The text looks good. I'd suggest just one change, to the following:<br><br>> - Revise bi-directional algorithms to produce a deterministic<br>>
answer whether a label is allowed or not<br>>
- Determine whether bi-directional algorithm should allow<br>>
additional mnemonics labels<br><br>The above wording is a bit misleading, since it suggests that IDNA2003 wasn't deterministic in what it specified about BIDI labels. IDNA2003 was deterministic in what it specified; it just was not optimal in that it didn't prevent visual ambiguity due to ordering. Also, the Unicode BIDI algorithm itself is not being modified; just the restrictions on label contents based on that algorithm. And the comment about mnemonics is a bit mysterious to me.<br>
<br>So my suggestion would be to replace the above two bullets with:<br><br>- Revise the restrictions on labels to provide for better visual disambiguation in the cases where characters would be subject to bidirectional reordering.<br>
<br>Mark<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Tue, Feb 26, 2008 at 9:57 AM, The IESG <<a href="mailto:iesg@ietf.org">iesg@ietf.org</a>> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
A new IETF working group has been proposed in the Applications Area. The<br>
IESG has not made any determination as yet. The following draft charter<br>
was submitted, and is provided for informational purposes only. Please<br>
send your comments to the IESG mailing list (<a href="mailto:iesg@ietf.org">iesg@ietf.org</a>) by March 4,<br>
2008.<br>
<br>
Internationalized Domain Name (idn)<br>
=============================<br>
Last modified: 2008-02-18<br>
<br>
Current Status: Proposed Working Group<br>
<br>
Chair(s):<br>
<br>
TBD<br>
<br>
Applications Area Directors:<br>
<br>
Lisa Dusseault (<a href="mailto:ldusseault@commerce.net">ldusseault@commerce.net</a>)<br>
Chris Newman (<a href="mailto:Chris.Newman@sun.com">Chris.Newman@sun.com</a>)<br>
<br>
Applications Area Advisor:<br>
<br>
Lisa Dusseault (<a href="mailto:ldusseault@commerce.net">ldusseault@commerce.net</a>)<br>
<br>
Mailing List:<br>
<br>
General Discussion: <a href="mailto:idna-update@alvestrand.no">idna-update@alvestrand.no</a><br>
To Subscribe:<br>
<a href="http://www.alvestrand.no/mailman/listinfo/idna-update" target="_blank">http://www.alvestrand.no/mailman/listinfo/idna-update</a><br>
Archive: <a href="http://www.alvestrand.no/pipermail/idna-update/" target="_blank">http://www.alvestrand.no/pipermail/idna-update/</a><br>
<br>
Description:<br>
<br>
The original Internationalized Domain Name (IDN) WG set the<br>
requirements for international characters in domain names in<br>
RFC 3454, RFC3490, RFC3491 and RFC3492 in 2002. These documents<br>
were tied to Unicode version 3.2 and an update to the current<br>
version (5.x) is required to accommodate additional scripts.<br>
In addition, experience has shown a number of real or perceived<br>
defects or inadequacies with the protocol. Some of them are<br>
described in an IAB review (RFC4690), which also provides a good<br>
introduction to the subject matter.<br>
<br>
IDNA is currently tied to an obsolete version of Unicode. This WG<br>
is chartered to untie IDNA from specific versions of Unicode using<br>
algorithms that define validity based on Unicode properties. It is<br>
recognized that some explicit exceptions may be necessary in any<br>
case, but attempts would be made to minimize these exceptions.<br>
<br>
Additional goals:<br>
<br>
- Separate requirements for valid IDNs at registration time,<br>
vs. at resolution time<br>
- Revise bi-directional algorithms to produce a deterministic<br>
answer whether a label is allowed or not<br>
- Determine whether bi-directional algorithm should allow<br>
additional mnemonics labels<br>
- Permit effective use of some scripts that were<br>
inadvertently excluded by the original protocols.<br>
<br>
The constraints of the original IDN WG still apply, namely to<br>
avoid disturbing the current use and operation of the domain<br>
name system, and for the DNS to continue to allow any system<br>
to resolve any domain name. The basic approach of the original<br>
IDN work will be maintained -- substantially new protocols or<br>
mechanisms are not in scope. In particular, IDNs continue to<br>
use the "xn--" prefix and the same ASCII-compatible encoding,<br>
and the bidirectional algorithm follows the same basic design.<br>
<br>
The WG will work to ensure practical stability of the validity<br>
algorithms for IDNs (whether based on character properties or<br>
inclusion/exclusion lists).<br>
<br>
The work is currently organized into four deliverables, all<br>
Standards Track. The WG will verify that it has consensus<br>
to adopt the proposed documents as a starting point. The<br>
Overview document with explanation and rationale is intended<br>
for Standards Track status because it has definitions and<br>
other normative text required by the other documents. The<br>
protocol specification explains how to map non-ASCII<br>
characters into ASCII DNS labels. It relies normatively on<br>
two other documents that are separate for readability: the<br>
bidirectional algorithm specification and the character<br>
validity tables. The validity of characters in IDNs is<br>
almost exclusively based on Unicode properties but is<br>
organized as tables and categories for readability.<br>
<br>
Goals and milestones:<br>
<br>
Mar 08: WG Last Call for Overview/Rationale document<br>
Apr 08: Revised Overview/Rationale document<br>
Apr 08: WG Last Call for Protocol, Bidi and Tables documents<br>
May 08: Revised Protocol, Bidi and Tables documents<br>
May 08: Review Overview document again if needed<br>
Jul 08: Request for publication for all documents<br>
<br>
Documents:<br>
<br>
<a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-klensin-idnabis-issues" target="_blank">http://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-klensin-idnabis-issues</a><br>
<a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-klensin-idnabis-protocol" target="_blank">http://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-klensin-idnabis-protocol</a><br>
<a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-faltstrom-idnabis-tables" target="_blank">http://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-faltstrom-idnabis-tables</a><br>
<a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-alvestrand-idna-bidi" target="_blank">http://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-alvestrand-idna-bidi</a><br>
<br>
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</blockquote></div><br><br clear="all"><br>-- <br>Mark