Re: [idn] opting out of SC/TC equivalence

["Edmon" <edmon@neteka.com>]

First of all, sorry for missing out on the previous discussions.
Anyway, I think the point I want to make is that perhaps it makes sense for
SC/TC equivalence to be an optional technical policy matter for different
registries.  Perhaps ccTLDs such as .hk, .tw, .cn, .sg will adopt the SC=TC
and gTLDs might opt not to adopt it.  Does anyone think this is sensible?
Or does everyone believe that SC=TC should be part of nameprep?
Edmon


----- Original Message -----
From: "John C Klensin" <klensin@research.att.com>
To: "Edmon" <edmon@neteka.com>
Cc: <idn@ops.ietf.org>
Sent: Wednesday, August 08, 2001 6:34 AM
Subject: Re: [idn] opting out of SC/TC equivalence


> --On Wednesday, 08 August, 2001 05:24 -0400 Edmon
> <edmon@neteka.com> wrote:
>
> > From: "Eric Brunner-Williams in Portland Maine"
> > <brunner@nic-naa.net>
> >> What is the key value for users "opting out" of SC/TC
> >> equivalences?
> >
> > There are two main scenarios that I could think of that I would
> > like to see SC/TC opted out.
> > Say I wanted to have different online identities in the PRC,
> > HongKong and Taiwan with two Chinese charcters.  And I want to
> > use: <SC><SC> in PRC
> > <SC><TC> in HK and
> > <TC><TC> in Taiwan
> >
> > I want them to resolve to different places. If SC/TC is folded,
> > I will not be able to do so.  Which means if I have an employee
> > John in both the PRC and Taiwan, I could not use John@<SC><SC>
> > and John@<TC><TC> at the same time and use it for different
> > person.
> >
> > Scenario two:
> > If I have a franchisee/partnership operations in the above
> > three regions and the ownership of each is very different, but
> > we want to maintain the name. We wont be able to use the
> > SC/TC/mix to distinguish our domains.
>
> Edmon,
>
> I think we have been here before --in terms of things the DNS
> can't do and should not be expected to do-- in only slightly
> different form.
>
> Briefly, either SC and TC are equivalent, or they are not.  If
> they are, we shouldn't be having this discussion.  If they are
> not, we shouldn't be having this discussion either.  In the
> particular case of TC and SC, what we have been told, repeatedly,
> is that people (normal human beings, not computer experts), will
> expect to be able to use them interchangably.   If you try to do
> this, you will get errors in the hosts or sites that are found
> when people forget your subtle distinctions/ clues and get them
> wrong.
>
> What you are asking for is, IMO, really
>
> Scenario one:
>   Different resolution for <name> based on whether it is resolved
> wrt a site in PRC, HK, or Taiwan.
>
> Scenario two:
>   Different resolution for <name> based on whether it is resolved
> by a user located in PRC, HK, or Taiwan.
>
> Both of those desires generalize to other places, other scripts,
> and other languages.  Both are legitimate.  But they require
> information about context, not little tricks of script-choice,
> especially on a per-character basis.
>
> Now, while I don't think the idea is satisfactory for many
> reasons, you could get that context from the TLD.  <name>.CN,
> <name>.HK, and <name>.TW are clearly different; we would expect
> them to resolve differently (although they could be made to
> resolve to the same target if someone wished).  And we would
> expect that behavior whether we fold SC and TC together or not.
>
> Otherwise, IMO, you need to get the context from something else,
> and that means "outside the DNS".
>
>     john
>