Re: [idn] When will IDNs go live?

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

Hi Georg,

This is a very interesting question you ask.  You see, the real question is
really when will registries be moving to transition towards IDNs.  And the
answer to that question "should" be now.  The reality is that whatever IDNA
states, there will be a lengthy period for transition.  First we need to
wait for the documents to be published (which is what we are doing now),
then it is waiting for application providers (such as MSIE or NSCP) to adopt
the standard in their next release of sofware, then we wait for them to
become stable, then we need to wait for the propagation of the new versions
in the market.  And remember every single person on the internet must
upgrade their application, and it is not just the browser, but also any
application that uses domain names in any form.  All in all, it means that
if you want a meaningful percentage of internet users to be able to access
IDNs you are looking at at least a handful of years.

The answer for your concern is therefore in the transition.  How do a
registry provide a seamless transition that makes sense and create a
positive user experience?  We all know very well that users with existing
applications will attempt to access a multilingual domain name and that
these requests will reach the registry DNS server.  Whether the registry
decides to resolve the request or not is their choice.  If the registry
decides to resolve these request (even that it is not preformatted in ACE),
then IDNs are live immediately.  If not, they would most likely be inundated
with customer support calls asking why the names dont work (such as observed
by the VeriSign testbed).

So, my point is, it is up to the registries really when they decide to
address the issue.  In fact .cn and .tw has been working very hard towards
this and have successfully rolled out multilingual.cn and .tw names in their
respective countries.  So has .bz, .tv, .cc and .nu, all of the IDNs under
these domains work already in varying degrees.  And as the millions of users
start to download or upgrade those new IDN aware applications, we will
slowly but surely move towards a standard.  But the key here is the
transition and that can happen today.

Edmon


PS. I could provide you with a more extensive document outlining the issues
and challenges for a domain registry and how to address them with the right
technologies if you wish.  cause this is probably not the best forum to just
send an attachment into.



----- Original Message -----
From: "Georg Ochsner" <georg@ochsner.de>
To: <idn@ops.ietf.org>
Sent: Sunday, June 16, 2002 4:27 AM
Subject: [idn] When will IDNs go live?


> Dear WG,
>
> I've been listening to you now since dec 2001. Besides all the interesting
> technical aspects, I'd be very interested in the schedule now for
launching
> IDNs. Hundred thousands of people are actually waiting for your results
and
> have already spent money on IDNs. On the other side you do not seem to
care
> about time very much (at all?) ...
>
> In the meantime Verisign goes its own way again and has just extended the
> registration period for IDNs for additional free 4 months and will bring
out
> a free ACE-plug-in for IE and outlook...
>
> My question is not technical but aiming on your project management. What
is
> the actual schedule? When will IDNs really go live?
>
> Thanks
> Georg
>
>
>