Internet DRAFT - draft-imic

draft-imic



INTERNET-DRAFT                                Walter Stanish
Intended status: Standards Track                Payward Inc.
Category: Experimental                         November 2011
Expires: May 16, 2012

               Internet Market Identification Code (IMIC)
                             draft-imic-00


Abstract


   An Internet MIC (IMIC) identifies an internet-based financial market
   in a manner that is superset-compatible with the ISO's existing
   Market Identification Code (MIC) standard [ISO10383].


Status of this Memo


   This memo defines an Experimental Protocol for the Internet
   community.  This memo does not specify an Internet standard of any
   kind.  Discussion and suggestions for improvement are requested.
   Distribution of this memo is unlimited.

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   This Internet-Draft is submitted in full conformance with the
   provisions of BCP 78 and BCP 79.

   This Internet-Draft will expire on May 16, 2012.





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1.  Introduction


   An Internet MIC (IMIC) identifies an internet-based financial market.
   No assumptions are made about settlement paths or the currencies or
   commodities exchanged on the market.  IMIC provides a building block
   with which the internet community can develop viable, interoperable
   alternatives to legacy financial systems.

   Technically, IMIC is an unofficial superset of the ISO's existing
   Market Identification Code standard [ISO10383] that is widely used
   for global identification of conventional financial exchanges.
   Against the ISO's MIC registry [MIC-REG], IANA assumes name space
   management rights for codes beginning with the digits 0-9 in order to
   obtain an adequate name space with which to provide a financial
   market registrar service for the internet community.

   The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT",
   "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this
   document are to be interpreted as described in BCP 14, RFC 2119
   [RFC2119].











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Table of Contents


   1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   2
   2. Requirement. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
   3. Solution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
    3.1. ISO10383 (MIC). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
    3.2. IMIC. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
   4. General Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
    4.1. Namespace Prefix. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
    4.2. Identifier Issuing Paradigms. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   6
     4.2.1. Distributed Hash Table (DHT) . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   6
     4.2.2. Private Issue. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   6
     4.2.3. Combined Issue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   7
    4.3. Why Markets?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   7
    4.4. Number of Markets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   7
   5. Security Considerations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   8
   6. IANA Considerations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   8
    6.1. Market Identifiers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   8
     6.1.1. Reserved IMIC. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   8
     6.1.2. Registration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   8
     6.1.3. Modification / Cancellation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   9
     6.1.4. Expiry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   9
    6.2. Publications. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   9
     6.2.1. IMIC Market Identifier Registry. . . . . . . . . . . . .   9
    6.3. Future Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   9
    6.4. ISO Liason. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   9
    6.5. Security. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  10
   7. References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  11
    7.1. Normative References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  11
    7.2. Informative References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  11
   8. Acknowledgments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  12
   9. Authors' Addresses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  12
   10. Appendices. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  13
    10.1. Appendix A: Special Purpose MIC Values . . . . . . . . . .  13















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2.  Requirement


   In recent years the internet has seen the emergence of online markets
   trading in both conventional and novel [BITCOIN] financial
   instruments.

   Given this trend, it makes sense to propose a standard mechanism for
   the consistent, global identification of internet-based markets.
   IMIC provides such a mechanism.



3.  Solution

3.1.  ISO10383 (MIC)


   For inspiration we look toward present standards for the global
   identification of financial markets and exchanges in conventional
   financial networks.  Today's most widely widely adopted international
   standard in this area is the International Standards Organizations's
   Market Identification Code (MIC) [ISO10383].

   In practice, a MIC is simply a unique series of four alphanumeric
   characters that is associated with a given market by publishing it
   within the ISO's Market Identification Code registry [MIC-REG].



3.2.  IMIC


   In order to issue financial endpoint identifiers within the MIC
   [ISO10383] scheme IANA assumes management of the portion of the name
   space beginning with the digits 0-9.  IMIC thus becomes superset-
   compatible with MIC.

   The IMIC format may be expressed in ABNF [RFC5234] as follows:

    imic         = digit 3char     ; eg: 0I7E
    mic          = letter 3char    ; eg: XTAF

    char         = digit / letter
    digit        = "0" / "1" / "2" / "3" / "4" / "5" / "6" / "7" / "8" /
                   "9"
    letter       = "A" / "B" / "C" / "D" / "E" / "F" / "G" / "H" / "I" /
                   "J" / "K" / "L" / "M" / "N" / "O" / "P" / "Q" / "R" /



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                   "S" / "T" / "U" / "V" / "W" / "X" / "Y" / "Z"

   Of the assumed name space, only codes with the zero (0) prefix are
   initially considered assignable by IANA, with the remainder reserved
   for private or future use as summarized below.

