RE: [ga] is ICANN or is ICANN not? - "CS" fate

[Elisabeth Porteneuve <Elisabeth.Porteneuve@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

A little more about "CS" fate.

In early 1990's the "CS" 2-letters code for Czechoslovakia wasn't 
a lucky one either. The main reason was JANET network of computers 
in the United Kingdom, its system of writing domain names and the 
fact that besides ISO 3166 meaning, the "CS" stands also for Computer 
Service.

When all national networks put country of origin component at the 
right end of the domain, JANET reversed the order, starting with the 
country of origin on the left, for example: kirstein@xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Each and every gateway of that time had to reorder the British domains, 
and each and every person using email had to remember it.
The most disturbing cases arised between some JANET addresses and 
Czechoslovakia's ones.

Even at that time of a small Internet mostly used by research and 
education institution, the confusion was real between names using
hierarchy written left-to-right and right-to-left, and it was clear 
that it cannot last. 

See old documents,ie. http://www.nbcs.rutgers.edu/newdocs/gen00101/gen00101.php3
Or just google for UK.AC.UCL.CS. 

Elisabeth Porteneuve