Region subtags under 3066 and 3066bis (long)

Doug Ewell dewell at adelphia.net
Tue Feb 22 17:33:22 CET 2005


Frank Ellermann <nobody at xyzzy dot claranet dot de> wrote:

>> Nobody "picked" 1974 for anything.
>
> That "nobody" includes me, I didn't know that 3166 "started"
> 1974.  The public list has codes like RA, 2nd RB, RC, etc.
> with the year 1949 for the reservation, or at least that's
> how I interpreted "R49".

The codes marked "R 49", "R 68", or R-something else are reserved
because of their use in automobile identification codes.  You might know
that, like many other standards, ISO 3166 was originally based on
previous customs and traditions and local standards.  The UN Conventions
of Road Traffic, which gave rise to those little white elliptical
stickers on cars, were among those standards.

I don't have time right now to go through the rest of your points, yet
again.

I have compiled them into a list and sent that list to the authors of
RFC 3066bis and some other interested and supportive observers.  I
included a list of pro and con arguments that was as fair and impartial
as I could possibly make them.  Here in the US we are just coming off a
three-day "bank holiday" weekend and not everyone has had a chance to
reply.  Please be patient while we sort through the discussion.  Most of
the issues involve reversing decisions that were made over the past
year, and while it is not impossible that some decisions may be changed,
I promise you it will not be done frivolously or with excessive haste.

-Doug Ewell
 Fullerton, California
 http://users.adelphia.net/~dewell/




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