Re: [idn] I-D ACTION:draft-ietf-idn-idna-08.txt

["Adam M. Costello" <idn.amc+0@nicemice.net.RemoveThisWord>]

"Eric A. Hall" <ehall@ehsco.com> wrote:

> > As far as I know, no use for the 8th bit has ever been standardized.
>
> The standardized usage is local interpretation.  Any usage is
> compliant.

I'll agree that any usage is compliant, but by definition "local
interpretation" is not "standardized".  By the way, using the 8th bit is
risky, because the DNS spec is very unclear (if not downright silent)
about how DNS servers compare octets with the 8th bit set.

> > IDNA effectively says that the 8th bit is not to be used for
> > internationalization, at least not for the time being.  It's still
> > available for other purposes (like non-textual domain names).
>
> These can still be supported, but they can't be run through the
> converter.

Right.  IDNA requirements do not apply to non-text labels, because:

    Throughout this document the term "label" is shorthand for "text
    label", and "every label" means "every text label".

(Section 2.)

AMC