I was wondering about that.  We seem to be trying to redefine the DNS without 
referencing its foundational documents.  How about:

Domain Label: A label of a domain name, as defined in RFC 1034.
Domain Name: A string which is a ‘domain name’ as defined in RFC 1034 with 
labels separated by dots, or a Wildcard Domain Name.
Domain Namespace (of a domain): All domains which are subdomains of the 
referenced domain, as described in RFC 1034.
Fully Qualified Domain Name: A domain name interpreted relative to the root.  
The Fully Qualified Domain Names used in this document do not end with a period.
Wildcard Domain Name: The string ‘*.’ followed by a ‘domain name’ with labels 
separated by dots as defined in RFC 1034.

> On 17 Jul 2017, at 3:28 pm, Kirk Hall via Public <[email protected]> wrote:
> 
> Here are the difficulties I’m having understanding the new (very complex) 
> Ballot 202 definitions shown below.  I can’t imagine explaining this to our 
> engineering and vetting teams, and I think people will make mistakes.  
> Assuming these definitions parse out, at a bare minimum we should give easy 
> examples for each definition.  These are arranged in a logical order, not 
> alphabetically.
>  
> Also – we won’t really know if these definitions are good and useful unless 
> we compare them to the new text of BR 3.2.2.4, which defines how we are to do 
> validation.  Last week when we pulled back Ballot 190 it was to allow Peter 
> time to tune up the definition of Authorized Domain Name in Ballot 190 the 
> context of BR 3.2.2.4 (so we could remove the Notes that had been added to 
> Ballot 190), but to my surprise, the new definitions have shown up in Ballot 
> 202 instead – I think that’s a mistake.   
>  
> As recently as July 4, Ben said this Ballot 202 would cover the following 
> four subjects: (1) adds dnQualifier as an allowed attribute for all 
> certificate types (including DV), (2) adds ASN.1 info on the EV jurisdiction 
> attribute types, (3) adds language to the EV guidelines to clarify that CAs 
> may limit their aggregate liabilities, (4) allows underscores in domain names 
> and clarifies what can go in common names.  Why did the authors decide to 
> include changes to crucial definitions applicable to domain validation at the 
> same time, but not allow discussion in a pre-ballot?
> 
> At this point, Entrust is inclined to vote no – not because we necessarily 
> oppose the ballot’s aims, but because there are some questions and no time to 
> resolve them before voting starts.
>  
> Here are our concerns about the new definitions.  Again, it would be nice to 
> have more time to discuss, and not start voting on Wednesday.
>  
> Domain Label: An individual component of a Domain Name.  
>  
> [What does this mean – “component”?  Is a period a Domain Label?  A couple of 
> letters?  This seems circular with the Domain Name definition below.  Did you 
> mean “node” and not “component”?  At a minimum, give examples – “In 
> mail.example.com <http://mail.example.com/>, the components are “mail”, 
> “example”, and “com”.  The period “.” is not a component, nor are characters 
> that are less than a full node such as “exa”.]
>  
> Domain Name:  A set of one or more Domain Labels, each separated by a single 
> full stop character (".").  Fully-Qualified Domain Names and Wildcard Domain 
> Names are Domain Names. 
>  
> [Again, somewhat circular – Domain Label says it’s a component of a Domain 
> Name, and Domain Name says it’s made up of Domain Labels… never fully 
> defined. 
>  
> Also, saying that FQDNs and Wildcard DNs are DNs might work, but need to 
> study the rest of the text. 
>  
> Also, this definition does not require a domain name to end in a gTLD or 
> ccTLD, so server1.mail qualifies as a Domain Name?  Might cause trouble with 
> other definitions.]
>  
> Domain Namespace:  The set of all possible Domain Names that are subordinate 
> to a single node in the Domain Name System.
>  
> [Unclear – “subordinate to a single node in the Domain Name System”.  So for 
> server1.mail.example.com <http://server1.mail.example.com/>, is “com” part of 
> the Domain Namespace, or only server1.mail.example?  Also, you say in the 
> definition of Domain Name that an FQDN is a Domain Name, so under the 
> Definition of Domain Namespace, is the entire FQDN (including .com) meant to 
> be subordinate to a single node in the Domain Name System?  Would that 
> require server1.mail.example.com. <http://server1.mail.example.com.com/>com 
> <http://server1.mail.example.com.com/>, with the second “.com” being the 
> single node?
