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ICANN POLICY UPDATE | Volume 10, Issue 10 — October 2010

PDF Version [364 KB]

http://www.icann.org/en/topics/policy/

CONTENTS:

Across ICANN

  1. Issues Currently Open for Public Comment

ccNSO

  1. Members Nominate ccNSO Chair Chris Disspain to ICANN Board
  2. Members Nominate ccNSO Counselors; Attend Elections in Asia-Pacific and European Regions
  3. Other Issues Active in the ccNSO

GNSO

  1. Bottom-Up Process Produces Implementation Advice on Issues Affecting Morality and Public Order
  2. Staff Completes Analysis of Third Whois Study, Posts RFP on Fourth Study; GNSO Council Continues Discussions on Additional Whois Studies
  3. Inter-Registrar Transfer Policy WG Still Absorbing Comments on Initial Report
  4. GNSO Council Addresses Recommendations in the Registration Abuse Policies Final Report
  5. Post-Expiration Domain Name Recovery WG Closes Public Comment Forum; Seeks Consensus
  6. GNSO Improvements: Work Team Efforts Continue
  7. Other Issues Active in the GNSO

ASO

  1. Proposal to Share More Information About Internet Number Resource Policy Developments
  2. Other Issues Active in the ASO

Joint Efforts

  1. Issues Open as Joint Efforts

At-Large

  1. Regional At-Large Organizations Elect ALAC Representatives for 2010–2012 Terms
  2. At-Large First to Create Workspace Using Confluence Collaborative Wiki

SSAC

  1. SSAC Report on Protecting Domain Names Due Out Soon

Read in Your Preferred Language

ICANN Policy Update is available in all six official languages of the United Nations. Policy Update is posted on ICANN's website and is also available via online subscription. To receive the Update in your Inbox each month, visit the ICANN subscriptions page, enter your e-mail address, and select “Policy Update” to subscribe. This service is free of charge.

ICANN Policy Update statement of purpose

Send questions, comments and suggestions to: policy-staff@icann.org.

Policy Supporting Organizations and Advisory Committees

Address Supporting Organization ASO
Country Code Names Supporting Organization ccNSO
Generic Names Supporting Organization GNSO
At-Large Advisory Committee ALAC
Governmental Advisory Committee GAC
Root Server System Advisory Committee RSSAC
Security and Stability Advisory Committee SSAC

Across ICANN

1. Issues Currently Open for Public Comment

Numerous public comment periods are open on issues of interest to the ICANN community. Act now to share your views on such topics as:

