Session Date/Time: 10 Nov 2021 14:30

regext

Summary

The regext working group session focused on updates to several in-progress documents and a new work proposal. Key discussions revolved around the readiness of documents for Working Group Last Call (WGLC), specific technical changes, and the strategic direction for others. A significant point of discussion was the status of the "JS Contact in RDAP" document, with a call for the working group to decide its publication track (e.g., Standards Track, Experimental) before WGLC due to its implications for JCard. A new proposal for an IANA registry of DNS registration data elements generated substantial discussion regarding its scope, necessity, and potential conflicts, with a decision to continue the discussion on the mailing list.

Key Discussion Points

General

Note Well & Code of Conduct: Reminders were given regarding IETF policies on contributions, patents, and professional behavior.
Notes Taker: Rick Wilhelm volunteered to take notes.
Document Management: Chairs reminded authors that documents progress based on author energy, urging them to request last calls when discussion concludes. Emphasis was placed on assigning document shepherds and milestones for new adoptions.
Published Documents: No documents have been published since July.
Existing Work in Publication Process:
- 7484bis: In RFC Editor queue, moved to ISG telechat for December, upgrading to a full Internet Standard.
- Other documents are also in the RFC Editor queue.
ICANN Tech Ops Interim Meeting: A joint interim meeting was held on October 20th to expose regext work to a broader audience from gTLD registries and registrars, encouraging feedback on the mailing list.

Document-Specific Discussions

Simple Registration Reporting

Update: Document authors (Jim Gould) believe the document is complete and ready for Working Group Last Call.
Background: The document proposes a simpler method for defining and registering reports, originating from ICANN TechOps.

Reverse Search in RDAP

Update: New version posted, primarily replacing references to obsolete RFCs (7482, 7483). No relevant changes since last IETF meeting.
Feedback: Private feedback received from Yazdeep, more expected on the mailing list.
Next Steps (Mario):
- Define likely use cases.
- Explain the proposal's aims better.
- Address new technical points.
- Review the query model to meet new feedback requirements.
- Add more implementations beyond dot.id registry.
Milestone: Next Spring (approx. March-April 2022) suggested for submission to ISG.

Federated Authentication of RDAP

Update: New version posted, addressing suggestions from Mario's implementation work.
Open Issues: Author (Scott Holland) highlighted that some suggestions from Mario would involve significant changes to query/response structures and requested community feedback on these suggestions via the mailing list.

JS Contact in RDAP

Update: New version reflects changes in the JMAP JS Contact document, particularly regarding localization and recommended map keys aligning with RFC 5753.
Implementation Status: Dot.id registry has an implementation (not live yet), and other registries have expressed interest.
Key Discussion (Jim Gould): The working group needs to decide the document's publication status (Standards Track, Experimental, Informational) before WGLC. RDAP currently uses JCard, so integrating JS Contact is a significant change.
Mario's Response: Argued it's an extension, not a formal change, as the vocabulary property is optional. He sees it as a transition, hoping for eventual replacement of JCard but acknowledges it might remain an alternative.
Scott Holland's Clarification: Confirmed it's an optional extension, not an update to existing standards that would deprecate JCard. Servers claiming support for the extension would return JS Contact.
Murray Kucherawy's Feedback: Noted the single "proof of concept" implementation and questioned the appropriate publication status (e.g., proposed standard vs. experimental).
Mark Nottenburg's Support: As an RDAP client developer, he strongly prefers JS Contact over JCard and looks forward to server implementations.
Eduardo (chat): Currently monitoring JS Contact support for ICANN's RDAP client.

Internationalized Email Addresses in EPP

Update (James Gould, on behalf of Dmitry Belyavsky): No additional work needed; the draft is considered complete and ready for Working Group Last Call.

