Re: [idn] Document Status?

[Paul Hoffman / IMC <phoffman@xxxxxxx>]

At 3:34 PM -0500 9/3/02, Eric A. Hall wrote:
> Specifically, end-nodes typically extract data from MIME and use it within
> the local context of that application *ONLY*. The encoded data is RARELY
> used inside of other applications, and the extracted data is typically
> used for this purpose, when needed. On the other hand, domain names are
> frequently cross-populated among applications, and as the argument
> regarding clipboards shows, the encoded form will be the norm.

Many people copy-and-paste MIME content all the time, just as they 
will copy-and-paste IDNs. Non-mail programs look at mail mailboxes 
for things like harvesting for address books or PIMs, and those 
programs interpret the MIME because they store the text in some 
internal format that is certainly not MIME.

> Furthermore, MIME and its constituent application protocols are being
> extended so that binary data *CAN* be transferred without being encoded
> first.

Which Internet Drafts are you speaking of here?

--Paul Hoffman, Director
--Internet Mail Consortium