Re: [idn] draft-ietf-idn-requirements-04.txt

[Keith Moore <moore@cs.utk.edu>]

> > > 2) The requirements document MUST NOT presuppose that there is
> > >    at all any "ACE" (TES) used for domain names.
> > 
> > ACE itself is not a fundamental requirement.  however, ACE is
> > very nearly implied by other fundamental requirements, some of
> 
> Not so.
> 
> > which are not in the requirements document.  among these is the
> > need for existing applications and protocols, some of which cannot
> > deal with other than ASCII names, to be able to exchange  IDNs
> > both within the protocol and between applications and other
> > protocols.
> 
> This can, at least in principle, and I would hope in practice,
> be fulfilled by having a parallel (and manually chosen) ASCII
> name for each IDN.

I disagree.  Existing applications won't realize that when an IDN
appears in the context where an ASCII name used to appear, that 
they need to map from the IDN to an ASCII name when they export
that name to some other applicatiaon, nor will they know how to 
perform that mapping.

Keith