Q1 is mapping on lookup permanent or transitional?

Erik van der Poel erikv at google.com
Wed Apr 1 18:07:05 CEST 2009


I think that lookup mapping is both required and permanent, because
one goal of IDNA is to extend DNS to non-ASCII characters, and since
we can't change server-side matching software, we must map on the
client side. Another goal is to avoid forcing the user to type
lower-case, when ASCII users have never been forced to type
lower-case. So, software must do the mapping, and therefore the
protocol must require it.

Note that the lookup mapping requirement does not dictate where in the
protocol stack it must be performed. I still believe that U-label is a
significant product of the work of this group, and will probably be
needed at certain layers of certain protocol stacks, such as SMTP
extensions.

On the other hand, although you didn't ask about registration-side
mapping, I find it ridiculous to attempt to forbid mapping on that
side. It is up to the registrars and so on to come up with their own
UIs. We have no say in that matter.

Erik

On Tue, Mar 31, 2009 at 9:05 AM, Vint Cerf <vint at google.com> wrote:
> Q1: Should the proposed mapping on lookup in a revised IDNA2008
> protocol specification be a permanent feature of the protocol or
> should it have a finite lifetime? Should it be required or optional?
>
> This question is intended to be independent of the actual mapping that
> is done. If the question cannot be answered without having specific
> mapping in mind, we should recompose the question accordingly.
>
>
>
> Vint Cerf
> Google
> 1818 Library Street, Suite 400
> Reston, VA 20190
> 202-370-5637
> vint at google.com
>
>
>
>
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