[At-Large] DomainIncite : Is this why WhatsApp hates some TLDs but not others?

Wed Sep 13 06:40:39 UTC 2023

On 12/09/2023 18:17, Bill Jouris via At-Large wrote:

isoc-il encountered a very similar problem.
We implemented a new IDN ccTLD last year and planned a roll out only to 
find that no browser was recognizing the new IDN ccTLD.    We had to 
delay the rollout by 4 months:
https://en.isoc.org.il/il-cctld/idn

We had  discovered the issue of PSL.
We had looked at ICANN  IDN Implementation Guidelines for guidance:
https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/implementation-guidelines-2012-02-25-en#
which did not indicate anything about updating the PSL.
[Incidentally, buried in ICANN is this doc:
The Public Suffix List: A Guide for TLD Administrators
https://www.icann.org/en/system/files/files/octo-011-18may20-en.pdf]

So I contacted the UA (Universal Acceptance) - 
https://www.icann.org/uasg-en and https://uasg.tech/

Among the quotes I received:
"The IDN Guidelines generally have limited focus on security/stability 
related matters related to IDNs offered by the top-level domain 
registries and registrars. This issue is related more to the usability 
of IDNs, which is generally taken up through the UA related work"

which sort of is contradicted by - https://icannwiki.org/PSL
which states:
"The PSL is a Mozilla initiative but is community-maintained. It is 
primarily used by web browser manufacturers and other domain-related 
software.

This resource is crucial to the Universal Acceptance 
<https://icannwiki.org/Universal_Acceptance> of TLDs 
<https://icannwiki.org/TLD>."

I would say that isoc-il was disappointed by ICANN's handling of this 
issue and their lack of willingness to better document this issue for 
future TLD owners.

Regards,

Hank Nussbacher

> He complains that he couldn't get ICANN interested in the problem. It 
> would be interesting to know just who at ICANN he was talking to.
>
> Bill Jouris
>
>
> Sent from Yahoo Mail on Android 
> <https://go.onelink.me/107872968?pid=InProduct&c=Global_Internal_YGrowth_AndroidEmailSig__AndroidUsers&af_wl=ym&af_sub1=Internal&af_sub2=Global_YGrowth&af_sub3=EmailSignature>
>
>     On Tue, Sep 12, 2023 at 7:43 AM, Dev Anand Teelucksingh via At-Large
>     <at-large at atlarge-lists.icann.org> wrote:
>     "*Developers of major pieces of internet software, including the
>     world’s most-popular messaging app, may be relying on seriously
>     outdated lists of top-level domains.*
>
>     That’s the picture that seems to be emerging from one new gTLD
>     operator’s quest to discover why WhatsApp doesn’t recognize its
>     TLD, and many others including major dot-brands, as valid."
>
>     ....When most social media apps detect the user has inputted a URL
>     or domain name, they automatically “linkify” it so it can be
>     easily clicked or tapped without the need for copy/paste.
>
>     But when Rami Schwartz of new gTLD .tube discovered that .tube
>     URLs sent via WhatsApp, said to have two billion users, were not
>     being linkified, despite the TLD being delegated by ICANN almost
>     eight years ago, he set out to find out why.
>
>     Schwartz compiled a spreadsheet (.xlsx) listing which gTLDs are
>     recognized by WhatsApp and which are not and discovered a rough
>     cut-off point in November 2015. TLDs delegated before then are
>     linkified, those delegated after were not......This means that,
>     for example, .microsoft domains linkify but .amazon and .apple
>     domains do not; .asia domains linkify but .africa and .arab
>     domains do not; .london works but .abudhabi doesn’t. Even
>     .verisign missed the cut-off.
>
>     If WhatsApp users include a “www.” or “http://” then the app will
>     linkify the domain, even if the specified TLD does not exist.
>
>     .....During the course of a discussion
>     <https://github.com/publicsuffix/list/issues/1807> on the web site
>     of the Public Suffix List — which maintains an open-source list of
>     all TLDs and the levels at which names may be registered — it was
>     discovered that the problem may be deeper rooted than the WhatsApp
>     app.
>
>     It turns out a library in the Android operating system
>     <https://cs.android.com/android/platform/superproject/main/+/main:frameworks/base/core/java/android/util/Patterns.java;l=114>
>     contains a hard-coded list of valid TLDs which hasn’t been updated
>     since November 24, 2015"
>
>     Read full article :
>     https://domainincite.com/29054-is-this-why-whatsapp-hates-some-tlds-but-not-others
>
>
>     Regards,
>
>     Dev Anand Teelucksingh
>     _______________________________________________
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