RFC 9121

Deprecating Infrastructure "int" Domains

📅 published April 2023, from ietf

RFC 9121: Deprecating Infrastructure "int" Domains 🎀

Okay bestie, this RFC is literally the IETF officially retiring some old "int" domain names 💀 Here's the title block tea:

  • Request for Comments: 9121 🦋
  • Title: Deprecating Infrastructure "int" Domains
  • Authors: K. Davies, A. Baber (both from IANA, the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority) 👑
  • Category: Informational (so it's not a Standards Track spec, just vibes and facts) 🧚
  • Date: April 2023 🌸
  • Obsoletes: RFC 1528 💀
  • Updates: RFC 1706 ✨
  • ISSN: 2070-1721

Abstract

Okay so the main plot: this doc deprecates any "int" domain names that were given to infrastructure stuff by the IETF, and marks them for removal from the "int" top-level domain 🗑️ Any implementations using these domains are now deprecated. It also changes the status of RFC 1528 and RFC 1706 to Historic, which is the protocol version of a retirement party 🌈

Status of This Memo

This is not an Internet Standards Track spec. It's published for informational purposes, so no pressure 💅

It's a product of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) and represents the consensus of the IETF community. It got public review and was approved for publication by the Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG). Not every IESG-approved doc is a candidate for any level of Internet Standard, so see Section 2 of RFC 7841 for the deets 🫶

For the current status, any errata, and how to send feedback, check https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc9121 🔥

Copyright (c) 2023 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the document authors. All rights reserved. Mine. Yours. Ours. 💜

This doc is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal Provisions Relating to IETF Documents (https://trustee.ietf.org/license-info) as in effect on the publication date. Please actually read these, because they spell out your rights and restrictions with respect to this document 🙈 Code Components pulled out of this document must include Revised BSD License text, as described in Section 4.e of the Trust Legal Provisions, and come without warranty as described in the Revised BSD License.

Table of Contents

  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. Historical Infrastructural Uses
    • 2.1. atma.int
    • 2.2. ip4.int
    • 2.3. ip6.int
    • 2.4. nsap.int
    • 2.5. rdi.int
    • 2.6. reg.int
    • 2.7. tpc.int
  • 3. Updates to Other RFC Series Documents
  • 4. IANA Considerations
  • 5. Security Considerations
  • 6. Additional Information
  • 7. Informative References
  • Acknowledgments
  • Authors' Addresses

1. Introduction ✨

The "int" top-level domain [RFC1591] is a specialized domain made for intergovernmental organizations, which are organizations set up by international treaties between or among national governments 🌍

Back in the day, "int" was also used for Internet infrastructure stuff. That ended in 2001, when "arpa" was declared the right home for infrastructural identifier spaces [RFC3172]. Along with that change, "int" domains became limited to intergovernmental treaty organizations only. Main character energy for arpa 👑

The infrastructure identifiers in "int" were mostly experimental and are now, in practice, obsolete 💀 This doc moves the related specs to Historic and removes any associated delegations from the "int" zone in the domain name system 🦋

2. Historical Infrastructural Uses 🌸

These domains were used for infrastructural identifier purposes that are now considered historic. Each one was either delegated or documented at some point, but the people running them have long since stopped using them 😭

2.1. atma.int

The atma.int domain was experimentally defined to do address lookups for Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM), including ATM End System Addresses (AESAs) [ANS] 💅

2.2. ip4.int

The ip4.int domain was pitched as an alternative to the in-addr.arpa domain for mapping host IPv4 addresses to host names. The in-addr.arpa zone is still administered for this purpose [RFC1035] 🧚

2.3. ip6.int

The ip6.int domain was originally delegated for mapping host IPv6 addresses to host names. It was later removed from the "int" zone, having been replaced by ip6.arpa [RFC4159] 🎀

2.4. nsap.int

The nsap.int domain name was specified to experimentally map Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) Network Service Access Points to domain names [RFC1706] 🌈

2.5. rdi.int

The rdi.int domain name experimentally mapped OSI Inter-Domain Routing Protocol's Routing Domain Identifiers [ISO10747] to the domain name system 🔥

2.6. reg.int

The reg.int domain name hosted an experimental mechanism for publishing IANA registration values in the domain name system ✨