  • One and Two-Character ASCII .TEL Domain Names. Telnic has proposed amending Appendices 6 and 7 of its agreement with ICANN to allow one- and two-character ASCII .tel domain names. The proposal is available for public comment until 10 November.
  • Summary of the Impact of Root Zone Scaling. ICANN seeks public comment for two documents pertaining to its ongoing efforts to ensure DNS (Domain Name System) stability in light of potential root zone growth from the delegation of new gTLDs. One of the papers, The Summary of the Impact of Root Zone Scaling, describes the potential impact to the root servers from the addition of significant numbers of new TLDs to the DNS root. This paper is available for public comment until 5 November.
  • Delegation Rate Scenarios for New gTLDs. A companion to the Summary of the Impact of Root Zone Scaling paper, this paper describes the model and rationale for the maximum rate of applications that can be processed in the next few years. Both reasoning and process methodologies are described in the paper. This paper is also available for public comment until 5 November.
  • Public Participation Committee Webinar Information. ICANN's Participation and Engagement staff and the Board Public Participation Committee (PPC) are gathering information from the community in order to create a more productive structure and content for ICANN public meetings. The PPC will host a public consultation at the Cartagena meeting, 5–10 December. Public comment on this work is invited until 3 November.
  • FY 11 Update to Plan for Enhancing Internet Security, Stability and Resiliency. The SSR Plan originally published in May 2009 has been updated to reflect ICANN's Security activities from June 2010–July 2011. The deadline for public comment on the FY 11 SSR Plan has been extended to 3 November.
  • Privacy Proxy Registration Services Study Report. The ICANN community has raised questions over the years about domain names registered using a privacy or proxy registration service. ICANN's 2009 exploratory study assessed an approximate percentage of domain names in the top five gTLD registries that used privacy or proxy registration services. The study revealed that 18% to 20% of the domain names in these registries used privacy or proxy registration services. This report is available for public comment until 28 October.
  • ACDR Proposal to be Recognized as an Official Dispute Resolution Provider Under the UDRP. The Arab Center for Domain Name Dispute Resolution (ACDR) wishes to be recognized as an official dispute resolution provider under the UDRP. Since 2003, the ACDR has been active in resolving conflicts related to intellectual property through international arbitrators, and could be the first approved UDRP service provider headquartered in an Arab state. This proposal is open for public comment until 28 October.
  • Community Working Group Report on Implementation of GNSO New gTLD Recommendation Number 6. The Cross Community Working Group on GNSO Recommendation 6 has published its Report, which relates to procedures for addressing objectionable strings while protecting internationally recognized freedom of expression rights. This report is available for public comment until 22 October.
  • Accountability and Transparency Review – Community Feedback. The Accountability and Transparency Review Team (ATRT) has opened a public forum so that the community can comment and make suggestions at any point during the ATRT review. A closing date has not been defined.

For the full list of issues open for public comment, plus recently closed and archived public comment forums, visit the Public Comment page.


ccNSO

2. Members Nominate ccNSO Chair Chris Disspain to ICANN Board

At a Glance

The process for nominating members for election to the Board of Directors closed 6 October 2010, with one nomination, that of ccNSO Chair Chris Disspain. Mr. Disspain will start his term of service with the ICANN Board after the June 2011 ICANN meeting.

Recent Developments

The ccNSO Board nomination period was launched 15 September and closed 6 October 2010. The only nominee was Chris Disspain, who accepted the nomination. This means that no election by the ccNSO members is necessary.

Background

According to ICANN's bylaws, Article IX, section 3.9, the ccNSO Council selects candidates to fill seats 11 and 12 on the ICANN Board. Because ICANN Board seat 11 becomes vacant at the end of the June 2011 ICANN meeting, a call for nominees to fill the seat was conducted.

Next Steps

The ccNSO Council must formally adopt the result of the nomination process to select representatives in accordance with the ICANN bylaws. This was done at the Council meeting on 19 October 2010.

Mr. Disspain will take his seat on the ICANN Board after ICANN's meeting in June 2011.

More Information

Staff Contact

Gabriella Schittek, ccNSO Secretariat


3. Members Nominate ccNSO Counselors; Attend Elections in Asia-Pacific and European Regions

At a Glance

During the ccNSO Council nomination period ending 21 September 2010, seven people were nominated to the ccNSO Council. Elections in the Asia-Pacific and European regions end 26 October. Appointees will start their terms of service at the end of the March 2011 ICANN meeting.

Recent Developments

The following people were nominated and seconded and have accepted their nominations in the ccNSO Council nomination process:

African Region Souleymane Oumtanaga .ci
Asia-Pacific Region Hiro Hotta .jp
Hong Xue .cn
European Region Ondrej Filip .cz
Roelof Meijer .nl
Latin American Region Victor Abboud .ec
North American Region Dotty Sparks de Blanc .vi

Background

The ccNSO Council nomination period was launched 31 August and ended 21 September 2010.

Next Steps

Elections are held in the Asia-Pacific and European regions starting 12 October and ending on 26 October 2010.

The term of the appointed Counselors begins directly after the ICANN meeting in March 2011.

