MARINA DEL REY, Calif. (November 14, 2001) - The following letter was issued by Internet Driver, Inc. this morning at the Third Annual ICANN Conference. Press inquiries can be directed to Brad Shewmake at 415-348-2620.
Open Letter on Internationalized Domain Names To ICANN, the IETF, and the Internet Community, ICANN and the IETF are moving quickly toward adopting a standard for non-Latin letter domain names. We are concerned that ICANN's singular focus on Unicode-based conversion (UBC) solutions for internationalized domain names (IDNs) overlooks the inherent functional limitations of that general approach. We ask that ICANN, through its IDN Steering Committee, and the IETF consider all available solutions and do not simply resign themselves to supporting the adoption of UBC. UBC converts non-Latin based domain names into meaningless Latinate strings (e.g., the Japanese character for "dog" becomes "ier943kbo2k3"). This approach creates a fractured Internet by establishing a separate Web for each character script. Although all of these "character Webs" will ultimately reside as alphanumeric domain names on the existing DNS infrastructure, a user of one character script will have no way of typing a website or e-mail address registered in a different character script. None of the UBC systems test-bedding today can access any existing domain name until that name is re-registered in a particular script. Hundreds of millions of Web pages published in non-Latin script already exist, yet under a UBC system these pages will not be accessible using non-Latin URLs unless they are re-registered. Another seldom considered issue is a standard for e-mail addresses. An e-mail address is resolved at the e-mail server level and not on the DNS, therefore, the IDN standard must work in conjunction with an additional e-mail standard. If not, each character Web will have several incompatible e-mail systems. A similar challenge arises in creating and accessing non-Latin script sub-site addresses. To date, both ICANN and champions of UBC solutions have devoted little consideration to these unresolved issues. Before any decision regarding IDNs is made, ICANN and the IETF must ask the following important questions: Can a UBC solution be adopted given its inherent limitations? Do a series of unintegrated non-Latin character Webs adhere to the IETF "fundamental requirement . . . for the DNS to continue to allow any system anywhere to resolve any domain name?" Furthermore, can a standard be adopted that does not accommodate uniform non-Latin letter e-mail and sub-site addresses? Given that there are non-UBC solutions available today that do not suffer from these problems, the answer to the above questions must be a resounding no. We are eager to help in any way possible and hope that ICANN and the IETF will act in the best interest of growing, preserving and protecting a truly global Internet community. We look forward to your response. Sincerely, Steve Klein Chief Executive Officer Internet Driver, Inc. [EMAIL PROTECTED]
