[db-wg] NWI-11 Internationalised Domain Names

>From outside your region, but since we run a "fork" of the RIPE DB
code, I would like to add some comments.

APNIC has seen clear demand from our community for multiple language
alternatives to be possible for at least these attributes:  contact
address (all parts), person names and org names.  It seems to make
sense to include remarks as well. This is a strong, continuing signal
of interest, concern from our region.

It’s not a case of having whois objects in “other languages”, but of
allowing multiple additional language versions of existing attributes
(allowing policy to still require latin script attributes). This is
analogous to RDAP where the data model has explicitly allowed us to
tag the objects/elements as having alternates.

The need comes from the fact that the primary language/script for
these things is the local language, not English. Making whois less
useful for communities in those countries/economies, and less likely
to be accurate. Having to coerce data into western/english script is
reducing the value proposition behind the service.

Raw UTF-8 would work better here. It would permit the model to be
extended naturally into multiple script models. I understand its
inherently more complex than uplift to punycode of the domain elements
in things, but the underlying problem in Whois and language goes
beyond the specific domain-name context.

I guess I am saying "I agree with Gert and I think my community wants this too"

-George

On Wed, Jul 8, 2020 at 4:04 PM Gert Doering via db-wg <db-wg at ripe.net> wrote:
>
> Hi,
>
> On Tue, Jul 07, 2020 at 10:53:40PM +0100, Nick Hilliard wrote:
> > Do you have a better suggestion?  Would raw utf8 work here?  How much
> > would it break?  If there were broader support in the ripedb codebase
> > for utf8, would it be possible to work towards a day in the future when
> > the ripedb could formally support utf8 across multiple different field
> > types, not just email addresses?
>
> That was my suggestion.  UTF8 internal, with an output filter to
> whatever charset the client can handle, possibly defaulting to ISO8859-1
> on "whois" sessions.
>
> Gert Doering
>         -- NetMaster
> --
> have you enabled IPv6 on something today...?
>
> SpaceNet AG                      Vorstand: Sebastian v. Bomhard, Michael Emmer
> Joseph-Dollinger-Bogen 14        Aufsichtsratsvors.: A. Grundner-Culemann
> D-80807 Muenchen                 HRB: 136055 (AG Muenchen)
> Tel: +49 (0)89/32356-444         USt-IdNr.: DE813185279