scope:

This Technical Report explains how to provide and use time-stamping services so that time-stamp tokens are effective when used to provide timeliness, data integrity, and non-repudiation services in conjunction with other mechanisms. It defines: 

- how time-stamp requesters should use time-stamp token generation services;

- how TSAs (time-stamping authorities) should provide a service of guaranteed quality; 

- how TSAs should deserve trust based on good practices; 

- which algorithms and parameters should be used in TST (time-stamp token) generation and TST renewal, so that TSTs resist during the time period during which the TSTs can be verified as being valid;

- how time-stamp verifiers should use the time-stamp token verification services, both when validating individual TSTs, and when validating sequences of renewal TSTs.