    +--------+-------+------+----------------------------+------------+
    | Prefix | Auth. | Std. | Description                | Codepoints |
    +--------+-------+------+----------------------------+------------+
    | 0000   | IANA  | IMIC | Local (or default) market  |          1 |
    | 0      | IANA  | IMIC | IANA assignable name space |     46,655 |
    | 10     | IANA  | IMIC | Private use                |      1,296 |
    | 11-1Z  | IANA  | IMIC | (Reserved for future use)  |     45,360 |
    | 2-9    | IANA  | IMIC | (Reserved for future use)  |    373,248 |
    | A-Z    | ISO   | MIC  | ISO managed name space     |  1,213,056 |
    +--------+-------+------+----------------------------+------------+



4.  General Considerations

4.1.  Namespace Prefix


   ISO's Market Information Code (MIC) registry document [MIC-REG]
   contains assignments spanning approximately eight years, yet contains
   no evidence that a MIC has ever been issued with leading digits.
   IANA may thus safely and conveniently subsume management of the
   portion of the name space beginning with the digits 0-9.

   Within this name space, a strong candidate for an initial prefix from
   which IANA may issue IMIC assignements is zero ('0').  Zero is
   considered particularly attractive for the following reasons:

    * It is unlikely that a market will emerge that is best identified
      with leading '0'.

    * '0' will appear above legacy market identifiers in alphabetically
      sorted destination lists.

    * '0' provides reduced complexity for international recognition.

    * The digit '0' tends to have digital connotations.

   IMIC therefore reserves the name space defined by any leading digit
   for assignment by IANA, but employs '0' as the initial prefix for
   assignments.




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4.2.  Identifier Issuing Paradigms

4.2.1.  Distributed Hash Table (DHT)


   Using distributed hash tables (DHT) or a similar mechanism it may be
   possible to provide dynamic identifier name space management within a
   financial network itself, such that individual markets can self-issue
   IMICs and have them corroborated by network consensus.

   Drawbacks to this approach include:

    * The 'always on, always connected' requirement of most of these
      architectures.

    * The 'endpoint exposure' problem.
      IP addresses for critical financial systems or their proxies
      are generally made available to a DHT network, which MAY not
      be desirable in a financial services setting.

    * Namespace exhaustion.
      Without some underlying capability for reliable network
      participant identification, a single party COULD request vast
      quantities of identifiers in a bid to disrupt the network through
      name space exhaustion or processing overhead, causing Denial of
      Service (DoS).

   The primary benefit of a DHT-based approach is that it is completely
   decentralized, thus avoiding issues associated with centralization.

   In future, part of the reserved name space might be considered for
   assignment to a DHT-style self-managing peer to peer network.



4.2.2.  Private Issue


   Just as the Internet Protocol provides a mechanism for Address
   Allocation for Private Internets [RFC1918], so too IMIC provides a
   mechanism for address allocation for private financial networks.
   Private financial networks MAY include those operated associated with
   Massive Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Games (MMORPGs) or financial
   simulations.

   For this reason, the prefix '10' (in deference to IPv4's well known
   10.x.x.x range [RFC1918]) is allocated for private use, with a total
   of 1,296 codepoints.



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4.2.3.  Combined Issue


   Various approaches have been discussed with reference to their
   individual benefits and drawbacks.  A combined process allows these
   to be balanced against other requirements, such as IANA's need to
   perform name space management.  Under the IMIC scheme, provision for
   privately issued addresses is included, top-level institution
   registration is managed by IANA, and future assignments COULD provide
   DHT or similar mechanisms for the management of a delegated name
   space to users desirous of such services.



4.3.  Why Markets?


   With the advent of truly decentralized virtual currencies such as
   [BITCOIN] the conventional idea of a financial market (such as a
   stock exchange) MAY be seen by some as superfluous.  However, the
   notion remains useful:

    * Consolidated instruments such as corporate stock require a degree
      of centralization in order to maintain rapid settlement of trades

    * Multi-currency or multi-instrument markets will require support
      for conventional currencies whose immediate settlement is
      difficult or impossible in many situations.

    * Systems such as [BITCOIN] have quirks that require slightly
      delayed settlement due to the nature of their decentralized,
      consensus-based approach to fiscal transfer.



4.4.  Number of Markets


   The present ISO Market Identification Code (MIC) database contains
   794 'live' codes.  We therefore assume a requirement to support at
   least a few thousand market codes.  We claim 466,560 codepoints from
   ISO's existing name space (prefixes 0-9), and activate 46,656 (10%)
   under the prefix zero ('0') for immediate assignment.








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5.  Security Considerations

IMIC only provides a financial market identification scheme and DOES NOT
approach problems of communications security, which are purposefully
left to other protocols.  Other than IANA processes regarding
registration, maintenance, expiry of registrant codepoints and the
potential for name space exhaustion, no security security considerations
are felt to apply.



6.  IANA Considerations

6.1.  Market Identifiers

6.1.1.  Reserved IMIC

   The following IMIC are reserved and MUST NOT be issued to
   registrants.

