On Wed, Jan 28, 2004 at 10:48:42PM +0100, Fredy Kuenzler wrote: > http://www.reisen.ch/idn/ > sorry, currently only german. But interesting topic. > F.
And here the statement from Switch from yesterday about this issue (see below). I guess three will be many people online on 1st March at midnight... (including myself: of course I _need_ m�ller.ch :) --------------------------------------------------------------------- Statement (source: http://www.switch.ch/id/announcements.html?id=63 ) 09.02.2004 by SWITCH on the press release issued by the company, reisen.ch AG, Berne. In a press release dated 28 January 2004, the company, reisen.ch AG, Berne, wrote that it considers "unlawful the procedure selected by SWITCH for the introduction of IDN (Internationalised Domain Names, i.e. domain names with accents and umlauts)". SWITCH sets out its opinion here and clarifies the misunderstandings that have arisen. The company, reisen.ch AG, Berne, the holder of domain names which contain "ue" as a substitute for the unavailable character "�" asked SWITCH to allocate it the corresponding domain names with "�" instead of "ue" and to postpone the introduction date for domain names with accents and umlauts (Internationalised Domain Names, or IDN). The characters "ue" are not identical to "�", and "e" is not identical to "�" in either linguistic or technical terms. For instance, "poet" is not the same as "p�t", and ships dont travel through the "S�zkanal" but through the "Suezkanal". In technical terms, Internationalised Domain Names constitute an extension of the address space (A-Z, 0-9, hyphen). The IDN b�cher.ch is really made up of the character sequence xn--bcher-kva.ch, referred to in technical terms as the "ACE-string". "xn--bcher-kva.ch" and "b�cher.ch" are thus two different things. To quote SWITCHs lawyer, Nicole Beranek Zanon: AA transcription of the type that reisen.ch AG is asking for goes against the 'first come, first served' principle that SWITCH is legally obliged to apply. Also, SWITCH does not have to check who is entitled to a domain name, and the transcription would make it necessary to perform checks of this type. Added to this, SWITCH is forbidden by law to accept reservations for domain names." SWITCH is aware of the fact that conflicts may arise in individual cases. This is why the introduction of IDN is being accompanied by the introduction of a Dispute Resolution Service, designed to ensure that conflicts can be resolved amicably and efficiently. It is claimed that SWITCH has not observed the statutory period of notice. The standard referred to is not applicable to domain names, however, which is why no violation has occurred. Both the Swiss Federal Office of Communications (OFCOM) and SWITCH have issued press releases giving the public sufficient information on the forthcoming introduction of IDN. The first press release by SWITCH was issued in 2002, and information was provided in a media release of 24 November 2003 that was taken up on a nationwide basis. SWITCH has had information on the basic technical principles, the background and the legal aspects of IDN (domain names with accents and umlauts) posted continuously on its website for many months at www.switch.ch/id/idn IDN, or domain names with accents and umlauts are being introduced for the Internet community on 1 March 2004, and the corresponding requests will be processed by SWITCH as of this date on a strict "first come, first served" basis and in accordance with SWITCHs valid General Terms and Conditions (GTC). � 2004 SWITCH --------------------------------------------------------------------- regards, Olivier ---------------------------------------------- [EMAIL PROTECTED] Maillist-Archive: http://www.mail-archive.com/swinog%40swinog.ch/
