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IETF RFC 3043

The Network Solutions Personal Internet Name (PIN): A URN Namespace for People and Organizations

Last modified on Wednesday, January 24th, 2001

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Network Working Group                                        M. Mealling
Request for Comments: 3043                       Network Solutions, Inc.
Category: Informational                                   January 2001


  The Network Solutions Personal Internet Name (PIN): A URN Namespace
                      for People and Organizations

 Status of this Memo

   This memo provides information for the Internet community.  It does
   not specify an Internet standard of any kind.  Distribution of this
   memo is unlimited.

 Copyright Notice

   Copyright © The Internet Society (2001).  All Rights Reserved.

 Abstract

   This document describes a Uniform Resource Name (URN) namespace that
   is engineered by Network Solutions, Inc. for naming people and
   organizations.

1. Introduction

   In many cases Network Solutions' maintained directory applications
   require some unique and persistent way to talk about an individual or
   organization.  For example, white pages style services need to
   determine if one entry is distinct from another even if some of the
   data happens to be the same.  Also, e-commerce authentication
   mechanisms needs to identify a user and/or company uniquely and
   possibly over large spans of time.  In many cases a customer
   relationship can last several decades.  Such long term customer
   relationships can outlast any specific email address, Internet
   service provider, surname, or possibly even the DNS itself.

   The intent for these applications is that they be used and integrated
   into other, non-NSI maintained applications in much the same way that
   domain-names that exist in Network Solution's database are primarily
   used in application that Network Solutions is _not_ involved in.  In
   much the same way that ISBNs are maintained by specific entities but
   used in widely varying applications, NSI's PIN namespace is intended
   to be used in many applications where there is a need for a well
   maintained identifier that names a person or organization.






Mealling                     Informational                   PAGE 1 top


RFC 3043 NSI PIN URN Namespace January 2001 A URN namespace is uniquely suited to solve the persistent identification needs of these applications since they are also required to be unique and persistent. The availability of a standardized resolution mechanism makes it possible for other applications to reference and resolve PIN URNs in their own systems in an open, non-proprietary way. This namespace specification is for a formal namespace. 2. Specification Template Namespace ID: "pin" requested. Registration Information: Registration Version Number: 1 Registration Date: 2000-09-30 Declared registrant of the namespace: Network Solutions 505 Huntmar Park Drive Herndon, VA 22070 Declaration of structure: The structure of the NSS is a flat space of alphanumeric characters which have no knowable structure outside of the context of Network Solutions internal resolver. Future changes to the assignment methods may allow others to assign sub-spaces of the flat namespace but again, this knowledge is only valid internally and should never be inferred or relied upon externally. Relevant ancillary documentation: None Identifier uniqueness considerations: Identifiers are assigned by Network Solutions proprietary registration system in a way that guarantees uniqueness. At this time the algorithm is to iterate from the last assigned number by some positive integer. In the future this algorithm may change to incorporate a full range of alphanumeric Mealling Informational PAGE 2 top

RFC 3043 NSI PIN URN Namespace January 2001 elements. In either case, the system will compare the newly created identifier with all of the previous ones to ensure that it has not already been assigned. Identifier persistence considerations: The assignment process guarantees that names are not reassigned and that the binding between the name and the person or organization is permanent, regardless of any personal name changes, corporate restructuring, death or dissolution. Process of identifier assignment: Names are granted via Network Solutions proprietary registration procedures. Process of identifier resolution: PIN URNs are resolved via URN resolvers run by Network Solutions. Since a PIN URN identifies a person or organization, resolving a PIN URN will only be able to return information from an electronic proxy that is merely a representation of the actual person or organization being named. Rules for Lexical Equivalence: The entire URN is case-insensitive. Conformance with URN Syntax: There are no additional characters reserved. Validation mechanism: None additional to resolution specified Scope: Global Mealling Informational PAGE 3 top

RFC 3043 NSI PIN URN Namespace January 2001 3. Examples The following examples are not guaranteed to be real. They are listed for pedagogical reasons only. URN:pin:bs4321234 URN:pin:324kj5hkj45 URN:pin:mm2136 4. Security Considerations Since the URNs in this namespace are opaque there are no additional security considerations other than those normally associated with the use and resolution of URNs in general. It is noted however that attempting to resolve a PIN URN through a resolver other than the one provided by Network Solution is error prone. In any case it is not considered authoritative. References [1] Moats, R., "URN Syntax", RFC 2141, May 1997. Author's Address Michael Mealling Network Solutions, Inc. 505 Huntmar Park Drive Herndon, VA 22070 US Phone: +1 770 935 5492 EMail: michaelm@netsol.com URI: http://www.netsol.com Mealling Informational PAGE 4 top

RFC 3043 NSI PIN URN Namespace January 2001 Full Copyright Statement Copyright © The Internet Society (2001). All Rights Reserved. This document and translations of it may be copied and furnished to others, and derivative works that comment on or otherwise explain it or assist in its implementation may be prepared, copied, published and distributed, in whole or in part, without restriction of any kind, provided that the above copyright notice and this paragraph are included on all such copies and derivative works. However, this document itself may not be modified in any way, such as by removing the copyright notice or references to the Internet Society or other Internet organizations, except as needed for the purpose of developing Internet standards in which case the procedures for copyrights defined in the Internet Standards process must be followed, or as required to translate it into languages other than English. The limited permissions granted above are perpetual and will not be revoked by the Internet Society or its successors or assigns. This document and the information contained herein is provided on an "AS IS" basis and THE INTERNET SOCIETY AND THE INTERNET ENGINEERING TASK FORCE DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTY THAT THE USE OF THE INFORMATION HEREIN WILL NOT INFRINGE ANY RIGHTS OR ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. Acknowledgement Funding for the RFC Editor function is currently provided by the Internet Society. Mealling Informational PAGE 5 top

The Network Solutions Personal Internet Name (PIN): A URN Namespace for People and Organizations RFC TOTAL SIZE: 8136 bytes PUBLICATION DATE: Wednesday, January 24th, 2001 LEGAL RIGHTS: The IETF Trust (see BCP 78)


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