Re: [wg-b] WG-B Report

["Mark C. Langston" <mark@bitshift.org>]

On Wed, Apr 19, 2000 at 09:55:55AM +1000, Andrew Dalgleish wrote:

> [Andrew Dalgleish]  
> 
> I agree with practically all of Ellen's comments, but I must point this
> out:
> 
> The domain name system provides a one-to-one mapping between a name and
> a domain or site.
> Trademarks potentially provides a one-to-many mapping between a name and
> multiple products in multiple geographical areas.


Incorrect.  The DNS system provives a 1:1, many:1, and 1:many mapping
between IP addresses and domain names, as well as between domain names
and other domain names.

And this is a structure imposed upon the system itself.  The actual
DNS system as instantiated in BIND and in the standards and RFCs 
describing DNS actually create a generic, general-purpose massively-
distributed database system.  It serves the above purpose now, but
there's no reason it can't map other things as well.

In fact, it does.  Look at net telephony.  Look at DNS geocoding.
These are only two examples.



> 
> Ellen's suggestion handles multiple product classes, but not multiple
> geographical areas.
> To do this you would need to use the country code as well.
> (Possibly with a special exclusion for trademarks registered in .tv land
> :-)


If you'd read the copy of my "dissent" to the WG-B "report" which is
in an appendix of said report and was posted to this group several 
days ago, you'd see that's exactly what I proposed.

-- 
Mark C. Langston
mark@bitshift.org
Systems & Network Admin
San Jose, CA