Re: Security Issues

From: Patrick Andries (patrick.andries@xcential.com)
Date: Sun Apr 03 2005 - 16:03:24 CST

  • Next message: Peter Kirk: "Re: Security Issues"

    Doug Ewell a écrit :

    >It's always risky to appear insensitive to the needs of speakers of
    >minority languages, especially within a group like this.
    >
    >Nevertheless, when trying to solve the problem of confusables, it may be
    >wise to consider the numbers involved. Kobon has 6000 speakers
    >(Ethnologue). Sencoten has "in excess of 3000" students (WG2 N2784) but
    >perhaps only 20 actual speakers (Harvey, after Howe and Cook). There
    >are hundreds of millions of Internet users, potentially exposed to
    >domain names and the dangers of spoofing and phishing.
    >
    >The ideal of allowing all letters "needed for words in modern languages"
    >in domain names may need to be weighed against the risks. This was my
    >rationale for opposing the SIL proposal to encode an orthographic clone
    >of the @ symbol, along with its uppercase equivalent, to support Koalib
    >(44,000 speakers, 20-27% literacy).
    >
    >It should be evident that the name "N!xau" in a popular movie does not
    >justify allowing exclamation points in domain names.
    >
    I, somehow, find "not allowing" (i.e. prohibiting) on a global scale a
    character a bit too drastic a measure. I would say that the presence of
    such suspicious characters should rather raise an alarm in browsers or
    such characters should be banned as registered domain names for
    countries which have no use for these confusables. Not, if possible, a
    global ban.

    P. .A



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