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Re: [sipcore] Last Call: <draft-ietf-sipcore-status-unwanted-04.txt> (A SIP Response Code for Unwanted Calls) to Proposed Standard

2017-03-20 21:39:40
On 3/20/17 10:23 AM, Dale R. Worley wrote:
Denis Ovsienko <denis(_at_)ovsienko(_dot_)info> writes:
If you mind people that take the Bible and its teachings seriously, it
will be easy for them to see it as a personal insult if their phone
receives and displays the message as it is proposed, as well as if
their phone sends such a message on their behalf. This is not specific
to SIP, the same conflict may be caused by a snail mail post, except
in real-time communications people have less time to think and step
back from the situation.

That seems to be a valid consideration to me:  Embedding
culturally/religiously/politically symbolic identifiers in a protocol in
a way that end users will at least occasionally see is probably not a
good idea.  It's clear even to me that a flippant reference to the
Prophet is asking for trouble, and it seems like we should take
references to the Number of the Beast seriously, given its long history
as a politically powerful symbol.

I don't find it reasonable to cater to superstitious beliefs. (E.g. omitting the 13th floor from a building.)

OTOH, I will agree that the choice of 666 as the response code here was not incidental - it clearly was chosen with that "Number of the Beast" connotation in mind. In that sense the choice was gratuitous.

The requirement is that the number be of the form 6nn, and that it be one that has not already been assigned a meaning within the protocol. The process for assigning specific values for new response codes is ad hoc:

- sometimes the next unassigned value is assigned,
- sometimes sub-ranges are reserved for related values,
- sometimes a value is assigned based on a similar value
  in another category. (E.g. 406 and 606).

None of these would lead to 666 being an obvious choice in this case.

Hence, I would not object to choosing a different value based on such criteria.

BUT, should there ever be a need to assign another value in the 6nn range, and there is some rational reason (other than to explicitly reference the Number of the Beast), then I would strenuously object to objections based on this connotation of that particular value.

        Sincerely,
        Paul Kyzivat

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