Should a colon character be escaped in TEXT values in iCalendar (rfc2445)?

Question

My understanding from reading the specification (http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2445.txt) is that the ":" character should not be escaped in text values like DESCRIPTION.

From the RFC:

The "TEXT" property values may also contain special characters that are used to signify delimiters, such as a COMMA character for lists of values or a SEMICOLON character for structured values. In order to
support the inclusion of these special characters in "TEXT" property
values, they MUST be escaped with a BACKSLASH character. A BACKSLASH
character (US-ASCII decimal 92) in a "TEXT" property value MUST be
escaped with another BACKSLASH character. A COMMA character in a
"TEXT" property value MUST be escaped with a BACKSLASH character
(US-ASCII decimal 92). A SEMICOLON character in a "TEXT" property
value MUST be escaped with a BACKSLASH character (US-ASCII decimal 92). However, a COLON character in a "TEXT" property value SHALL NOT be escaped with a BACKSLASH character.

I ask this because I'm receiving syntax errors in Meeting Maker v8.7.1b63 for Mac OS X due to this character but not for the Windows version of the software (same version number). It's choking on ics files I'm generating from software I've written. Is this a bug in my software of theirs?

This is the iCalendar file that is receiving the error:

BEGIN:VCALENDAR
VERSION:2.0
PRODID:-//abc/abc//NONSGML v1.0//EN
BEGIN:VEVENT
UID:[email protected]
DTSTART:20091022T133000
DTEND:20091022T150000
SUMMARY:Special Topics in Power Point
LOCATION:The Location 
DESCRIPTION:Learn how to use PowerPoint as a tool to organize and pres
 ent your ideas to others.  Basic computer skills are required.  This h
 ands-on workshop will provide you with experience in the following: wh
 at's new in PowerPoint 2007\, presentation basics\, working with text
 \, viewing a presentation\, formatting\, finalizing a presentation and
  delivering a presentation.
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR

Note the colon on the third line of the description. Adding a slash to this colon fixes the problem on the Mac but I think this is incorrect according to the standard.

Thanks for your help!

Answer 1

It appears to be a bug in their software.

"However, a COLON character in a "TEXT" property value SHALL NOT be escaped with a BACKSLASH character."

Is pretty straightforward.

See if they have any patches. If not, try to contact them and tell them about it.