More Information

Archives

Staff Contact

Gabriella Schittek, ccNSO Secretariat


4. Other Issues Active in the ccNSO


GNSO

5. Bottom-Up Process Produces Implementation Advice on Issues Affecting Morality and Public Order

Working Group Develops Key Principles for the New gTLD Program

At a Glance

Comments are sought on recommendations from a cross-community working group to improve the proposed objection process for objectionable strings to protect freedom of expression rights. The ICANN Board reviewed the working group's report in August 2010 and resolved to accept those recommendations that are consistent with the existing process.

Background

ICANN is in the implementation planning stage of defining the processes for adding new generic top - level domain names to the Domain Name System. Over a two - year period, the GNSO worked to create policy recommendations, which are intended to guide the introduction of new gTLDs. ICANN is finalizing the implementation details for the launch of new gTLDs.

Recent Developments

ICANN's recently posted draft Applicant Guidebook version 4, which proposes procedures for addressing objections based on morality and public order concerns arising out of objectionable new gTLD strings. Among these is Recommendation 6 (Rec6), which states that:

Strings must not be contrary to generally accepted legal norms relating to morality and public order that are recognized under international principles of law.

A cross-community working group (CWG) composed of members of the GAC, GNSO, and the At Large community has published its Report [PDF, 1.06 MB] [addressing concerns by the ICANN community about the proposed implementation of Rec6. The report describes the results of this bottom-up process, and includes recommendations proposed by the CWG for improving the implementation plan proposed in the draft Applicant Guidebook version 4 .

The ICANN Board reviewed the Report during its August 2010 retreat in Trondheim, Norway, and resolved to accept the Rec6 CWG recommendations that are consistent with the existing process, as this can be done before the opening of the first gTLD application round.

A public comment forum on the report is open until 22 October 2010, providing an opportunity for interested parties to comment on any of the proposed recommendations.

Additional Information

Staff Contact

Margie Milam, Senior Policy Counselor


6. Staff Completes Analysis of Third Whois Study, Posts RFP on Fourth Study; GNSO Council Continues Discussions on Additional Whois Studies

ICANN staff members continue to scope additional study options; GNSO Council to discuss Whois Service Requirements Report.

At a Glance

Whois is the data repository containing registered domain names, registrant contacts, and other critical information. Because of the global scale and critical importance of Whois, adjustments to it must be handled with great care. Questions persist concerning the use and misuse of this important public resource. The GNSO Council continues its inquiries into the suitability of Whois as the Internet evolves, and is considering studies that could provide current, reliable information to further inform community discussions about Whois .

Recent Developments

The first Whois studies being considered are grouped into four broad categories:

  • Whois Misuse. This study is to discover to what extent public Whois information is used for harmful purposes. ICANN issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) in September 2009, asking qualified researchers to estimate the costs and feasibility of conducting these studies. The GNSO Council will proceed with this study and the research firm selected to conduct this study will be announced shortly.
  • Whois Registrant Identification. This effort would examine the extent to which domain names registered by legal persons or for commercial purposes are not clearly represented in Whois data. ICANN issued an RFP, and staff members prepared an analysis of vendor responses for GNSO Council and community consideration. The Council is still considering whether this study should be conducted.
  • Whois Proxy and Privacy Services Abuse Study. This study would focus on the extent to which domain names used to conduct illegal or harmful Internet activities are registered via privacy or proxy services to obscure the perpetrator's identity. ICANN staff posted an RFP on 20 May 2010 to engage independent research organizations to undertake this study. Three responses were received by the 20 July 2010 submittal deadline. Additional information was requested of those submitting the strongest responses. Staff has analyzed this information and the GNSO Council is now considering next steps. A link to the staff analysis is provided below.
  • Whois Proxy and Privacy Services Reveal Study. This study would measure proxy and privacy service responsiveness to registrant “identity reveal” requests. An RFP to conduct this study was posted on 29 September 2010. A link to the announcement is provided below.

Two more important categories of potential study may follow the first four.

