More detail: a sketchy idea for expressing zone policy

Patrik Fältström patrik at frobbit.se
Thu Dec 10 09:42:39 CET 2009


On 9 dec 2009, at 19.00, Andrew Sullivan wrote:

>> Another problem is that it doesn't help when processing disconnected
>> strings.  If I wanted to validate a URL in an address book, I'd have
>> to look it up.
> 
> Hrm.  Isn't that true today?  If I give you a URL, don't you have to
> check in the DNS to see whether you get NXDOMAIN?

Sometimes you do not use DNS, but instead other protocols to resolve what "looks like a domain name in a domain name slot in a protocol".

See section 3.1 of draft-iab-idn-encoding-01.txt.

This is for me the reason why we (IETF) have to make sure what is passed around in protocols here and there really are A-labels / U-labels.

Mappings should be "as far away from the protocols as possible", but OF COURSE be there to help the user. Just like software is "helping" (quotes as not everyone see that as a help) users already today. Anything that can help the software to help in a way that the user likes is of course good.

But, we must think in a bit larger circles than "the web" and "dns", unfortunately. If it was only the web and dns we talked about it could have been a simpler problem to solve. But "domain names" are more widely used that that.

I say without saying the idea from Andrew is bad. I must chew on it a bit. Similar ideas where discussed in ICANN for a while, and I do not remember all details why it did not move forward. Andrew should remember, so now when you Andrew propose it (again?) I must think hard (again?). ;-)

   Patrik



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