2.7. tpc.int

The tpc.int domain name hosted an experimental remote printing service that acted as a gateway between Internet mail and facsimile transmission [RFC1528] 📠💖

3. Updates to Other RFC Series Documents 🦋

3.1. RFC 1528

The spec for tpc.int [RFC1528] is Historic, because it no longer works the way the document describes 💀

3.2. RFC 1706

The spec for nsap.int [RFC1706] is Historic, because it no longer works the way the document describes 🙈

4. IANA Considerations 👑

IANA has removed the historical "int" domains covered in this document. Gone, but iconic 🫡

5. Security Considerations 🔐

Okay, this section is serious, so listen up 🚨 Some old systems might have one or more subdomains of these names hardwired and expect a positive response for at least the second-level domain. That's true for any name in the DNS, and it should not be the only reason to keep obsolete names around 😤

Existing applications should drop any reliance on these zones 🙅‍♀️ The operator of the "int" domain should be cautious about any future re-use of these domains for intergovernmental treaty organizations. Be careful, no cap 🧨

6. Additional Information 🌟

This doc is the result of a full inventory of .int domains, done to accurately establish and record their purpose based on historical documentation. As part of this, IANA studied the domains delegated for infrastructure identifier purposes. Query patterns in the DNS for these domains were analyzed and judged to be insignificant, and preliminary outreach to the contacts for the associated domains happened too. The conclusion? These domains are very likely obsolete. This doc just formalizes that assessment 📝

There are a small number of nominal "int" domains for "international databases" that aren't defined by any standards documentation. They're assigned to entities rather than used for identifier purposes, and what happens to them is beyond the scope of this memo 🧚‍♀️

7. Informative References 📚

Here's the reading list, copied exactly as the original has it:

[ANS]      The ATM Forum Technical Committee, "ATM Name System
           Specification Version 1.0", ATM Forum af-saa-0069.000,
           November 1996, <https://www.broadband-
           forum.org/technical/download/af-saa-0069.000.pdf>.

[ISO10747] ISO/IEC, "Information technology - Telecommunications and
           information exchange between systems - Protocol for
           exchange of inter-domain routeing information among
           intermediate systems to support forwarding of ISO 8473
           PDUs", ISO/IEC 10747:1994, October 1994,
           <https://www.iso.org/standard/21417.html>.

[RFC1035]  Mockapetris, P., "Domain names - implementation and
           specification", STD 13, RFC 1035, DOI 10.17487/RFC1035,
           November 1987, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc1035>.

[RFC1528]  Malamud, C. and M. Rose, "Principles of Operation for the
           TPC.INT Subdomain: Remote Printing -- Technical
           Procedures", RFC 1528, DOI 10.17487/RFC1528, October 1993,
           <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc1528>.

[RFC1591]  Postel, J., "Domain Name System Structure and Delegation",
           RFC 1591, DOI 10.17487/RFC1591, March 1994,
           <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc1591>.

[RFC1706]  Manning, B. and R. Colella, "DNS NSAP Resource Records",
           RFC 1706, DOI 10.17487/RFC1706, October 1994,
           <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc1706>.

[RFC3172]  Huston, G., Ed., "Management Guidelines & Operational
           Requirements for the Address and Routing Parameter Area
           Domain ("arpa")", BCP 52, RFC 3172, DOI 10.17487/RFC3172,
           September 2001, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc3172>.

[RFC4159]  Huston, G., "Deprecation of "ip6.int"", BCP 109, RFC 4159,
           DOI 10.17487/RFC4159, August 2005,
           <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc4159>.

Acknowledgments 🫶

This doc was put together with help from Ted Hardie and Michelle Cotton, with extra input from Jari Arkko, John Klensin, Warren Kumari, Pete Resnick, George Michaelson, and Toerless Eckert. Iconic squad 💜

Authors' Addresses 💌

Kim Davies
Internet Assigned Numbers Authority
PTI/ICANN
12025 Waterfront Drive
Los Angeles, CA 90094
United States of America
Email: kim.davies@iana.org

Amanda Baber
Internet Assigned Numbers Authority
PTI/ICANN
12025 Waterfront Drive
Los Angeles, CA 90094
United States of America
Email: amanda.baber@iana.org

That's the whole RFC, bestie! 🌈✨ "int" domains are officially retired, and we're not looking back 💅

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