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        RFC 2825

        Title:      A Tangled Web: Issues of I18N, Domain Names, and
                    the Other Internet protocols
        Author(s):  IAB, L. Daigle, Editor
        Status:     Informational
        Date:       May 2000
        Mailbox:    iab@iab.org
        Pages:      7
        Characters: 15612
        Updates/Obsoletes/SeeAlso: None

        URL:        ftp://ftp.isi.edu/in-notes/rfc2825.txt


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.

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.

This document is a product of the Internet Architecture Board.

This memo provides information for the Internet community.  It does
not specify an Internet standard of any kind.  Distribution of this
memo is unlimited.

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