Mark,
Thanks for taking a stab at a problem statement. I'd like to drill down
on this just a bit.
What is the source of the "growing need"? Is it:
a. for users of many languages (particularly those not using Latin alphabets)
email addresses are difficult to remember
b. for users of many languages (particularly those not using Latin alphabets)
email addresses are difficult to transcribe or type
c. users want to use their names in email addresses
d. users are confused by apparently arbitrary restrictions on use of
characters in email addresses, and this leads to mistakes
e. on computer systems employing non-ASCII names for other purposes (e.g.
login or account names) these do not map well to ASCII email addresses
or something else that I don't see?
As presently constituted, email addresses are limited to the 26 Latin
alphabetics, 10 digits, and a limited number of special characters in
the ASCII character set. There is a growing need to use additional
characters, specifically Latin characters with diacriticals and
non-Latin characters, in email addresses to better serve the needs of
the multi-national Internet community. However, the restrictions of
ASCII email addresses have served as a "lingua franca" since everybody
can enter ASCII email addresses, and there is an ongoing need for this
as well. The problem to be solved is the resolution of these two
needs.