[ih] NIC, InterNIC, and Modelling Administration

[Tony Finch]

On Thu, 17 Feb 2011, John Klensin wrote:
>
> > But I don't think it's fair to argue that suddenly including UK opens
> > up the entire ISO list, especially since they don't even follow the
> > standard.
>
> Well, actually they did, if one counts the time-honored practice of
> anticipating a standard a bit and then getting it wrong.  I haven't
> gone back and sorted out the chronology, but 3166 itself wasn't very
> old when the DNS started using it.

First version was 1974, apparently.

> And, apparently (according to what I was told in the mid-80s and again
> in the late 90s -- the latter by someone who had been the BSI
> representative to ISO TC 46 and the 3166 Maintenance Agency at the time)
> the 3166 code was originally "UK" but either BSI or Her Majesty's
> Government changed their minds just before the standard was adopted.

Their FAQ argues that "united" and "kingdom" are avoided because they are
not very distinguishing terms - though that didn't stop them allocating
the US code. There is also the precedent of the international car label,
which dates back to the 1940s.

> There was also a story for a while that UK was used for the DNS in order
> to avoid confusion with inevitable OSI naming, but I don't know whether
> that was accurate or apocryphal.

I believe UK was chosen for the top level of the JANET NRS in 1982-1983,
and it got grandfathered into the DNS.

Tony.
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