Re: 8 bit characters in DNS names (and URNs?)

[Masataka Ohta <[e-mail]>]

> Now I certainly don't want to reraise the issue of non-ASCII URLs; in any
> case, URLs use DNS for hostnames, and hostnames represented in DNS will
> certainly be restricted to the limited character set specified in RFCs, no
> matter what happens.  On the other hand, recent URN proposals use DNS to
> manage the top-level parts of the URN namespace and use new DNS RR types to
> implement the URN->URL resolver location process.  Although I feel that
> "internationalized" URLs are probably a non-starter, for reasons of
> interoperability and the size of the installed base of URL-using applications,
> "internationalized" URNs (including the DNS-based part) are still possible,
> *if* one problem can be solved.

I'm afraid what you think "internationalized URL" is just "localized URL".

The internationalized URL is a pure ASCII one.

Just like that, the internationalized DNS name is a pure ASCII one.

So, you can internationalize URNs (including the already internationalized
DNS-based part).

> Does anyone on this list have suggestions about how this problem could be
> dealt with?

There is no DNS-related problem.

							Masataka Ohta