Within a few days to a couple of weeks, the British Standards Institute will publish a standard that enables X400 users in the UK to leave blank the ADMD – ADministrative Management Domain – in their electronic mail addresses, should they wish to. What does this mean? Well, it is a controversial move in the esoteric world of X400 addressing, where the Administrative Management Domain specifies which electronic mail operator is responsible for the message’s delivery. Leaving the field holding a single space will mean that mail directed to that mailbox can travel by whichever network operator the sender prefers. Despite the fact that the new standard formally addresses systems running the 1988 version of X400, two UK network operators are about to begin experimenting with the scheme under their existing 1984-based system, and Ray Walker, who heads the UK Name Registration Authority, believes that practical use of the single space convention could become possible by the end of the year. To this end, the Registration Authority has persuaded all six of the carriers operating in the UK to swap routing information on users that want to operate the convention. However, the move has provoked generally negative reactions from continental authorities. The UK move comes at the same time as the European Community Commission is looking at how to rationalise X400 addressing; the same Ovum Ltd study recently discussed in Computergram as examining the single market’s telephone numbering, also reported on electronic mail, the initial findings of which are complex. Briefly, it says that Administrative Management names should be unique across Europe instead of within a country. Secondly, the Administrative Management Domain should no longer be the naming authority for customers – instead each country should set up a national naming authority, similar to the one here in the UK. Third, a new country code for Europe should be set up, with its own naming authority. Fourth, Private Management Domains – PRMDs – should be permitted to opt to use this European code, rather than a country code. It has not been resolved yet whether this European code should be restricted to members of the European Community or should be open to all nations of the continent. Some have argued, indeed, that there should be global registration. Having taken these points into account, the Ovum study recommended that anyone registered under the European country code should be able to operate the single space convention. Meanwhile, although the UK naming authority has carried off the almost miraculous coup of getting the six UK carriers to agree to the single space convention, some continental operators have stated baldly that they will refuse to process international electronic mail with the administrative management domain left blank. Deutsche Bundespost Telekom in Germany, France Telecom and Telefonica de Espana SA all oppose the plan, while the Scandinavian countries and PTT Netherlands have given cautious approval subject to a number of qualifications. Before the approval becomes universal, several problems need to be ironed out. For example, some kind of international billing convention needs to be arranged so that domains that do the work can recoup the cost.
