Subject: Question on ECML address country code usage

From: [email-masked]
Date: Thu, 22 Aug 2002 09:50:29 +0300

Hi alls,

I would like to know opinions on the coutnry code issue in ECML. Some tiem ago there was heated discussion onthe short comings of the ISO country code, but is there wider need for change in this field?

Also I wonder if the services actually use the country code? It would seem that as ECML is/was form fill tehcnology then services would have to support also freetext input as countru in address queries. I am aware of the usage of the selection lists (option list) for the country which usage 'quarantees' service understood spelling for country names, but do the services ever actually then use a code for the country? Is there need for this specific country code, are the services only storing whatever was given as country name to be used in addressing?

- Lauri Piikivi 
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Specialist, SW Architecture 
Nokia Mobile Software

[email-masked] 
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From: Eastlake III Donald-LDE008 <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 22 Aug 2002 12:30:51 -0400

No, the United States of America is one "national" jurisdiction. It permits
a vast profusion (well over 550) of subsidiary jurisdictions (cities,
counties, states, indian areas, special districts, free-ports, gores, etc.)
within it each of which is limited to the amount of individuality that is
permitted them by the USA. Furthermore, the use of ISO3166 codes is a way of
avoid any burden on the IETF of deciding what is a country and its use is
long established in the DNS and in other protocols, IETF and non-IETF.

And, perhaps most important of all, it is well defined and interoperable.

It seems to me that the way to go is ISO3166 country codes with a
supplementary "additional jurisdictional information" field to be used when
you need to specify more than the ISO country code plus the address
information.

Donald

-----Original Message-----
From: Eric Brunner-Williams in Portland Maine
[mailto:[email-masked]]
Sent: Thursday, August 22, 2002 6:54 AM
To: [email-masked]
Cc: [email-masked]; [email-masked]
Subject: Re: Question on ECML address country code usage

Lauri,

There are about 550 national jurisdictions contained in, or surrounded by,
the United States. ISO 3166 (aka "country codes") provides few code points
for distinguishing code points in North America.

As a protocol design issue, using two octets to contain fewer than 300
distinct data values, and mandating failure, or implementation-specific
extension, for transactions taking place within the jurisdictions of Indian
(not India) governments (but not Pitcairn's Island or any of the other odd
bits in ISO 3166), is both untidy and an overspecification.

We aren't in the buisness of deciding what is a state.

We don't need to pay a great deal of attention to the claims of others who
are in that business. Very likely, their decisions are political, and not
technical, and of necessity, not correct.

It is a good thing that iso3166 code points aren't used in ip addrs. If they
were, even getting address allocations for Indian Country would be
difficult.

Eric

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From: Eastlake III Donald-LDE008 <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 28 Aug 2002 07:39:54 -0400

Eric,

It's not in the Charter. It's in the ECML Requirements RFC.

Donald

-----Original Message-----
Sent: Thursday, August 22, 2002 3:25 PM
To: Donald Eastlake 3rd

> ... existing financial protocols ...
 
I must have missed that in the charter.

You've got my objection.

Eric