Guaranteed 8-bit path to conversion machine?

[avi@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

I have a question about the proposals to have an 8-bit message routed to an 
agent that knows how to convert it to an appropriate 7-bit version. I am 
glossing over the subtle distictions whether the user can specify one or more 
machines/agents/programs to do the conversion.

If I understood correctly, the user on machine A is sending a message through 
a series of hops (passing through B, C and D) on the way to E. If any 
intermediate machine (such as C) is not able to pass it on to the next step, 
because of the 8-bit problem, then it is requested to route the message to 
machine Z -- which is known to be able to do the conversion. I see one problem
with this. Machine Z may not be easy to connect to from C. Perhaps the routing
is through X and Y. If either of these machines share the 8-bit problem, how 
should this be handled? Yes, there may be alternate machines, but the 
alternates may also need to be routed through such blind loops.

I would be more comfortable if all places where a conversion needed to be made
could do the conversions themselves following a clear set of rules about what 
conversions should be done.

Avi E. Gross @ AT&T LZ 3B-211 (201) 576-3218 
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