Redacted Fields in RDAP

Update (Jody Rogers): Several updates based on mailing list feedback and the joint TechOps meeting. These include explicit reporting for JS Contact support, registered name/reason properties in the JSON value registry, and handling entities with multiple roles.
Open Issue: The working group needs to decide if support for RDAP search should be added to the draft. This would require changes to lookup response language, use of relative JSON path expressions for search, and providing examples.
Mario's Comment: Suggested having "redacted objects" rather than "redacted responses" to simplify handling search responses.
James Gould's Comment: Supported adding search if there's significant reuse, advocating for integrating it for completeness, particularly for public search scenarios.

New Work: IANA DNS Registration Data Elements Registry (Proposed by Steve Crocker)

Proposal: Create an IANA-administered dictionary of DNS registration data elements.
Motivation: Addresses the lack of a unified, standard place to find a list of data elements currently found in various places (e.g., RDAP, EPP, ICANN contracts). Intended as a building block for protocols, not to force changes on existing systems.
Governance: An IETF-appointed set of experts would oversee additions.
Initial Draft: A first cut is included in the internet draft.
Discussion:
- James Gould: Questioned the problem being solved, noting existing definitions in EPP, RDAP, and data escrow (e.g., DNRED draft). Suggested the current draft is a "small subset."
- Rickard Schantz: Expressed concern about overlap with RFC 8499 (DNS Terminology RFC) and the potential for different meanings in different contexts (EPP vs. RDAP), suggesting this is a feature, not a bug. Worried about contractual implications of memorializing terms in RFCs. Doubted the problem statement.
- Gustavo Garcia: Asked if the intention is to create a single definition or just capture variations.
- Steve Crocker's Clarification: Aims to provide a minimal specification to avoid confusion where different terms mean the same thing, or the same name means different things. Discrepancies would be resolved by IANA experts.
- Mark Nottenburg: Shared experience from the space industry, where a centralized registry of terms helped resolve multiple definitions over time, eventually leading to an ISO standard.
- Chair's Comment (Antoine): Emphasized regext's charter to produce widely applicable documents, not limited to DNS. Noted the current proposal's lack of elements from other communities (e.g., ASNs, route objects, ENUM) that also use EPP/RDAP. Advised seeking broader support and expanding the scope beyond just DNS. Steve Crocker agreed to broaden the scope.

Decisions and Action Items

Decisions

Simple Registration Reporting: Authors believe it's ready for Working Group Last Call. (No formal WG decision, but chairs acknowledged readiness)
Internationalized Email Addresses in EPP: Authors believe it's ready for Working Group Last Call. (No formal WG decision, but chairs acknowledged readiness)

Action Items

Federated Authentication of RDAP: Scott Holland requests feedback on the mailing list regarding significant proposed changes.
JS Contact in RDAP: The working group is asked to discuss on the mailing list and decide the document's publication status (e.g., Standards Track, Experimental, Informational) before it can proceed to Working Group Last Call.
Redacted Fields in RDAP: The working group is asked to decide if support for RDAP search should be added to the draft. Authors request additional review of the latest version.
IANA DNS Registration Data Elements Registry (New Work): Discussion on the proposal, its scope (to be broadened beyond DNS), and necessity will continue on the mailing list. A call for adoption will follow after further discussion.

Next Steps

Simple Registration Reporting: Chairs expect to initiate a Working Group Last Call shortly after this IETF meeting.
Reverse Search in RDAP: Authors to further define use cases, review the query model, and encourage more implementations, targeting ISG submission by Spring 2022.
Internationalized Email Addresses in EPP: Chairs will initiate a formal Working Group Last Call soon.
JS Contact in RDAP: Mailing list discussion on the document's publication status is required before proceeding to Working Group Last Call. The document's milestone is expected to align with the JMAP JS Contact document (April 2022).
IANA DNS Registration Data Elements Registry (New Work): Continue discussion on the mailing list, particularly on broadening its scope to cover non-DNS registration data elements (e.g., ASNs, route objects) to align with regext's charter for widely applicable protocols. Chairs will then initiate a call for adoption.