Re: [idn]RE: [idn] Re: An idn protocol for consideration in making the req uirements

[Maynard Kang <maynard@pobox.org.sg>]

ned.freed@innosoft.com wrote:
> As an example of a possible fallback strategy, suppose we add a new fallback
> record to the DNS that translates a UTF-8 name to an equivalent ASCII name. An
> MTA that receives a UTF8HEADER message could then, if it had to, translate the
> 8bit domain names to a fallback names. This is not appreciably worse than
> 8bitMIME in terms of implementation complexity. But it absolutely does require
> support in the IDN proposal to make it work. And the addition of a new record
> type is likely to take a while to deploy. But eventually, should
> UTF8HEADER-capable software come to dominate, the fallback records could be
> dispensed with.

I think that this proposal definitely warrants consideration.

However, I would like to suggest that there should be in place another
translation mechanism to translate the fallback name back into its
original 8bit representation. Otherwise, it would be just like another
7-bit approach - the only difference being the point of translation.

This "reverse"-translation could take place at the final MTA (SMTP
delivery system) where the conversion is done. Assuming that the MUA
does not screw up the 8-bit addresses, it would be transparent to the
end-user as he would be able to see e-mail addresses in full user@8-bit
glory instead of the equivalent user@US-ASCII representation.

Regarding Carl's concerns about having to replace MTAs: this
fallback-translation solution will not require the replacement of all
the MTAs in the relay chain but only the SMTP originator and the SMTP
delivery system and yet still manage to preserve original 8-bit headers.

Maynard