diff --git a/ietf/ietfauth/forms.py b/ietf/ietfauth/forms.py
index 179c0fe65..9779fd218 100644
--- a/ietf/ietfauth/forms.py
+++ b/ietf/ietfauth/forms.py
@@ -9,6 +9,8 @@ from django.contrib.auth.models import User
 from django.utils.html import mark_safe
 from django.core.urlresolvers import reverse as urlreverse
 
+from unidecode import unidecode
+
 import debug                            # pyflakes:ignore
 
 from ietf.person.models import Person, Email
@@ -45,9 +47,18 @@ class PasswordForm(forms.Form):
 def ascii_cleaner(supposedly_ascii):
     outside_printable_ascii_pattern = r'[^\x20-\x7F]'
     if re.search(outside_printable_ascii_pattern, supposedly_ascii):
-        raise forms.ValidationError("Please only enter ASCII characters.")
+        raise forms.ValidationError("Only unaccented Latin characters are allowed.")
     return supposedly_ascii
 
+def prevent_at_symbol(name):
+    if "@" in name:
+        raise forms.ValidationError("Please fill in name - this looks like an email address (@ is not allowed in names).")
+
+def prevent_system_name(name):
+    name_without_spaces = name.replace(" ", "").replace("\t", "")
+    if "(system)" in name_without_spaces.lower():
+        raise forms.ValidationError("Please pick another name - this name is reserved.")
+
 def get_person_form(*args, **kwargs):
 
     exclude_list = ['time', 'user', 'photo_thumb', 'photo', ]
@@ -65,11 +76,42 @@ def get_person_form(*args, **kwargs):
         def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
             super(ModelForm, self).__init__(*args, **kwargs)
 
+            # blank ascii if it's the same as name
+            self.fields["ascii"].required = self.fields["ascii"].widget.is_required = False
+            self.fields["ascii"].help_text += " " + "Leave blank to use auto-reconstructed Latin version of name."
+
+            if self.initial.get("ascii") == self.initial.get("name"):
+                self.initial["ascii"] = ""
+
+            self.unidecoded_ascii = False
+
+            if self.data and not self.data.get("ascii", "").strip():
+                self.data = self.data.copy()
+                name = self.data["name"]
+                reconstructed_name = unidecode(name)
+                self.data["ascii"] = reconstructed_name
+                self.unidecoded_ascii = name != reconstructed_name
+
+        def clean_name(self):
+            name = self.cleaned_data.get("name") or u""
+            prevent_at_symbol(name)
+            prevent_system_name(name)
+            return name
+
         def clean_ascii(self):
-            return ascii_cleaner(self.cleaned_data.get("ascii") or u"")
+            if self.unidecoded_ascii:
+                raise forms.ValidationError("Name contained non-ASCII characters, and was automatically reconstructed using only Latin characters. Check the result - if you are happy, just hit Submit again.")
+
+            name = self.cleaned_data.get("ascii") or u""
+            prevent_at_symbol(name)
+            prevent_system_name(name)
+            return ascii_cleaner(name)
 
         def clean_ascii_short(self):
-            return ascii_cleaner(self.cleaned_data.get("ascii_short") or u"")
+            name = self.cleaned_data.get("ascii_short") or u""
+            prevent_at_symbol(name)
+            prevent_system_name(name)
+            return ascii_cleaner(name)
 
     return PersonForm(*args, **kwargs)
 
diff --git a/ietf/ietfauth/tests.py b/ietf/ietfauth/tests.py
index 39927426f..335a5f489 100644
--- a/ietf/ietfauth/tests.py
+++ b/ietf/ietfauth/tests.py
@@ -213,6 +213,15 @@ class IetfAuthTests(TestCase):
         q = PyQuery(r.content)
         self.assertTrue(len(q("form .has-error")) > 0)
 
+        # edit details - blank ASCII
+        blank_ascii = base_data.copy()
+        blank_ascii["ascii"] = u""
+        r = self.client.post(url, blank_ascii)
+        self.assertEqual(r.status_code, 200)
+        q = PyQuery(r.content)
+        self.assertTrue(len(q("form .has-error")) > 0) # we get a warning about reconstructed name
+        self.assertEqual(q("input[name=ascii]").val(), base_data["ascii"])
+
         # edit details
         r = self.client.post(url, base_data)
         self.assertEqual(r.status_code, 200)