Network Working Group                                     P. Saint-Andre
Internet-Draft                                       Cisco Systems, Inc.
Intended status: Informational                                 M. Cotton
Expires: August 17, 2013                                           ICANN
                                                       February 13, 2013


      A Uniform Resource Name (URN) Namespace for IANA Registries
                      draft-saintandre-iana-urn-01

Abstract

   This document defines a Uniform Resource Name (URN) namespace for
   uniquely identifying information contained in registries maintained
   by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA).

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Table of Contents

   1.  Introduction  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   2
   2.  Specification Template  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
   3.  Namespace Considerations  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
   4.  Community Considerations  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
   5.  Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
   6.  IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
   7.  References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
     7.1.  Normative References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
     7.2.  Informative References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   6
   Appendix A.  Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   6
   Authors' Addresses  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   6

1.  Introduction

   The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) allocates and
   maintains unique codes and numbering systems that are used in the
   context of Internet protocols.  Most of the constants and other well-
   known values maintained by the IANA are contained in registries that
   are accessible over the Internet, where each registry is hosted at
   iana.org and identified by a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI)
   [RFC3986] whose resources are retrieved using the Hypertext Transfer
   Protocol (HTTP) [RFC2616].

   Some Internet protocols need persistent identifiers for the entries
   contained in IANA registries.  However, currently such identifiers do
   not exist, for several reasons:

   1.  Each IANA registry is located at an HTTP URI (e.g., "http://
       www.iana.org/assignments/sdp-security-descriptions/sdp-security-
       descriptions.xml"), but there are no "pointers" to specific
       entries in each registry (e.g., the "AES_256_CM_HMAC_SHA1_80"
       entry in the SRTP Crypto Suite registry located at that URI).

   2.  From time to time, the IANA might change the URIs for its
       registries (as was done not long ago when the IANA changed all of
       its registries to use Extensible Markup Language [XML] files
       instead of plain text files).

   It is desirable that names for the entries in IANA registries can be
   persistent and location-independent, which is not necessarily the
   case with names that are also HTTP URIs.  However, Uniform Resource
   Names (URNs) [RFC2141] are designed to be both persistent and
   location-independent.  For example, a URN for the foregoing registry
   entry might be:





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    urn:iana:sdp-security-descriptions:AES_256_CM_HMAC_SHA1_80


   Therefore, in accordance with the process defined in [RFC3406], this
   document defines a formal namespace identifier (NID) that could be
   used to assign URNs representing the information contained in IANA
   registries.

2.  Specification Template

   Namespace ID:

      The Namespace ID "iana" is requested.

   Registration Information:

      Version 1
      Date: [[to be assigned by the RFC Editor]]

   Declared Registrant of the Namespace:

      Registering organization
         Organization:
             Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)
         Address:
             12025 Waterfront Drive, Suite 300
             Los Angeles, CA 90094-2536 USA

      Designated contact
         Role: IANA Department
         Email: iana@iana.org

   Declaration of Syntactic Structure:

      The Namespace Specific String (NSS) of all URNs that use the
      "iana" NID shall have the following structure:

         urn:iana:{RegistryString}:{EntryName}

      The keywords have the following meaning:

         (1) the "RegistryName" is a required ASCII string that
         conforms to the URN syntax (RFC 2141) and defines a
         particular registry maintained by the IANA.

         (2) the "EntryName" is a required ASCII string that
         conforms to the URN syntax (RFC 2141) and defines a
         particular entry in the relevant registry.



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      The IANA is responsible for managing the assignment of both
      "RegistryName" and "EntryName" strings.

   Relevant Ancillary Documentation:

      Information about IANA registration procedures can be found
      on the IANA website and in RFC 5226.

   Identifier Uniqueness Considerations:

      The IANA ensures the uniqueness of all IANA URNs by checking
      RegistryNames and EntryNames against existing names for both
      registries and entries.  The IANA directly ensures the
      uniqueness of the assigned strings and does not assign
      secondary responsibility for management of any sub-trees.
      In no case will the resulting URNs be re-assigned.

