When I make a POST request with a JSON body to my REST service I include Content-type: application/json; charset=utf-8 in the message header. Without this header, I get an error from the service. I can also successfully use Content-type: application/json without the ;charset=utf-8 portion.
What exactly does charset=utf-8 do ? I know it specifies the character encoding but the service works fine without it. Does this encoding limit the characters that can be in the message body?