Jan, 2000 : Comment Concerning Trailing-Hyphen Domain Names


📅 -

Since the implementation of the Internetdomain-name system in the 1980s, the specifications publishedand implemented by the Internet community have not permitted labelsmaking up domain names to have trailing hyphens (e.g., "example-.com").Througout this period, the specifications for the format of domainnames have been well-known throughout the Internet technical community.They have been set forth in several RFCs, including RFC1035 (published in 1987) and RFC1123 (published in 1989). The commonly accepted specificationsare reflected in the functionalspecification for the Shared Registry System, through whichcompetitive registrar services were introduced in the .com/.net/.orgtop-level domains last year, which requires that labels end withletters or digits, not hyphens.

In the past several weeks, however, over 800 domain names withlabels containing trailing hyphens were registered by mistakein the .com/.net/.org registry. These names do not conform tothe the functional specification under which the .com/.net/.orgregistry is operated. The registry software in use before January3, 2000, however, permitted registrars to enter these malformattednames into the registry, and some registrars' software similarlyfailed to screen out requests to register these names. Promptlyupon learning that these names had been registered, the registryoperator (NSI-Registry)revised the software to reject additional requests to registernames of this format.

ICANN supports these corrections to maintainthe stability of the Internet. At the ICANN annual meeting onNovember 4, 1999, the ICANN Board approveda package of agreements among NSI, ICANN, the United StatesDepartment of Commerce, and the ICANN-accredited registrars. Thoseagreements require any names that are registered to comply withthe format specified in the registry's functional specification.They also provide that those registering domain names must agreeto cancellation of the registration in the event of a registryor registrar mistake, and in the case of every one of the trailing-hyphennames the registering party did in fact have such an agreement.

The use of domain names in this noncompliantformat presents interoperability problems. The documented formatis well-known throughout the Internet technical community. Amongother things, domain names that violate this format have the potentialof causing software written in reliance on these formats to malfunction,and several instances of actual malfunctions have been identified.

The U.S. Government's Statement of Policy on the Management of Internet Names and Addresses, 63 Fed. Reg. 31741 (June 10, 1998) (commonly known as the "White Paper") specifies that preserving the stability of the Internet should be the first priority of any DNS management system. A second principle that the White Paper states should guide DNS-management activities is the promotion of competition in the provision of registration services.

After consultation among ICANN, NSI-Registry,and the registrars involved, notices have been given to the registeringparties that these names were accepted and registered by mistakeand will be cancelled. These cancellations reflect implementationof longstanding policy, rather than adoption of any new policy.ICANN commends NSI-Registry and the registrars involved for workingconstructively within the competitive framework adopted at theMarch and November 1999 ICANN meetings to effectively and promptlyaddress this challenge to Internet stability. This sort of commitmentto stability and competition will continue and expand the manypublic benefits the Internet has brought.


Reads: 2342 | Category: Domain Names | Source: ICANN : Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers
URL source: http://www.icann.org/announcements/trailing-hyphens-07jan00.htm
Want to add a website news or press release ? Just do it, it's free! Use add web hosting news!

Other news


dynadot.com logo📅 - Wikileaks Gag Sparks Freedom Debate - Following an order last week from a US federal judge, the US arm of whistle-blower website Wikileaks.org was taken down, sparking a debate online concerning free speech, and whether free speech applies in these circumstances. On Friday, February 15, Swiss bank Julius Baer (http://www.juliusbaer.com) succeeded in obtaining an order demanding that the site's host take down Wikileaks, a site that enabled insiders to anonymously leak incriminating documents to the public. Dynadot (dynadot.com 👉 Total Reviews: 19
🙌 Average Rating: 1 / 10
👍 Good Reviews: 0
👎 Bad Reviews: 19
👈 Official Responses: 10
) the US-based host that served the Wikileaks main site, reportedly agreed not only to take down the site, but to block the wikileaks.org domain from being transferred to another provider, ...
📅 - Ebone To Provide Hosting, IP Services For European - European Web hosting and network services company Ebone announced today that it been chosen as the European provider of Web hosting and related infrastructure for the Internet's newest Top Level Domain (TLD): .name. The announcement came following an agreement between the GNR (Global Name Registry) and ICANN (The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Number) to license the world's first for personal domain registration. ICANN selected GNR to develop, maintain and supervise the new TLD, which will assign individuals the domain equivalent of their own name with a .name extension. Someone named Bob Smith, for example, would have the domain www.Bob.Smith.name. An ...
viawest.net📅 - UCN Colocates at ViaWest IDC in - Managed hosting and colocation provider ViaWest (viawest.net) announced on Tuesday that UCN, Inc. would colocate at its Salt Lake City data center. ViaWest says UCN will colocate its back-end and billing support systems, allowing them to take advantage of ViaWest's state-of-the-art facility and technical resources."We decided to colocate with ViaWest rather than to build our own data center due to the benefits of time and cost savings," says Scott Welch, executive vice president of operations for UCN. "By partnering with ViaWest, we were able to sign a contract and migrate to their data center in three weeks; it was a seamless process. Long term this will give ...
Icann📅 - ICANN Accredits Twelve New Domain Name Registrars - (January 25, 2000) The Internet Corporationfor Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) announced today that twelveadditional applicant companies have met the criteria to be accreditedas domain name registrars in the .com, .net, and .org domains.As accredited registrars, these companieswill compete in the market for domain name registration servicesby participating in the Shared Registry System (SRS), which allowsmultiple ICANN-accredited registrars to register domain namesending in .com, .net, and .org.The companies named today join the 98 companiesthat were previously announced by ...
Icann📅 - ICANN ASO - Website and Discussion Lists - This is an announcement to all partieswith interests in management of Internet Address space and relatedresources.The Address Supporting Organisation ofICANN (the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers)was established last year, and has assumed its responsibilitiesunder the ICANN Bylaws for coordination of global policy developmentin relation to Internet Addresses and related resources. Thenine-member Address Council has also been established, in accordancewith the ASO MoU and ICANN Bylaws.Since its establishment, the ASO has establishedmailing ...
Icann📅 - ICANN Public Forum for Ad Hoc Group on Numbering and Addressing - In response to requests from a number of interested companies and individuals, ICANN has created an ad hoc group to study and report on requirements for future numbering policies. The objective of the ad hoc group is to identify issues and problems of relevance to future policy in the area of addressing and numbering.The work of the ad hoc group will take place in a public comment forum, being launched today, and is open to any interested participant or observer. See <https://www.icann.org/adhoc/index.htm> to access the public comment ...