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 (C) 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.






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  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




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        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











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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: [email protected]
  URI:   http://www.netsol.com

















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Full Copyright Statement

  Copyright (C) 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.



















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