  • International Display Specifications. Since its inception, Whois data has been primarily in English and other Western languages, but with Internationalized Domain Names in Arabic, Chinese, Cyrillic, and other scripts in greater use, more and more Whois entries are expected in non-Roman character sets. Without standards, Whois could turn into an unreadable polyglot mess. At ICANN's Sydney meeting In June 2009, the ICANN Board passed a resolution asking the GNSO and the SSAC to form a joint working group to study the feasibility of introducing display specifications so that the increasing prevalence of non-ASCII registration data does not compromise Whois accuracy. The working group is considering what should be required from internationalized registration data. The WG will also address technical questions on how data elements might be extensible to accommodate users who might benefit from registration information displayed in familiar characters from local languages and scripts.
  • Whois Service Requirements Report Now Complete. Another important study area, requested separately by the GNSO in May 2009, is a comprehensive list of Whois service requirements based on current policies and previous policy discussions. The report is a compendium of potential technical requirements and makes no policy recommendations. Some potential requirements included in this report are a mechanism to find authoritative Whois servers; structured queries; a standardized set of query capabilities; a well-defined scheme for replies; standardized error messages; improved quality of domain registration data; internationalization; security elements; thick vs. thin Whois; and a registrar abuse point of contact.

More Information

Staff Contact

Liz Gasster, Senior Policy Counselor


7. Inter-Registrar Transfer Policy WG Absorbs Comments on Initial Report

At a Glance

The Inter-Registrar Transfer Policy (IRTP) aims to provide a straightforward procedure for domain name holders to transfer their names from one ICANN-accredited registrar to another. The GNSO Council is reviewing and considering revisions to this policy and has established a series of working groups to conduct these efforts.

Recent Developments and Next Steps

The Inter-Registrar Transfer Policy Part B PDP Working Group published its Initial Report on 29 May. The report presents several preliminary conclusions and recommendations for community input, including a proposed Expedited Transfer Reverse Policy (ETRP). A fast “reverse transfer” process for returning a recently sold domain name to its original owner if it is hijacked, the ETRP is designed to correct fraudulent or erroneous transfers. It does not address or resolve disputes arising over domain control or use. A legitimate new owner would probably contest an ETRP, but a hijacker would not because of the risk of exposure.

Publication of the Initial Report was followed by a public comment forum that ran from 5 July to 8 August 2010. Seventeen community submissions from 13 parties were received, most focused on the proposed ETRP. The WG has started to review and analyze the comments received as part of its deliberations to develop a Final Report for submission to the GNSO Council.

For further information, please consult the IRTP Part B Working Group Workspace.

Background

The IRTP Part B Policy Development Process (PDP) is the second in a series of five PDPs addressing areas for improvement in the existing Inter-Registrar Transfer Policy. The working group will address five issues focusing on domain hijacking, the urgent return of an inappropriately transferred name, and lock status. For further details, refer to the group's Charter.

More Information

Staff Contact

Marika Konings, Policy Director


8. GNSO Council Addresses Recommendations in the Registration Abuse Policies Final Report

At a Glance

Registries and registrars seem to lack uniform approaches for dealing with domain name registration abuse, and questions persist about what actions registration abuse refers to. The GNSO Council has launched a Registration Abuse Policies (RAP) Working Group to examine registration abuse policies.

Recent Developments

The Registration Abuse Policies (RAP) Working Group published its Final Report on 29 May. The report includes concrete recommendations to address domain name registration abuse in gTLDs for consideration by the GNSO Council. It includes recommendations addressing fake renewal notices, domain kiting, and deceptive or offensive domain names, as well as a wide-ranging list of online abuses and problems:

The RAP WG presented its report [PDF, 1.7 MB] and recommendations to the GNSO Council at the June ICANN meeting in Brussels. The GNSO Council then formed a group of volunteers to draft a proposed approach to the report's recommendations. The proposed approach could include the timing of forming groups to consider some of the recommendations in the final report, as well as how to deal with those recommendations that did not achieve unanimous consensus (click for further information).

