Domain naming is subject to the public trust, says RFC1591. Given the all inclusive language in '1591 this must apply to the operation of the dot (root) domain as well as the gTLDS and ccTLDs. If IANA has made secret rule changes without going through the same process of rule-making consensus as 1591 did, then whoever makes these secret rule changes is working in breach of the public trust. Therefore introducing a rule which was dreamed up 'since RFC1591 was published' cannot be valid, and therefore Postel/IANA would be in breach of the public trust if they do anything except follow published RFC1591, and not any secretly amended versions God Bless You, Sean Sean Jackson, 3 Adams Road, Cambridge, CB3 9AD, United Kingdom. Tel: 01223 464 800 Fax: 0171 681 1268 -------- Logged at Thu Oct 1 17:13:50 MET DST 1998 ---------