Network Working Group P. Hoffman
Request for Comments: 2987 Internet Mail Consortium
Category: Standards Track November 2000
Registration of Charset and Languages Media Features Tags
Status of this Memo
This document specifies an Internet standards track protocol for the
Internet community, and requests discussion and suggestions for
improvements. Please refer to the current edition of the "Internet
Official Protocol Standards" (STD 1) for the standardization state
and status of this protocol. Distribution of this memo is unlimited.
Copyright Notice
Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2000). All Rights Reserved.
Abstract
This document contains the registration for two media feature tags:
"charset" and "language". These media features allow specification
of character sets and human languages that can be understood by
devices and the devices' users. The templates in this document are
derived from RFC2506.
1. Registration for charset
To: media-feature-tags@apps.ietf.org (Media feature tags mailing list)
Subject: Registration of media feature tag charset
Media feature tag name:
charset
ASN.1 identifier associated with feature tag:
1.3.6.1.8.1.31
Summary of the media feature indicated by this feature tag:
Ability to display particular charsets as defined in [CHARSET].
For most devices, this media feature is usually a capability;
that is, most devices cannot intelligently process text in a
charset that is unknown to the device.
Values appropriate for use with this feature tag:
The values are tokens as defined in [CHARSET]. The values can
only be compared for equality. Comparison is not case
sensitive.
The feature tag is intended primarily for use in the following
applications, protocols, services, or negotiation mechanisms:
Any protocol that uses media tags
Examples of typical use:
( (charset=utf-8);q=1.0 (charset=iso-8859-1);q=0.9
(charset=utf-16);q=0.5 )
Related standards or documents:
"IANA Charset Registration Procedures", RFC2978
Considerations particular to use in individual applications,
protocols, services, or negotiation mechanisms:
None
Interoperability considerations: Aliases for charsets should not be
used in media feature eXPressions because feature expression
manipulation tools may convert aliases to the the principal
name for the charset. Even though charset names are not
case-sensitive, values should be expressed as all lowercase
letters to increase the likelihood of interoperability. The
"charset" capability should always be indicated in
conjunction with any capability to handle textual data.
Security considerations:
If it is known that there is a security bug in the display of a
particular charset in a particular environment, knowing that a
device can accept that charset may slightly help an attacker.
Additional information:
None
Name(s) & email address(es) of person(s) to contact for further
information:
Paul Hoffman <phoffman@imc.org>
Intended usage:
COMMON
Author/Change controller:
IETF
Requested IANA publication delay:
None
Other information:
None
2. Registration for language
To: media-feature-tags@apps.ietf.org (Media feature tags mailing list)
Subject: Registration of media feature tag language
Media feature tag name:
language
ASN.1 identifier associated with feature tag:
1.3.6.1.8.1.32
Summary of the media feature indicated by this feature tag: Ability
to display particular human languages as defined in [LANG]. Note
that "display" in this case will most often mean speech by a
computer. For most devices, this media feature is a preference,
not a requirement.
Values appropriate for use with this feature tag:
The values are tokens, with allowable values defined by
registration as defined in [LANG]. The values can only be
compared for equality. As described in [LANG], language tags
are always handled as a single token, and "suBTags" are not
used for comparison. Comparison is not case sensitive.
The feature tag is intended primarily for use in the following
applications, protocols, services, or negotiation mechanisms:
Any protocol that uses media tags
Examples of typical use:
( (language=no-nynorsk);q=1.0 (language=no-bokmaal);q=0.9
(language=i-sami-no);q=0.5 )
Related standards or documents:
"Tags for the Identification of Languages", RFC1766
Considerations particular to use in individual applications,
protocols, services, or negotiation mechanisms:
None
Interoperability considerations:
Even though language tags are not case-sensitive, values should be
expressed as all lowercase letters to increase the likelihood
of interoperability.
Security considerations:
If it is known that there is a security bug in the display of a
particular language in a particular environment, knowing that a
device can accept that language may slightly help an attacker.
Additional information:
None
Name(s) & email address(es) of person(s) to contact for further
information:
Paul Hoffman <phoffman@imc.org>
Intended usage:
COMMON
Author/Change controller:
IETF
Requested IANA publication delay:
None
Other information:
None
3. Security Considerations
The security considerations are listed in the two registrations above.
4. IANA Considerations
The bulk of this document is IANA registrations.
5. References
[CHARSET] Freed, N. and J. Postel, "IANA Charset Registration
Procedures", BCP 19, RFC2978, October 2000.
[LANG] Alvestrand, H., "Tags for the Identification of Languages",
RFC1766, March 1995.
[TAG-REG] Holtman, K., Mutz, A. and T. Hardie, "Media Feature Tag
Registration Procedure", BCP 31, RFC2506, March 1999.
6. Author's Address
Paul Hoffman
Internet Mail Consortium
127 Segre Place
Santa Cruz, CA 95060 USA
EMail: phoffman@imc.org
7. Full Copyright Statement
Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2000). All Rights Reserved.
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Acknowledgement
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