>  
> In the example server1.mail.example.com <http://server1.mail.example.com/>, 
> “server1” and “mail” are subordinate to “example”, so does that mean 
> “server1.mail” is a Domain Namespace that is subordinate to the node 
> “example”?
>  
> Also – we never use Domain Namespace in the rest of the definitions.  Where 
> is it used, and does this definition make sense there?]
>  
> Fully-Qualified Domain Name:  A Domain Name that includes the Domain Labels 
> of all superior nodes in the Internet Domain Name System.
>  
> [Again unclear.  The reference to “all superior nodes” begs the question – 
> superior to what?  A gTLD or ccTLD?  In the example server1.mail.example.com 
> <http://server1.mail.example.com/>, is “server1.mail.example” itself an FQDN, 
> because it includes all “superior nodes” to .com?  Or did you mean to include 
> .com as well to make it an FQDN?]
>  
> Wildcard Domain Name: A Domain Name consisting of a single asterisk character 
> ("*") followed by a single full stop character (".") followed by a 
> Fully-Qualified Domain Name.
>  
> [This is confusing because it starts with Domain Name, then talks about an 
> FQDN – the “*” itself doesn’t turn a Domain Name into an FQDN so why are you 
> using both terms? ]
>  
> Base Domain Name: The portion of an applied-for Domain Name that is the first 
> domain name node left of a registry-controlled or public suffix plus the 
> registry-controlled or public suffix (e.g. "example.co.uk 
> <http://example.co.uk/>" or "example.com <http://example.com/>").
> For Domain Names where the right-most domain name node is a gTLD having ICANN 
> Specification 13 in its registry agreement, the gTLD itself may be used as 
> the Base Domain Name.
>  
> [Ballot 190 stripped out “requested” in front of FQDN wherever it existed, as 
> it seems to get into a CA’s business processes – what the customer requests, 
> as opposed to a domain the CA decides to validate - and adds nothing but 
> confusion.  I recall discussion that used the word “requested” to limit what 
> a CA could do – e.g., using “requested” might limit CA so they could only 
> verify an FQDN the customer “requested” (server1.mail.example.com 
> <http://server1.mail.example.com/>) and not the FQDN the CA wanted to verify 
> to fill the customer’s order (example.com <http://example.com/>).  Now we see 
> the words “applied for” – take it out, it’s not relevant and could restrict 
> what CAs can do.]
>  
> Authorization Domain Name: The Domain Name used to obtain authorization for 
> certificate issuance for a given Domain Name. 
> The CA may use the FQDN returned from a DNS CNAME lookup as the Domain Name 
> for the purposes of domain validation.
> If the Domain Name is a Wildcard Domain Name, then the CA MUST remove “*.” 
> from the left most portion of requested Domain Name.
> The CA may prune zero or more labels from left to right until encountering a 
> Base Domain Name and may use any one of the intermediate values for the 
> purpose of domain validation.
>  
> [First, the word “authorization” does not seem correct – validation (used in 
> BR 3.2.2.4) might make more sense.  A simple WhoIs lookup by itself doesn’t 
> seem like authorization, only validation of a request.
>  
> The first sentence is somewhat circular by using Domain Name twice in one 
> sentence.  The Domain Name used… for a given Domain Name.  ??
>  
> Assuming that server1.mail is a Domain Name, can it be an Authorization 
> Domain Name for something?
>  
> The second sentence again goes from FQDN to Domain Name – not clear why.
>  
> The third sentence again talks about the “requested Domain Name” – requested 
> by the customer?  Please remove “requested”.  Also, why are you saying the * 
> must be removed – do you mean to add something at the end of the sentence 
> like “before the validation is obtained”, or “before a certificate is 
> issued”, or..?  I don’t understand the purpose of this sentence in this 
> definition.
>  
> The final sentence is unclear as to what domain name is being pruned – the 
> Authorization Domain Name?  (The sentence is in that definition.)  Or is the 
> requested domain name being pruned (probably).  This might be one place where 
> it makes sense to use “requested” simply to show a CA can choose to prune and 
> then validate what’s left.  But why is this rule in the definition of 
> Authorization Domain Name?  Shouldn’t it be in BR 3.2.2.4 itself?]
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