Quoting John Hawkinson via tz on Wednesday December 03, 2025: > > Are we really telling James that he is supposed to go change Google Calendar. > AND Zoom? > ... > It sure is convenient for us to pretend that identifiers are not exposed to > users, but that has never been true.
Some years back, when we identified a spate of government regulators making time zone policy changes on short notice, we started some explicit outreach to governments to send messages on what best practices are and the consequences of doing it poorly. It is something we've reinforced periodically when we speak with governments around the typical shift into and out of daylight saving time. Would a similar approach to software vendors be desirable, particuarly notable applications that have a large audience that use naked TZ identifiers, to encourage them to do something else? If so, what is the guidance? I don't think pointing merely pointing to a theory file is going to move the needle but a more tailored set of guidance on best practices, what implementation options are available like the CLDR, case studies on user interface patterns, and other resources may be helpful. ICANN has general engagement activities with software vendors in areas like universal acceptance of Internet identifiers and adoption of emerging technical standards. Maybe if there are talking points around this can be added to the litany of things they do outreach on. If there are particularly egregious examples that need correction we can try and get it on their radar on a case-by-case basis. kim
