    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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    RFC 3043                 NSI PIN URN Namespace              January 2001

       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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    RFC 3043                 NSI PIN URN Namespace              January 2001

             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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    RFC 3043                 NSI PIN URN Namespace              January 2001

    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: michaelm@netsol.com
       URI:   http://www.netsol.com

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    RFC 3043                 NSI PIN URN Namespace              January 2001

    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
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       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
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       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
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    Acknowledgement

       Funding for the RFC Editor function is currently provided by the
       Internet Society.

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