RFC 3043 (rfc3043) - Page 1 of 5

The Network Solutions Personal Internet Name (PIN): A URN Namespace for People and Organizations

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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.






Mealling                     Informational
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