Interim Report IDN ccNSO Policy Development Process

• Top-Level Domains
• Policy Processes

In accordance with the ccNSO Policy Development Process section 9 b (Annex B to the ICANN Bylaws) the Issue Manager will closely review all submitted comments to determine at his reasonable discretion to modify the recommendations. According to Annex B of the ICANN Bylaws he is not obligated to include all comments made during the comment period, nor is it obligated to include all comments submitted by any one individual or organization.

The Issue Manager expects to formally publish his Final Report by the end of March 2013, and submit this to ccNSO Council.

After adoption and implementation the policy will replace the current Fast Track Process rules and allow for the inclusion of IDN ccTLD managers in the ccNSO.

In this Interim Paper the recommendations contained in the Final Paper of IDN ccPDP WG 1 are integrated (section 2.1). Only the overarching principles (section 2.1.1), criteria and requirements for the selection of IDN ccTLD strings (2.1.2) and procedures and documentation (section 2.1.3) and miscellaneous recommendations (section 2.1.4) are presented as the proposed overall policy. For further reference the Final Paper of WG 1 itself is included in Annex A of the Report. The IDN ccPDP WG 1 published its Final Paper including its recommendations in December 2012.

In section 2.2 of the recommendations on the inclusion of IDN ccTLD managers in the ccNSO are listed as proposed by the second working group under the IDN ccPDP. In addition proposed changes to Article IX and Annex B of the ICANN Bylaws are now included as well as part of the recommendations (section 2.2.). For further reference the Final Paper of WG 2 is included in Annex B of the Interim report. The IDN ccPDP WG 2 has published its Final Paper in November 2012.

The final part of the Interim Report (section 3) contains a description of the IDN ccPDP process to date and the next steps under this policy development process.

The recommendations describe (at a high level) the decisions and requirements, activities, roles, and responsibilities of the actors involved in the processes. It is anticipated that further detail may need to be added by ICANN staff as a matter of implementation and it is recommended that the ccNSO reviews and approves the final planning document, prior to implementation.

Please note that, as under the Fast Track Process, it is recommended that the delegation of IDN ccTLDs shall be in accordance with the delegation process of (ASCII) ccTLDs. Thus the recommendations contained in the report build on and are complementary to the delegation, re-delegation and retirement processes applicable to all ccTLDs. This implies that once the selection process of an IDN ccTLD string has been successfully completed, the policy, procedures and practices for the delegation, re-delegation and retirement of ccTLDs apply. This also implies that any suggestion to change the policy for the delegation, redelegation and retirement of ccTLDs is out of scope of the IDN ccPDP.

Until the introduction of IDN ccTLDs under the Fast Track Process, ccTLD strings were limited to the two letter codes obtained from the ISO 3166-1 list designating the Territory. As this mechanism could not be used for the selection of IDN ccTLD strings, an alternative method was developed was introduced which is commonly referred to as the Fast Track Process, which became effective in November 2009.

In April 2009, the ccNSO Council initiated the IDN ccPDP, and followed the advise of the IDN ccPDP Issue Manager, to appoint two working groups, each with its own charter, working method and schedule:

• The purpose of the first working group (IDN ccPDP WG 1) is to study and report on a feasible overall policy for the selection and delegation of IDN ccTLDs. The working group should take into account and be guided by the joint GAC-ccNSO Issues Paper and comments received on that document, the Final Report of the IDNC Working Group and the associated Fast Track Implementation Plan and experience with the Fast Track Process.
• The purpose of the second working group is to report on changes to Article IX of the ICANN bylaws to include IDN ccTLD managers in the ccNSO. This is necessitated by the delegation of IDN ccTLD's under the Fast Track Process and in future under the policy recommended by WG 1.

The IDN ccPDP WG 1 focused on, without limitation, the proposals and recommendations of the IDNC Working Group and the Implementation Plan based on the work of the IDNC WG, and has taken into account the experiences under and reviews of the IDNccTLD Fast Track Process. The IDN ccPDP WG 2 focused on, without limitation, examination of Article IX of the ICANN Bylaws and associated Annexes (Annex B and C of the ICANN Bylaws). It has further taken into account the proposals and recommendations of IDN ccPDP WG 1.

As both working groups have undertaken their activities within the framework of the IDN ccPDP, the limitations on the scope of a ccPDP, in particular as defined by Article IX and Annex B and C of the ICANN Bylaws, are applicable to the WG's work in a similar manner.

The Interim Report can be found at: http://ccnso.icann.org/workinggroups/idn-ccpdp-interim-04feb13-en.pdf [PDF, 556 KB]

Additional Resources:

• IDNC WG Final Report: http://ccnso.icann.org/workinggroups/idnc-wg-board-proposal-25jun08.pdf [PDF, 100 KB]
• Fast Track Implementation Plan: http://www.icann.org/en/resources/idn/fast-track
• 1st Fast Track review: http://www.icann.org/en/news/announcements/announcement-2-22oct10-en.htm
• 2nd Fast Track review: http://www.icann.org/en/news/announcements/announcement-09apr12-en.htm
• The draft recommendations of IDN ccPDP WG 1, comments and summary of comments and analysis can be found at: http://www.icann.org/en/news/announcements/announcement-29aug12-en.htm
• The draft recommendations of IDN ccPDP WG 2, comments and summary of comments and analysis can be found at: http://www.icann.org/en/news/announcements/announcement-22oct11-en.htm
• The final paper of and further information on the work of IDN ccPDP WG 1 can be found at: http://ccnso.icann.org/workinggroups/ipwg1.htm
• The Final Paper and further information on the work of IDN ccPDP WG 2 is available at: http://ccnso.icann.org/workinggroups/ipwg2.htm

The Interim Report is published for public comments and feed-back in accordance with Annex B of the ICANN Bylaws by the Issue Manager. Also in accordance with the rules of the IDN ccPDP, the Issue Manager shall at the end of the comment period review the comments received and may, in the Issue Manager's reasonable discretion, add appropriate comments to Interim Report, to prepare the "Final Report". The Issue Manager shall not be obligated to include all comments made during the comment period, nor shall the Issue Manager be obligated to include all comments submitted by any one individual or organization.

Once completed the Final Report will be submitted to the chair of the ccNSO Council. The chair will then distribute the report among the Council members and formally send the Final Report to the GAC chair with an invitation to the GAC to offer opinion or advise. The Council will then start its deliberations on the topics covered and consider whether to make a recommendation. The council recommendation(s) will then be put into a Members Report and submitted to the ccNSO Members to vote upon the recommendations.

In terms of the graphical representation of the ccNSO Policy Development Process (see: http://ccnso.icann.org/policy/pdp-15jan13-en.pdf [PDF, 2.03 MB]) the ccNSO PDP is currently at its initial reporting phase.