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ONLINE WORKSHOP: How will Next Generation Registration Directory Services impact you?

Should you be interested in the DNS, registration services, WHOIS and related issues, join the Expert Working Group on gTLD Directory Services (EWG) for an interactive online workshop about next generation Registration Directory Services (RDS).

Date: Wednesday, 16 April 2014
Time: 19:00-20:30 UTC (time converter: http://tinyurl.com/n9rsmfx)

Date: Thursday, 17 April 2014
Time: 12:00-13:30 UTC (time converter: http://tinyurl.com/ouzekzx)

You are invited to an interactive discussion with the EWG, focused on identifying potential risks and benefits that might result if ICANN were to replace WHOIS with a next-generation system as suggested by the EWG.

The Registration Directory Service (RDS) proposed by the Expert Working Group (see video) is now being further refined, using community feedback and data obtained through research. During this interactive workshop, the EWG hopes to:

  • Gather input on potential RDS risks and benefits that might result if ICANN were to replace WHOIS from anyone who could be impacted by the RDS; and

  • Provide a forum for deep-dive interactive discussion about proposed RDS features, including those described in the EWG's November 2013 Status Update Report [PDF, 2.26 MB].

Workshop results will inform the EWG as it refines its recommendations for a next generation RDS and provide essential input to the RDS risk assessment the EWG expects to recommend to the ICANN Board.

The work of the EWG is expected to serve as focused input to future gTLD policy development activities by the GNSO, likely to commence after the EWG delivers its recommendations to the ICANN Board in June.

Participation by anyone who supplies, collects, forwards, or uses gTLD registration data through WHOIS today is strongly encouraged.

Webinar Details

Please join the webinar either on Wednesday, 16 April 2014 at 19:00-20:30 UTC (time converter: http://tinyurl.com/n9rsmfx) or on Thursday, 17 April 2014 at 12:00-13:30 UTC (time converter: http://tinyurl.com/ouzekzx). The two sessions are duplicates, scheduled to accommodate different time zones.

The webinar will be run in an Adobe Connect room with a brief slide presentation to frame interactive discussion, along with a dial-in conference bridge for audio. The session will be conducted in English.

Participants will be given the opportunity to provide input on possible risks and benefits the RDS might pose for them, offer comments on EWG proposals, and ask questions. During the course of the workshop, these inputs may be submitted using the chat function of Adobe Connect. If you cannot join the live session, the recording of the session will be made available shortly after the meeting.

Please register via email to alice.jansen@icann.org by Tuesday, 15 April 2014 – 23:59 UTC to receive the dial-in details. A reminder with log-in and dial-in details will be sent to you prior to the call. Materials for the workshop can be downloaded from the EWG's public wiki.

Webinar Details

Wednesday, 16 April 2014:
Recording [MP3, 20.0 MB]
Transcript [PDF, 211 KB]
Chat transcript [PDF, 43 KB]

Thursday, 17 April 2014:
Recording [MP3, 16.3 MB]
Transcript [PDF, 173 KB]
Chat transcript [PDF, 41 KB]

Webinar slides [PDF, 4.73 MB]

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Domain Name System
Internationalized Domain Name ,IDN,"IDNs are domain names that include characters used in the local representation of languages that are not written with the twenty-six letters of the basic Latin alphabet ""a-z"". An IDN can contain Latin letters with diacritical marks, as required by many European languages, or may consist of characters from non-Latin scripts such as Arabic or Chinese. Many languages also use other types of digits than the European ""0-9"". The basic Latin alphabet together with the European-Arabic digits are, for the purpose of domain names, termed ""ASCII characters"" (ASCII = American Standard Code for Information Interchange). These are also included in the broader range of ""Unicode characters"" that provides the basis for IDNs. The ""hostname rule"" requires that all domain names of the type under consideration here are stored in the DNS using only the ASCII characters listed above, with the one further addition of the hyphen ""-"". The Unicode form of an IDN therefore requires special encoding before it is entered into the DNS. The following terminology is used when distinguishing between these forms: A domain name consists of a series of ""labels"" (separated by ""dots""). The ASCII form of an IDN label is termed an ""A-label"". All operations defined in the DNS protocol use A-labels exclusively. The Unicode form, which a user expects to be displayed, is termed a ""U-label"". The difference may be illustrated with the Hindi word for ""test"" — परीका — appearing here as a U-label would (in the Devanagari script). A special form of ""ASCII compatible encoding"" (abbreviated ACE) is applied to this to produce the corresponding A-label: xn--11b5bs1di. A domain name that only includes ASCII letters, digits, and hyphens is termed an ""LDH label"". Although the definitions of A-labels and LDH-labels overlap, a name consisting exclusively of LDH labels, such as""icann.org"" is not an IDN."