Published on: 2014-04-26T21:16:48+00:00
During a discussion on Bitcoin's registration as a vendor, Mike Hearn expressed doubts about its feasibility since Bitcoin is not considered a vendor. However, according to RFC 6838, the Bitcoin Foundation or Gavin himself could register a vendor tree for Bitcoin. This would involve obtaining the subtree named vdn.bitcoin, which should not pose any problems. Despite this possibility, there was skepticism regarding the need to pursue this registration, as the chances of a string collision are low and the current mime types were deemed sufficient. It seemed that registering as a vendor was more about adhering to proper procedures than anything else.In an email sent to the Bitcoin-development mailing list, Ross Nicoll raised concerns about the MIME types in BIP0071. He pointed out that these MIME types are not IANA registered and are unlikely to be accepted in their current state. Ross referred to the latest RFC on media type registration, which imposes restrictions on what can be included in the default "application/" namespace. The preference is for it to be an ISO standard or similar. However, Ross suggested that alternative options, such as using vendor namespaces, might be more feasible. He cited the example of Powerpoint 2007's "application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.presentationml.presentation" as a potential model. As a solution, Ross proposed registering a Bitcoin vendor namespace with IANA and allocating specific MIME types for Bitcoin-related purposes, such as "application/vnd.bitcoin.payment.request", "application/vnd.bitcoin.payment.payment", and "application/vnd.bitcoin.payment.ack". Despite Ross's suggestion, some participants in the thread expressed doubt about the viability of this approach due to Bitcoin not being traditionally considered a vendor. Additionally, the likelihood of a string collision occurring is extremely low, and the current mime types were seen as adequate. Ross sought feedback from the group on his proposal.
Updated on: 2023-08-01T09:04:13.796877+00:00