communications Industry for 1993. He was awarded Patent No. 5,757,917 with Marshall Rose
Marshall Rose
Marshall T. Rose is a network protocol and software engineer, author and speaker who has contributed to the Internet Engineering Task Force , the Internet, and Internet and network applications. More specifically, he has specialized in:...
and Nathaniel Borenstein
Nathaniel Borenstein
Nathaniel S. Borenstein is an American computer scientist.He is one of the original designers of the MIME protocol for formatting multimedia Internet electronic mail.-Biography:...
for a "Computerized Payment System for Purchasing Goods and Services on the Internet".
In 1997 Stefferud, Brian K. Reid and Richard J. Sexton formed the Open Root Server Confederation as a potential organization to serve as an institutional version of John Postel's IANA, and a proposal was submitted to the US Government Department of Commerce NTIA, which eventually picked the joint Network Solutions/IANA proposal that became ICANN
ICANN
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers is a non-profit corporation headquartered in Marina del Rey, California, United States, that was created on September 18, 1998, and incorporated on September 30, 1998 to oversee a number of Internet-related tasks previously performed directly...
.
In 1999, at the end of the DNS domain name registry management discussions during the formation of ICANN, Stefferud was nominated Registry Advisory Board Member at Network Solutions
Network Solutions
Network Solutions, LLC is a technology company founded in 1979. The domain name registration business has become the most important division of the company. As of January 2009, Network Solutions managed more than 6.6 million domain names.-History:...
(NSI), to provide independent external advisory review of the design and testing of the NSI Shared Registration System.
As the Internet developed, the next paradigm envisioned by Stefferud was trust. In the early days of the Internet every user was a trusted user, as authorized by DARPA, but this is no longer the case. Together with Ed Gerck, Stefferud was the co-founder (2001) of Network Manifold Associates Inc., working on the development of "target-free" technologies for secure Internet communications. Stefferud was also chairman of the NMA Advisory Board and was involved in the creation of "instant on" security products ZSentry and Zmail.
Retirement
Stefferud retired in 2006. While his health still allowed, Stefferud was active on the Internet until 2007. He lived with his wife Donna in Huntington Beach, CaliforniaHuntington Beach, California
Huntington Beach is a seaside city in Orange County in Southern California. According to the 2010 census, the city population was 189,992; making it the largest beach city in Orange County in terms of population...
, near his daughter, son-in-law, and three grand-children.
Publications
Among Stefferud's publications were:- RFC 934, "Proposed standard for message encapsulation" (with Marshall RoseMarshall RoseMarshall T. Rose is a network protocol and software engineer, author and speaker who has contributed to the Internet Engineering Task Force , the Internet, and Internet and network applications. More specifically, he has specialized in:...
) - RFC 1425, "SMTP Service Extensions" (with John KlensinJohn KlensinDr. John C. Klensin is a computer science professional who is active in Internet-related issues.His career includes 30 years as a Principal Research Scientist at MIT, a stint as INFOODS Project Coordinator for the United Nations University, Distinguished Engineering Fellow at MCI WorldCom, and...
, Ned FreedNed FreedNed Freed has contributed as an IETF participant and RFC writer to a significant number of internet protocol standards.-Life:Edwin Earl "Ned" Freed was born in 1959 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. He graduated from Groton School in 1978...
, Marshall Rose and Dave Crocker), later versions as RFC 1651 and RFC 1869 - RFC 1426, "SMTP Service Extension for 8it-MIMEtransport" (same collaborators), later version as RFC 1652
External links
- online eulogy by Nathaniel BorensteinNathaniel BorensteinNathaniel S. Borenstein is an American computer scientist.He is one of the original designers of the MIME protocol for formatting multimedia Internet electronic mail.-Biography:...
Archives
- Stefferud papers
- MCWG – Internet work group archives, with ideas on security and trust
- Safevote application of ZSENTRY technology to secure online voting
- Archives of MSGGROUP, the first Internet mailing list, 1975-1986