A Tangled Web: Issues of I18N, Domain Names, and the Other Internet protocols
RFC 2825
Network Working Group Internet Architecture Board (IAB)
Request for Comments: 2825 L. Daigle, Editor
Category: Informational May 2000
A Tangled Web: Issues of I18N, Domain Names, and the
Other Internet protocols
Status of this Memo
This memo provides information for the Internet community. It does
not specify an Internet standard of any kind. Distribution of this
memo is unlimited.
Copyright Notice
Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2000). All Rights Reserved.
Abstract
The goals of the work to "internationalize" Internet protocols
include providing all users of the Internet with the capability of
using their own language and its standard character set to express
themselves, write names, and to navigate the network. This impacts
the domain names visible in e-mail addresses and so many of today's
URLs used to locate information on the World Wide Web, etc. However,
domain names are used by Internet protocols that are used across
national boundaries. These services must interoperate worldwide, or
we risk isolating components of the network from each other along
locale boundaries. This type of isolation could impede not only
communications among people, but opportunities of the areas involved
to participate effectively in e-commerce, distance learning, and
other activities at an international scale, thereby retarding
economic development.
There are several proposals for internationalizing domain names,
however it it is still to be determined whether any of them will
ensure this interoperability and global reach while addressing
visible-name representation. Some of them obviously do not. This
document does not attempt to review any specific proposals, as that
is the work of the Internationalized Domain Name (IDN) Working Group
of the IETF, which is tasked with evaluating them in consideration of
the continued global network interoperation that is the deserved
expectation of all Internet users.
IAB Informational [Page 1]
RFC 2825 Issues: I18N, Domain Names, and Internet Protocols May 2000
This document is a statement by the Internet Architecture Board. It
is not a protocol specification, but an attempt to clarify the range
of architectural issues that the internationalization of domain names
faces.
1. A Definition of Success
The Internationalized Domain Names (IDN) Working Group is one
component of the IETF's continuing comprehensive effort to
internationalize language representation facilities in the protocols
that support the global functioning of the Internet.
In keeping with the principles of rough consensus, running code,
architectural integrity, and in the interest of ensuring the global
stability of the Internet, the IAB emphasizes that all solutions
proposed to the (IDN) Working Group will have to be evaluated not
only on their individual technical features, but also in terms of
impact on existing standards and operations of the Internet and the
total effect for end-users: solutions must not cause users to become
more isolated from their global neighbors even if they appear to
solve a local problem. In some cases, existing protocols have
limitations on allowable characters, and in other cases
implementations of protocols used in the core of the Internet (beyond
individual organizations) have in practice not implemented all the
requisite options of the standards.
2. Technical Challenges within the Domain Name System (DNS)
In many technical respects, the IDN work is not different from any
other effort to enable multiple character set representations in
textual elements that were traditionally restricted to English
language characters.
One aspect of the challenge is to decide how to represent the names
users want in the DNS in a way that is clear, technically feasible,
and ensures that a name always means the same thing. Several
proposals have been suggested to address these issues.
These issues are being outlined in more detail in the IDN WG's
evolving draft requirements document; further discussion is deferred
to the WG and its documents.
3. Integrating with Current Realities
Nevertheless, issues faced by the IDN working group are complex and
intricately intertwined with other operational components of the
Internet. A key challenge in evaluating any proposed solution is the
analysis of the impact on existing critical operational standards
IAB Informational [Page 2]
RFC 2825 Issues: I18N, Domain Names, and Internet Protocols May 2000
which use fully-qualified domain names [RFC1034], or simply host
names [RFC1123]. Standards-changes can be effected, but the best
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