Phase 2 Initial Report of the EPDP on Internationalized Domain Names

What We Need Your Input On

The EPDP Team is seeking input on its twenty (20) preliminary recommendations, which focus on Phase 2 questions included in the EPDP Team’s charter on the following topics:

• “Same entity” at the second-level and IDN Table harmonization
• Adjustments in registry agreement, registry service, registry transition process, and other processes/procedures related to the domain name lifecycle
• Adjustments in registration dispute-resolution procedures and trademark protection mechanisms
• Process to update the IDN Implementation Guidelines 

In short, this Phase 2 Initial Report covers issues pertaining to second-level variant management. As a reminder, Phase 1 covered topics related to the top-level Generic Top-Level Domain (gTLD) definition and variant management, including sixty-nine (69) recommendations which received the Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO) Council’s approval, and is currently awaiting Board’s consideration.

Input on all areas of the preliminary recommendations and/or the whole Initial Report will be greatly appreciated for the EPDP Team to factor in your input during the course of drafting the Final Report policy recommendations. Kindly note that this Public Comment opportunity is presented as a series of structured questions. It is important that any comment provided includes a rationale to ensure that the EPDP Team understands the concern or issue that is raised.

Background

In May 2021, the GNSO Council voted to initiate the EPDP-IDNs that was tasked to:

• Determine the approach for a consistent definition of all gTLDs; and 
• Develop policy recommendations that will eventually allow for the introduction of variant gTLDs at the top-level. 

The EPDP Team’s deliberation built on the existing body of policy work, research, and analysis on the IDN subject, specifically the Outputs produced by the GNSO New gTLD Subsequent Procedures Policy Development Process (SubPro PDP). The Team’s focus was to fill the following gaps not addressed by the SubPro PDP:  

• Apply SubPro PDP Outputs to existing IDN gTLDs and second-level variant domains; 
• Operationalize SubPro PDP Outputs for gTLD variant labels through the New gTLD Program; 
• Deliberate on topics not discussed by SubPro PDP but identified in other previous work on IDNs.

In November 2022, the Council approved an EPDP Team request to divide its work into two phases, with Phase 1 covering topics related to top-level gTLD definition and variant management and Phase 2 issues pertaining to second-level variant management. The two-phased approach was intended to allow the EPDP Team to focus on the charter questions that are most likely to impact the implementation of the Next Round of the new gTLDs and avoid potential delays.

As a result, the EPDP Team submitted its Phase 1 Final Report to the GNSO Council in November 2023. The Council approved the Final Report, including all sixty-nine (69) policy recommendations, and it is now awaiting the Board’s consideration.

Next Steps

Following the analysis of the public comments received on this Initial Report, the EPDP Team will consider whether any changes need to be made to the Phase 2 preliminary recommendations. Once the EPDP Team has considered all the input received, it will conduct a formal consensus call on all the proposed recommendations before deciding to include them into the Phase 2 Final Report for GNSO Council’s consideration.

Supporting Information

This additional information from ICANN org provides more context for this Public Comment Proceeding and may help you review the proposals for input and publish a submission.