Ho Thorfinn,
Accordingly, news servers SHOULD apply to a Supersedes header field the same authentication and authorization checks as they would apply to cancel control messages.Does "the same authentication and authorization checks as they would apply" versus "whatever authentication and authorization checks they would apply" feel different in meaning to you?"the same checks" does definitely have a small difference in implication to "whatever checks". "the same checks" has a slightly stronger implication that there is at least one check. It's not a hugely stronger implication, no. And it is just in implication, rather than in explicit meaning.
Why not say "the same authentication and authorization checks, if any, as they would apply"? -- Julien ÉLIE« La vie ne vaut rien. Mais rien ne vaut la vie. » (André Malraux)