Re: rough sketch of a potential solution

Martin Duerst <[email protected]> wrote:

> The sender should not send an address that the receiver doesn't know
> how to read.

Here's one example that motivates Keith's problem statement (the one
I called problem2):  Let's say you and I recently met, and we speak
language X as a first language, and language Y as a second language.
I know a third guy who speaks language Y, but not X.  I want to send
a message to both of you (in language Y, obviously).  I know his
Y-address, but not yours, because when we met you only told me your
X-address.  So the other guy is going be stuck looking at your X-address
or your ACE address, both of which are gibberish to him.

If there existed an address mapping service, then I could type in your
X-address, and my MUA could discover your Y-address, and put both in
the header, so that the other guy's MUA could select the Y-address for
display.

> If they did, reply functions and so on should still work on such an
> address.

Indeed.

> The only thing that wouldn't work would be handing over this address
> to a third party via paper.

Other things that wouldn't work:  Handing the address to a third party
via speech; handing the address to oneself at a later time via one's own
memory; typing the address after managing to remember it or write it on
paper.

I don't know if this problem will be big enough to justify building a
special new infrastructure to solve it, but I can see that there is
indeed a problem.

AMC