RE: [idn] Document Status?

[Erik Nordmark <Erik.Nordmark@sun.com>]

> IMO, if this is the intention, then the document needs to be
> made crystal clear -- this is a really bad area in which to say
> something circumspect that people can interpret as they will.
> And, in particular, it needs to be clear that:
> 
> (i) No one can expect a client-side error message on the basis
> of any of these excluded characters, labels, or sequences.
> I.e., that one must look up a name and, if it isn't present,
> return a "nodomain" error and not be expected (or even
> permitted) to return "that isn't a valid string in Lower
> Slobbovian".
> 
> (ii) The _only_ thing a registry (or other form of zone
> administrator) is permitted to do is to specify what character
> content will not be accepted in labels being registered, or what
> specific labels will not be registered.  This does not make any
> of those characters or sequences "invalid" as far as the
> protocol is concerned, it is just a restriction on registration
> in that particular zone or set of zones.  Any notions of local
> (or per-zone) interpretation of what particular characters
> "mean", or how they are to be interpreted or mapped, are
> off-limits and seriously noncomforming -- so seriously so that
> the administrator of the parent zone should consider it grounds
> for considering redelegation as a threat to global Internet
> interoperability.

John,

Do you have a feel for how lengthy text is needed? I'd like to find the
actual text that can be put in the document to make this more clear.

For instance, would it be sufficient to add after 
     This document does not attempt to define an "internationalized host
     name".  It is expected that some name-handling bodies, such as large
     zone administrators and groups of affiliated zone administrators,
     will want to limit the characters allowed in IDNs further than
     what is specified in this document, such as to prohibit additional
     characters that they feel are unneeded or harmful in registered
     domain names.
this text:
     Such prohbitations are outside of the scope of the IDNA (and DNS)
protocol 
     specifications. They can only be applied at domain name registration
time. 
     In particular, they MUST NOT have any impact on the behavior of the
     on-the-wire protocol.

  Erik