Re: homograph attacks

Michel Suignard wrote:
> I have seen European standard bodies spending forests of paper to try
> to establish these language tables, but there have never been an
> authoritative version because simply you can't.

Why do you say that? DENIC is using an authorative list for .DE, see

http://www.denic.de/de/domains/idns/liste.html

> It is not a bad idea to have language tables to filter, but you have
> to allow exception for the reasons exposed above.

No, you don't. The exception you mention (Häagen-Dazs) is already
covered in the list of characters. It might be that some company
cannot use its logo as a domain name - tough luck. There might not
even be a Unicode character for the logo. They will find a solution,
using some sort of transliteration. If enough users complain that
they want a certain, say, Greek character to be available in the
.de zone, DENIC might reconsider. However, I very much doubt this
will ever happen. For the .de zone, the DENIC list of characters
covers all actual needs. It may be that artificial needs are not
covered, but I could not care less.

It is a very good idea to be more restrictive at the beginning,
and the gradually become less restrictive. This is how the DNS
started out - allowing only ASCII letters. With IDNA, it is
possible to widen this, but that does not mean you cannot have
a policy more restrictive than "full Unicode".

Regards,
Martin