[idn] names returned by DNS are rarely seen

["Adam M. Costello" <amc@cs.berkeley.edu>]

Soobok Lee <lsb@postel.co.kr> wrote:

> The guidelines for registries should not allow Capital 'A'-like
> letters in the registered host name in authoriative dns servers in
> order to secure IDN from ambiguities.

This is the exact opposite of the point than Dan Oscarsson has asserted
many times.  If I understand him correctly, he argues that it's
important for DNS to be able to return names in the form the registrant
intended (mixed case, for example), because that's what DNS is currently
capable of and that's what people will demand.

You seem to be arguing that it's important for DNS not to return names
in visually ambiguous forms (for example, always return lowercase alpha
rather than uppercase alpha).

I don't think enabling/forbidding certain equivalent forms in DNS
responses is going to make much difference one way or the other, because
names returned from DNS are very rarely seen by most users.

Consider the domain cs.berkeley.edu.  That's how it always
appears in the From: field of my messages.  When you paste
http://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~amc/ into your browser, or follow a link to
it, that's how the URL appears in the Location field.  If instead you
followed a link to http://WWW.CS.BERKELEY.EDU/~amc/, then that's how it
would appear.  Actually neither of those forms is ever returned from
DNS, only "CS.Berkeley.EDU" is ever returned.  But you won't see it in
that form unless you go digging for it in Received: header fields or log
files or other places that most users almost never see.

Regardless of what forms are possible/forbidden in DNS responses, people
will still be able to present the names in whatever equivalent forms
they like, for better or worse, to trick people or to make the name more
readable.

AMC