RFC 3987: Internationalized Resource Identifier (IRI)

[Gunnar Bittersmann]

Hi,
Noch was Neues aus der Hexenküche: [http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc3987.txt@title=RFC 3987]

Abstract

This document defines a new protocol element, the Internationalized
   Resource Identifier (IRI), as a complement to the Uniform Resource
   Identifier (URI).  An IRI is a sequence of characters from the
   Universal Character Set (Unicode/ISO 10646).  A mapping from IRIs to
   URIs is defined, which means that IRIs can be used instead of URIs,
   where appropriate, to identify resources.

The approach of defining a new protocol element was chosen instead of
   extending or changing the definition of URIs.  This was done in order
   to allow a clear distinction and to avoid incompatibilities with
   existing software.  Guidelines are provided for the use and
   deployment of IRIs in various protocols, formats, and software
   components that currently deal with URIs.

Gunnar