   Identifier Persistence Considerations:

      Through its existing registration procedures, the IANA
      ensures that registrants provide clear documentation of
      the entries in IANA registries.

   Process of Identifier Assignment:

      The processes and procedures for identifier assignment are
      documented on the IANA website and in RFC 5226.

   Process for Identifier Resolution:

      The namespace is not currently listed with a Resolution
      Discovery System (RDS).  However, nothing about the namespace
      prohibits the future definition of appropriate resolution
      methods or listing with an RDS.

   Rules for Lexical Equivalence:

      No special considerations; the rules for lexical
      equivalence specified in RFC 2141 apply.

   Conformance with URN Syntax:

      No special considerations.

   Validation Mechanism:

      None specified.




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   Scope:

      Global.


3.  Namespace Considerations

   The IANA is one of the Internet's oldest institutions, with its
   activities dating back to the 1970s.  The use of Uniform Resource
   Names with an appropriate Namespace ID will enable the IANA to assign
   cleaner, more general, more permanent, more reliable, and more
   controllable names for the parameters used by Internet protocols and
   applications.

4.  Community Considerations

   The Internet community will benefit from this namespace by having
   more permanent and reliable names for parameters used in the context
   of Internet protocols and applications.

   The registries maintained by the IANA are open to contributions from
   any interested individual or organization.  See the IANA website and
   documentation of its registration procedures [RFC5226] for detailed
   descriptions of the registration procedures.

5.  Security Considerations

   This document introduces no additional security considerations beyond
   those associated with the use and resolution of URNs in general.

6.  IANA Considerations

   This document defines a URN NID registration of "iana" and thus opens
   the possibility that the IANA can use that namespace if desired.
   However, this document does not stipulate that the IANA is to create
   names for every entry in every registry that it maintains.  The
   IANA's use of the namespace is a matter for IANA policy, which is
   outside the scope of this document.

7.  References

7.1.  Normative References

   [RFC2141]  Moats, R., "URN Syntax", RFC 2141, May 1997.

   [RFC3406]  Daigle, L., van Gulik, D., Iannella, R., and P. Faltstrom,
              "Uniform Resource Names (URN) Namespace Definition
              Mechanisms", BCP 66, RFC 3406, October 2002.



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7.2.  Informative References

   [RFC2616]  Fielding, R., Gettys, J., Mogul, J., Frystyk, H.,
              Masinter, L., Leach, P., and T. Berners-Lee, "Hypertext
              Transfer Protocol -- HTTP/1.1", RFC 2616, June 1999.

   [RFC3986]  Berners-Lee, T., Fielding, R., and L. Masinter, "Uniform
              Resource Identifier (URI): Generic Syntax", STD 66, RFC
              3986, January 2005.

   [RFC5226]  Narten, T. and H. Alvestrand, "Guidelines for Writing an
              IANA Considerations Section in RFCs", BCP 26, RFC 5226,
              May 2008.

   [XML]      Maler, E., Yergeau, F., Sperberg-McQueen, C., Paoli, J.,
              and T. Bray, "Extensible Markup Language (XML) 1.0 (Fifth
              Edition)", World Wide Web Consortium Recommendation REC-
              xml-20081126, November 2008,
              <http://www.w3.org/TR/2008/REC-xml-20081126>.

Appendix A.  Acknowledgements

   Thanks to Martin Duerst for his feedback.

Authors' Addresses

   Peter Saint-Andre
   Cisco Systems, Inc.
   1899 Wynkoop Street, Suite 600
   Denver, CO  80202
   USA

   Phone: +1-303-308-3282
   Email: psaintan@cisco.com


   Michelle Cotton
   Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers
   12025 Waterfront Drive, Suite 300
   Los Angeles, CA  90094-2536
   USA

   Phone: +1-310-823-9358
   Email: michelle.cotton@icann.org






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