The Registration Abuse Policies Implementation Drafting Team started its deliberations early in September, and is developing a matrix that will categorize the recommendations in order of priority, expected complexity and required resources, as well as next steps. Once the matrix has been completed, the drafting team will submit it to the GNSO Council for consideration.

Background

A short history of the RAP Working Group is available on ICANN's website.

More Information

Staff Contacts

Marika Konings, Policy Director, and Margie Milam, Senior Policy Counselor


9. Post-Expiration Domain Name Recovery WG Closes Public Comment; Seeks Consensus

At a Glance

To what extent should registrants be able to reclaim their domain names after they expire? At issue is whether the current policies of registrars on the renewal, transfer and deletion of expired domain names are adequate.

Recent Developments and Next Steps

The GNSO Post-Expiration Domain Name Recovery (PEDNR) Policy Development Process (PDP) Working Group published its Initial Report on 31 May. On 12 July, a public comment forum opened on the report, which was extended to 15 August. During the public comment forum, it was also possible to participate in a survey that asked several specific questions about renewal and expiration practices. Nine public comment submissions were received, in addition to 412 survey responses (click here to see the summary and analysis).

Background

For a history of the ICANN community's policy development activities related to Post-Expiration Domain Name Recovery, please refer to the PEDNR Background page.

Next Steps

The WG has started to review and analyze the comments received as well as the survey results as part of the second phase of the PDP, during which the WG hopes to reach consensus on a proposed way forward for each of the charter questions.

More Information

Staff Contact

Marika Konings, Policy Director


10. GNSO Improvements: Work Team Efforts Continue

At a Glance

Members of the Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO) community are working to implement a comprehensive series of organizational changes designed to improve the effectiveness and accessibility of the organization. The GNSO Improvements fall into five main areas:

  • Restructuring the GNSO Council
  • Revising the GNSO Policy Development Process (PDP)
  • Adopting a New Working Group Model for Policy Development
  • Enhancing Constituencies
  • Improving Communication and Coordination with ICANN structures

The following update relates only the most recent developments regarding implementation of the GNSO Improvements. To understand the GNSO's new structure and organization, see the discussion and diagrams on the GNSO Improvements Information webpage (GII webpage). For the reasons and history motivating the improvements, see the Background page. The staff has also created a series of new dashboard pages for a quick review of implementation activities. A Status page and a Timeline Page are connected to the GII webpage.

Recent Developments

Community work team efforts continue in several important areas.

  1. Restructuring the GNSO Council. The GNSO Council is learning to use some of the new operating rules and procedures approved at its 5 August meeting, including matters of voting abstentions and Councilor Statements of Interest and Declarations of Interest. Some of those procedures are getting a closer look from the Council and the GNSO Council Operations Work Team. Policy staff members remain available to assist GNSO constituency and stakeholder groups in using the new procedures. Specific information collection forms and graphic depictions of the new processes have also been prepared for the community. For further detail, see the new operating procedures [PDF, 428 KB] and the GNSO Admin Documents web page.
  2. Revising the PDP. On 31 May, the Policy Development Process (PDP) Work Team (WT) presented its Initial Report [PDF, 2.36 MB] for community input. The report includes 45 draft recommendations and a flow chart intended as the basis for the new Annex A of the ICANN bylaws. The public comment period on the Initial Report was extended until 30 September and is now closed. The PDP-WT will analyze the comments received, finalize the report, then submit it to the GNSO's Policy Process Steering Committee for review. Ultimately, the WT recommendations will go to the GNSO Council (and then the ICANN Board) for approval.
  3. Adopting a New Working Group Model. At the end of May 2010, the Working Group Work Team (WG WT) submitted its GNSO Working Group Guidelines [PDF, 681 KB] to the Policy Process Steering Committee (PPSC) for review. The WG WT received feedback from the PPSC and met on 29 September to determine whether further changes should be made to the proposed guidelines based on the PPSC comments. The proposals will go eventually to the GNSO Council for approval.
  4. Improving Communications and Coordination with ICANN Structures. The Policy department is fully engaged in implementing new GNSO web site improvements approved by the GNSO Council in August. The department hopes to share its progress with the GNSO Council and the community in time for the ICANN Cartagena meeting, 5–10 December 2010.
  5. Enhancing Constituencies. At its 5 August meeting, the GNSO Council approved a report from the Constituencies and Stakeholder Group Work Team on consistent operational guidelines and best practices for GNSO constituencies and stakeholder groups. The recommendations have been incorporated into the GNSO operating procedures [PDF, 428 KB] and Policy staff have been actively working with several community groups to review the new recommendations and consider adopting them into their organizational processes and documents. The work team also is drafting recommendations on a global outreach program to encourage participation in GNSO constituencies and stakeholder groups. Those recommendations are now ready for review by the GNSO's Operations Steering Committee.

