Re: [wg-c] Commission Working paper on the creation of .EU

["Milton Mueller" <mueller@syr.edu>]

----- Original Message -----
From: "John Charles Broomfield"

> The European Union
> has approached ISO and said "hi, we want the code '.eu' in ISO-3166". As
> such, the ISO-3166 maintanance agency *seems* quite favorable in that it
has
> already included '.eu' in the list of reserved codes.

Correct. But what you're overlooking here is that this is probably the first
time in the ISO-3166 list's history that a formal request has been made to
add a code to the list specifically in order to qualify for a TLD.

> The only exception to that was the request
> from UK to have ".uk" instead of ".gb" because it was more inclusive.

This is an interesting example of the retroactive creation of a myth to come
up with a plausible explanation of something that was actually implausible.
In fact, the British were the first to request and country code and Postel
used .UK because he didn't bother to check the actual list! He thought it
"obvious" it would be .UK.

This is relevant because it shows just how casually and unilaterally things
were done fifteen years ago, and how inapplicable IANA precedents can be to
the current situation.
Today, we need an international proceeding and a formal interaction between
high-level EC and ISO agencies; back then, whatever quirky thing Jon decided
was law.

(BTW, there is nothing "more inclusive about "uk" than "gb" -- the terms
Great Britain and United Kingdom are used interchangably.)