XEP-0377: clarify scope, rename title, and define reporter anonymization

xep-0377.xml

@@ -6,10 +6,9 @@
 <?xml-stylesheet type='text/xsl' href='xep.xsl'?>
 <xep>
 <header>
-  <title>Spam Reporting</title>
+  <title>Blocking Command Reports</title>
   <abstract>
-    This document specifies a mechanism by which users can report spam and other
-    abuse to a server operator or other spam service.
+    This document specifies a mechanism by which reporting information can be attached to a Blocking Command (XEP-0191) request. It enables servers to process reports related to blocked entities while remaining focused on this specific workflow rather than general abuse reporting.
   </abstract>
   &LEGALNOTICE;
   <number>0377</number>
@@ -28,6 +27,18 @@
   <shortname>NOT_YET_ASSIGNED</shortname>
   &sam;
   &gdk;
+  <revision>
+    <version>0.4.1</version>
+    <date>2026-02-25</date>
+    <initials>gdk</initials>
+    <remark>
+      <ul>
+        <li>Explicitly constrain scope.</li>
+        <li>Renamed from 'Spam Reporting' to 'Blocking Command Reports'.</li>
+        <li>Specify optional reporter anonymization method.</li>
+      </ul>
+    </remark>
+  </revision>
   <revision>
     <version>0.4.0</version>
     <date>2025-04-09</date>
@@ -72,13 +83,12 @@
 </header>
 <section1 topic='Introduction' anchor='intro'>
   <p>
-    Many spam and abuse prevention techniques rely on users being able to report
-    other users who are sending unwanted messages, or specific instances of
-    abuse.
-    &xep0191; allows users to block spammers, but does not provide a mechanism
-    for them to report a reason for the block to the server operator.
-    This specification extends the blocking command to optionally provide an
-    abuse report.
+    Many spam and abuse prevention techniques rely on users being able to block
+    spammers. &xep0191; allows users to prevent unwanted messages, but does not
+    provide a mechanism for attaching a reason for the block to the server
+    operator. This specification extends the blocking command to optionally 
+    include a report associated with the blocked entity. It is limited in scope
+    to this workflow and does not define a general-purpose reporting mechanism.
   </p>
 </section1>
 <section1 topic='Background' anchor='background'>
@@ -98,11 +108,14 @@
 </section1>
 <section1 topic='Discovering Support' anchor='disco'>
   <p>
-    Entities that support &xep0030; and abuse reporting using the blocking
-    command as defined in this spec MUST respond to service discovery requests
-    with a feature of 'urn:xmpp:reporting:1'.
-    Support for this namespace also indicates support for the abuse reporting
-    reasons defined in this document.
+    Entities that support &xep0030; and the inclusion of reporting information
+    in conjunction with the Blocking Command as defined in this specification
+    MUST respond to service discovery requests with a feature of 
+    'urn:xmpp:reporting:1'.
+    Advertising this feature indicates that the entity can receive reports
+    attached to a block, including the abuse reasons defined in this document.
+    It does not imply support for independent or generic reporting of spam or
+    abuse outside of the Blocking Command workflow.
     For example, a response from a server that supports reporting and
     understands the abuse and spam reasons defined later in this specification
     might look like the following:
@@ -189,18 +202,22 @@
     that do not explicitly include the corresponding processing option.
   </p>
   <p>
-    Servers MAY anonymize any submission to third-party services to protect the identity
-    of the reporter. Servers SHOULD NOT protect the identity of the reported entity (the
-    alleged spammer/abuser), as it hurts processing without adding any significant
-    protection: it is likely that the origin server can easily look up the original 
-    stanza in their local message archive anyway. Servers can anonymize the report by
-    removing the 'to' attribute of the reported message.
+    Servers MAY forward reports to third-party services. If a server chooses to
+    anonymize the reporter's identity, the only acceptable method is to remove
+    the 'to' attribute from the reported message within the report; no other
+    anonymization methods are defined by this specification. Servers SHOULD NOT
+    anonymize the reported entity (the blocked or allegedly abusive JID), as
+    doing so hinders processing and provides little practical privacy benefit,
+    since the origin server can typically retrieve the original message from
+    its local message archive. This ensures that any processing performed by
+    third-party services cannot reveal the identity of the reporter while
+    preserving the context necessary for handling the report.
   </p>
 </section1>
-<section1 topic='Use with the Blocking Command' anchor='blocking'>
+<section1 topic='Submitting Reports as Part of Blocking' anchor='blocking'>
   <p>
-    To send a report, a report payload MAY be inserted into an &lt;item/&gt;
-    node sent as part of a request to block a spammer as defined in &xep0191;.
+    To send a report, a report payload MUST be included as part of an &lt;item/&gt;
+    node within a Blocking Command request as defined in &xep0191;.
     For example:
   </p>
   <example caption='Report sent with blocking command'><![CDATA[
@@ -211,6 +228,9 @@
     </item>
   </block>
 </iq>]]></example>
+  <p>
+    Reports submitted outside of a Blocking Command are outside the scope of this XEP.
+  </p>
   <p>
     Servers that receive a blocking command with a report MUST block the JID or
     return an error just as they would if no report were present.

xep.ent

@@ -1678,7 +1678,7 @@ IANA Service Location Protocol, Version 2 (SLPv2) Templates</link></span> <note>
 <!ENTITY xep0374 "<span class='ref'><link url='https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0374.html'>OpenPGP for XMPP Instant Messaging (XEP-0374)</link></span> <note>XEP-0374: OpenPGP for XMPP Instant Messaging &lt;<link url='https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0374.html'>https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0374.html</link>&gt;.</note>" >
 <!ENTITY xep0375 "<span class='ref'><link url='https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0375.html'>XMPP Compliance Suites 2016 (XEP-0375)</link></span> <note>XEP-0375: XMPP Compliance Suites 2016 &lt;<link url='https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0375.html'>https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0375.html</link>&gt;.</note>" >
 <!ENTITY xep0376 "<span class='ref'><link url='https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0376.html'>Pubsub Account Management (XEP-0376)</link></span> <note>XEP-0376: Pubsub Account Management &lt;<link url='https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0376.html'>https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0376.html</link>&gt;.</note>" >
-<!ENTITY xep0377 "<span class='ref'><link url='https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0377.html'>Spam Reporting (XEP-0377)</link></span> <note>XEP-0377: Spam Reporting &lt;<link url='https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0377.html'>https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0377.html</link>&gt;.</note>" >
+<!ENTITY xep0377 "<span class='ref'><link url='https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0377.html'>Blocking Command Reports (XEP-0377)</link></span> <note>XEP-0377: Spam Reporting &lt;<link url='https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0377.html'>https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0377.html</link>&gt;.</note>" >
 <!ENTITY xep0378 "<span class='ref'><link url='https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0378.html'>OTR Discovery (XEP-0378)</link></span> <note>XEP-0378: OTR Discovery &lt;<link url='https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0378.html'>https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0378.html</link>&gt;.</note>" >
 <!ENTITY xep0379 "<span class='ref'><link url='https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0379.html'>Pre-Authenticated Roster Subscription (XEP-0379)</link></span> <note>XEP-0379: Pre-Authenticated Roster Subscription &lt;<link url='https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0379.html'>https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0379.html</link>&gt;.</note>" >