    +------+----------------------------------------+
    | IMIC | Purpose                                |
    +------+----------------------------------------+
    | 0000 | Denotes the local (or default) market. |
    +------+----------------------------------------+

   Implementers should note that the precise meaning of '0000' is
   system-specific and as such it MUST NOT be used in inter-system
   communications except by explicit prior arrangement.  (See also
   Appendix A: Special Purpose MIC Values).


6.1.2.  Registration

   Internet MICs (IMICs) MUST be assigned by IANA on a first come first
   served basis [RFC5226].  IMICs SHOULD NOT be provided to entities
   with existing MICs, as this would represent duplicate allocation
   under the MIC standard.  Such entities MUST be defined as those
   appearing within SWIFT's official MIC registry [MIC-REG].
   Registrants MUST provide the domain name with which their service is
   primarily associated and the name of the registrant (either a person
   or an organizational entity).  Registrants MAY provide a physical
   address, and MAY provide one additional identifier such as a business
   registration or license number.

   IMICs MUST be assigned randomly from the pool of available
   assignments and MUST NOT be granted on a specific request basis.
   Thus, the first issued institution code MUST NOT be '001'.



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   Institutions unhappy with their random assignment for legitimate
   reasons (such as unfortunate numerological connotations) MAY request
   one (1) replacement assignment.  No further replacement is allowed.
   Registrants requesting replacement assignments automatically cause
   their initial allocation to expire (see Expiry, below).


6.1.3.  Modification / Cancellation

   Registrants MUST contact IANA to cancel or change the details
   associated with their registration.  Authentication procedures will
   be stipulated at IANA's discression.


6.1.4.  Expiry

   In case of imminent name space exhaustion and no viable alternative
   avenues for expansion, IANA MAY consider the expiry of a registrant's
   stated primary domain for a reasonable period (as determined by IANA)
   as adequate grounds for the deallocation of an IMIC.  Deallocated
   IMIC MUST be immediately returned to the pool of available
   allocations, and MUST be re-issued to new parties on a first come,
   first served [RFC5226] basis.


6.2.  Publications


6.2.1.  IMIC Market Identifier Registry

   IANA SHALL publish revisions to the global registry of IMIC
   institution identifiers as changes are made.  The registry SHALL
   include date of registration and date of last modification of each
   record, in addition to registrant information and the assigned
   institution code.


6.3.  Future Considerations

   In future, part of the reserved name space might be considered for
   assignment to a DHT-style self-managing peer to peer network.


6.4.  ISO Liason

   In the future, at IANA's discretion, it may be worthwhile for the
   sake of preventing double assignemnt to contact the ISO's ISO10383
   managing authority (SWIFT) via http://www.iso15022.org/ and advise



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   them of leading-digit MIC name space utilization.


6.5.  Security

   IANA MUST provide adequate authentication of registrant institution
   communications in order to prevent the subversion of established
   institutions' registration information via IANA's registrar
   functions.  As IANA is likely to have superior experience in this
   domain, specific procedures are left to IANA's judgement.









































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7.  References

7.1.  Normative References


   [ISO10383]      ISO TC 68/SC 4 (Securities and related financial
                   instruments), "ISO 10383:2003: Securities and
                   related financial instruments - Codes for exchanges
                   and market identification (MIC)", ISO10383:2003.
                   http://www.iso.org/iso/catalogue_detail?
                    csnumber=33444

   [MIC-REG]       SWIFT, "ISO10383, Codes for exchanges and market
                   identification", October 3rd, 2011.
                   http://www.iso15022.org/MIC/homepageMIC.htm

   [RFC2119]       Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to
                   Indicate Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119,
                   March 1997.

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

   [RFC5234]       Crocker, D. and P. Overell, "Augmented BNF for
                   Syntax Specifications: ABNF", STD 68, RFC 5234,
                   January 2008.



7.2.  Informative References



   [BITCOIN]       Nakamoto, S., "Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic
                   Cash System", 2009-05-24.
                   http://www.bitcoin.org/bitcoin.pdf

   [RFC1918]       Rekhter, Y. et al, "Address Allocation for Private
                   Internets", BCP 5, RFC 1918, Feburary 1996.











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8.  Acknowledgments


    * Payward Inc. funded the research and development of this document.


9.  Authors' Addresses


   Walter Stanish
   Payward Inc.
   <walter@stani.sh>







































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10.  Appendices

10.1.  Appendix A: Special Purpose MIC Values

   The Market Identification Code (MIC) registry [MIC-REG] specifies the
   following special values of which implementers should be aware.

    +------+--------------------------------------+
    | MIC  | Purpose                              |
    +------+--------------------------------------+
    | XXXX | No market (eg: unlisted securities)  |
    +------+--------------------------------------+







































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