XNS Name Conversion Program
- This Version: http://www.xdi.org/docref/legal/egs-xns-name-conversion-v1-2004-10-20.html
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1. Introduction
This page is a short summary of the XNS Name Conversion Program, which is being held as part of the Early Global Services (EGS) Program from Identity Commons, 2idi, XDI.ORG, and Cordance. The EGS Program is an opportunity for a limited number of individuals and organizations to obtain a global i-name as a way of supporting the development of shared Internet identity infrastructure. For more information please look here.
2. The XNS Name Conversion Program
The predecessor to the XRI/XDI specifications upon which i-names are based was a system called XNS (Extensible Name Service). It was developed by OneName Corporation and contributed to the XNS Public Trust Organization (XNSORG). The XNS global registry accepted registrations between 26 September 2000 and 9 July 2002.
XNSORG subsequently contributed the XNS specifications to OASIS to become part of the XRI (Extensible Resource Identifier) and XDI (XRI Data Interchange) specifications. At that time XNS registrations were discontinued and XNSORG and OneName agreed that all XNS name registrants would have the opportunity to renew their registrations at no charge once service was restarted under the new OASIS specifications.
The XNS Name Conversion Program is a fulfillment of that obligation by XDI.ORG (the successor to XNSORG) and Cordance (the successor to OneName.)
2.1. Basic Terms
During the 90-day period of the EGS program, the holder of any valid XNS personal name registration may convert it into a 50-year global personal i-name registration at no charge. Once converted, the new global personal i-name will be registered under the same Terms of Service as the other EGS global personal i-names. (See EGS Terms of Service and Related Legal Documents, below.)
2.2. Conversion of XNS Names to Global Personal I-Names
Global personal i-names must conform to the OASIS XRI specifications. Since these have evolved beyond the earlier XNS specifications, some XNS personal names are no longer valid global personal i-names. For example, XNS names could include spaces, whereas global personal i-names use dots. All XNS names that could be transformed into global personal i-names automatically were converted using these rules:
2.2.1 Machine Transformation of Original XNS Names into Global Personal I-Names
Where possible, Cordance performed a machine transformation of an Original XNS Name into a valid Global Personal I-Name using the following transformation rules (note that these rules do NOT apply to Original XNS Names that are email addresses).
- Leading or trailing whitespace of any kind was removed.
- Leading or trailing punctuation characters of any kind were removed, i.e., a valid Global Personal I-Name can only start and end with a letter or a digit.
- Any high-bit or low-bit character (i.e., character outside of the ASCII 128 character range) was normalized to a dot.
- Internal whitespace of any kind was normalized to a dot.
- Any other internal punctuation character EXCEPT dash and apostrophe was normalized to a dot.
- Apostrophes were deleted (and not replaced by any other character.)
- Dashes were retained.
The final result is strings that contain only letters, digits, dots, and dashes. (Note that registrants will be able to update ASCII i-names to Unicode i-names once Unicode support is available for the EGS program.)
2.3. Email Names
An exception to this automated conversion process is email names. XNS allowed an Internet email address to be used directly as an XNS name. An email address by itself is no longer a valid global personal i-name (there is now a different way to use an email address as an i-name.) Therefore XNS name registrants who registered only an email address as their XNS name will have the opportunity select a new global personal i-name at no charge.
2.4. The Conversion Process
There is a simple online process for converting an XNS name to a global personal i-name. It requires only your originial XNS name, your registration email address, and your account password. You may begin this process here.
2.5. Lost Passwords
If you do not remember your original XNS name account password, you can fill out an online affadavit attesting that you are the authorized registrant.
2.6. Dispute Resolution
Should there be any dispute over the authorized registrant of an XNS name and the right to convert it to a global personal i-name, there is an online form for submitting a dispute notice and a process specified by XDI.ORG for resolving disputes. (See EGS Dispute Resolution.)
3. Related Legal Documents
This section is a guide to all other legal documents involved in the EGS program, which also cover the XNS Name Conversion program.
3.1. Terms of Service
The Terms of Service for the EGS program from XDI.ORG are available in plain English here.
The Terms of Service from Identity Commons are available here and from 2idi are available here.
3.2. Privacy Policies
One of the primary goals of Identity Commons and XDI.ORG is to enable individuals and organizations to control the privacy and security of their data. The XDI.ORG privacy policy governing global i-name registry services is available here.
The privacy policy governing i-broker services from Identity Commons is available here and from 2idi is available here.
3.3. Dispute Resolution
Should there be any dispute regarding a global i-name registration, it will be covered by the XDI.ORG Dispute Resolution Policy and Dispute Resolution Rules available at:
3.4. Personal Representations
The following representation is required of all XNS Name registrants who wish to convert their registration into a global personal i-name registration.
I hereby warrant and represent (i) that I am the sole and exclusive owner of the XNS Personal Name listed above, which I want to convert into a Global Personal I-Name registered with the XDI.ORG global registry, and (ii) that I previously entered into an agreement with OneName as the registrar for the XNS global registry and secured the rights to such XNS Personal Name. I hereby request and authorize 2idi as the registrar for the XDI.ORG global registry (“I-Broker”) to register the XNS Name listed above as a Global Personal I-Name and to replace my prior password with a new password for this account. In indicating my acceptance of these terms, and as an inducement to authorize I-Broker to make the change identified herein, I agree that in the event that I-Broker believes at any time, and for any reason, that it is facing or is likely to face a challenge, claim or complaint by any other person or party concerning (i) the validity of this request or authorization, or (ii) the actions taken by I-Broker in connection with this request, then I-Broker shall have the right to take any action with respect to the Global Personal I-Name listed above (whether now or in the future) as I-Broker deems proper in its sole discretion, including, but not limited to, (a) placing such Global Personal I-Name on hold, and (b) changing the account holder or registrant of record or any other information related to such Global Personal I-Name, pending the results of an EGS Dispute Resolution proceeding where applicable. I agree that neither I-Broker nor any of its affiliates shall be liable to me or any other party in any amount for any actions taken, or for the failure to take any action, pursuant to this request or the above provisions, and I hereby waive and release any and all claims, demands, and causes of action as against I-Broker and its affiliates with respect thereto. Furthermore, I agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless I-Broker and its affiliates from and against any and all claims, demands, causes of action, fees, liabilities and costs (including attorneys fees) brought or asserted by me or by any third party arising in any way out of this request, this authorization, or any actions taken by I-Broker in connection therewith.
3.5. Other Legal Terms
The other legal terms governing the EGS program are consolidated in a single document available here.