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Appendix C. Changes from RFC 3406

This document makes the following substantive changes from RFC 3406:

1. Relaxed Registration Policy​

Relaxes the registration policy for formal URN namespaces from "IETF Review" to "Expert Review" as discussed in Section 6.2.

Impact​

  • Simplifies the registration process for formal namespaces
  • Lowers the registration threshold
  • Accelerates approval speed
  • Maintains necessary quality control

2. Removal of Experimental Namespace Category​

Removes the category of experimental URN namespaces, consistent with RFC 6648.

Characteristics of Experimental Namespaces​

  • Experimental URN namespaces were denoted by prefixing the namespace identifier with the string "X-"
  • Experimental URN namespaces were never registered

Impact of Removal​

  • Removing the experimental category has no impact on the existing registries
  • Because experimental URN namespaces are not managed, strings conforming to URN syntax within experimental URN namespaces are not valid URNs
  • Truly experimental usages may, of course, employ the "example" namespace (RFC 6963)

3. Simplified Registration Template​

Improvements to the URN namespace registration template:

  • Adds some information fields
  • Generally simplifies the template structure
  • Makes the registration process clearer and easier to operate

Policy Change Summary​

The purpose of these changes is to:

  • Make URN namespace registration more practical and efficient
  • Align with modern IETF best practices
  • Reduce unnecessary administrative burden
  • Improve overall user experience
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