Yes, it does, or rather, it matters that I know whom I'm addressing when I write this *reply* message. I want to know if I'm addressing the same person that I addressed in the previous message regarding the same matter, or if I have to describe the entire problem once again, which is often the case with e.g. tax authorities I wouldn't compare naming authorities with tax authorities... :-) After all the latter category costs you a *lot* more money than the former category... :-( As I said - I have no problems using a function alias as a technical means of reaching you, and the mail alias is an important way of signalling which hat I want you to wear when you read the message, but I want to know with whom I'm dealing. OK, clear. Besides, the standards require that when the From: line differs from the e-mail address of the person who sent the mail, a Sender: line be present. And that's the case in all mails with hostmaster@cwi.nl in the From: line. That's what we call "implicit identification". True. My mail agent unfortunately filters this out (my fault, my problem), therefore I missed this information Ah, I see. Anyway, all messages about this issue were sent by undersigned, but I would like to emphasize again that they were sent in the function of NL Naming Authority and therefore should not be (mis)taken as my personal opinion. Piet Beertema