IDNA2008: concerns about inconsistent mappings, and german sharp s

[Vint Cerf]

Markus,

this has been reviewed repeatedly and the conclusion is that because  
the sharp S is used differently in different jurisdictions, this  
needs to be a choice made at registration time, not at protocol time.  
Some jurisdictions will bundle the sharp S form and the "ss" form so  
that both forms of the domain name are registered in the name of the  
registrant. Upon introduction of sharp S, registries may need to use  
an introductory process that alerts all registrants relying on the  
mapping to register the sharp S form as well. This is "sunrise-like"  
in its behavior.

vint


Vint Cerf
Google
1818 Library Street, Suite 400
Reston, VA 20190
202-370-5637
vint at google.com




On Dec 11, 2008, at 12:42 AM, Markus Scherer wrote:

> Dear IDNA-updaters,
>
> I recently learned about some details about IDNA2008 and was  
> encouraged to voice concerns on this list.
>
> If I understand correctly, IDNA2008 -- unlike the 2003 version --  
> will not prescribe a particular set of character mappings. I am  
> concerned that this will lead to implementations behaving  
> inconsistently, and, for users, unpredictably, leading to  
> navigation to the wrong web sites or getting an error message for  
> what seems like (and used to be) a minor variation (for example, a  
> casing difference).
>
> In particular, as a native German speaker, I am concerned about  
> what I understand to be the effect on using German domain names --  
> regarding the 'ß' ("sharp s", also mis-named "eszett").This  
> character is mostly equivalent to "ss", and normal uppercasing  
> turns it into "SS" (except maybe on passports). Because of this  
> near-equivalence, there is some amount of confusion about when to  
> use "ß" vs. "ss". In particular,
> In Switzerland, "ß" is never used and always replaced with "ss".
> The orthography change of 1996 changed the rules about ß vs. ss and  
> changed many very common words. Anyone who learned to write before  
> the reform (like me) is prone to either still write the old way or  
> be inconsistent, in addition to normal spelling imperfections.
> For several years, prominent newspapers and publishers refused to  
> adopt the new orthography or flip-flopped in their adoption.
> The old IDNA standard mapped "ß" to "ss". I understand that  
> IDNA2008 does not include this mapping (or indeed any other), but  
> does permit ß in unmapped domain names. This means that it will be  
> possible for equivalent domain names (fluß.de vs. fluss.de) which  
> used to be mapped to the same form (fluss.de) to now point to  
> unrelated web sites (where one might be a phishing site mimicking  
> the other), or a user who used to be successful following a link  
> "fluß.de" may now find that their browser fails to connect.
>
> Please review this decision!
>
> It seems like for best consistency and interoperability, the  
> updated IDNA standard should include mappings that are compatible  
> extensions of the 2003 version, except to fix errors and security  
> issues, and in particular should maintain the folding of equivalent  
> domain names to a common representative.
>
> Failing that, it would help to continue to not allow the "ß" in  
> domain names, except as input to an implementation which maps it to  
> "ss" as before.
>
> If that were not adopted either, then users can only hope that all  
> registrars either automatically treat all equivalent forms as  
> aliases or forbid registering a domain name if an equivalent one  
> exists already. (A connection error would be better than a phishing  
> trap.) I am pessimistic about all relevant registrars to learn  
> about this (or anything that's not required by the spec),  
> understand it, and apply it consistently.
>
> Sincerely,
> markus
>
> _______________________________________________
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> Idna-update at alvestrand.no
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