Permanent Stakeholder Group Charter Efforts. The GNSO's noncontract party communities continue work to develop permanent stakeholder group charters. All indications are that those efforts are on track to conclude by the end of 2010.

Next Steps

The GNSO's various implementation work teams will continue to develop recommendations for implementing the GNSO restructuring goals approved by the Board. Approved recommendations are being assimilated into existing community practices. Public comments on new proposals will be reviewed and summarized by ICANN staff. The ICANN Board is also due to consider reviewing several improvements matters, including the permanent stakeholder group charters it approved in July 2009, existing constituency structures, operations and charters and potential new GNSO constituency proposals as well.

More Information

Staff Contact

Robert Hoggarth, Senior Policy Director


11. Other Issues Active in the GNSO


ASO

12. Proposal to Share More Information About Internet Number Resource Policy Developments

At a Glance

The Number Resource Organization and the Address Supporting Organization Address Council recognize the need to better communicate information about the status of developments to the ICANN community. They recommend developing a summary slide presentation for delivery at appropriate sessions of ICANN meetings. These presentations are to be summary information only, and are not intended as the foundation for discussion or debate.

Recent Developments

The Number Resource Organization (NRO) Executive Committee and the Address Supporting Organization Address Council (ASO AC) have carefully considered how to best communicate information on the status of Internet number resource policy developments to the greater ICANN community, and these groups have recommend the following steps going forward:

  1. The ASO AC will prepare a regular summary of number resource policy development activities, including any global policy proposals which are under way and significant regional policy proposals, and of upcoming RIR open policy meetings.
  2. The format of this summary will be a slide presentation, which will be given during the supporting organization day at each ICANN meeting, by the ASO AC Chair or other AC members as available.
  3. This presentation will be provided for information of ICANN community members, but not for any substantive policy discussion or debate. Such discussions would be directed to the appropriate RIR meeting.

ICANN appreciates and welcomes the proposed initiative, which will bring a wider array of Internet number resource policy developments to the attention of the greater ICANN community. This initiative will also allow many in the wider ICANN community to learn more about the ASO during ICANN meetings.

Next Steps

This ASO AC reporting session at the Cartagena, Colombia, ICANN meeting in December will certainly be of service to both our organizations and the whole Internet community.

Staff Contact

Olof Nordling, Director Services Relations


13. Other Issues Active in the ASO


Joint Efforts

14. Issues Open as Joint Efforts


At-Large

15. Regional At-Large Organizations Elect ALAC Representatives for 2010–2012 Terms

At a Glance

Between August and October, all five At-Large Regional At-Large Organizations (RALOs) held elections for one of two elected regional representatives to the At-Large Advisory Committee (ALAC). The terms of these ALAC representatives will begin at the close of the ICANN annual general meeting in December 2010 and end at the close of the annual general meeting in 2012.

Recent Developments

RALO representatives elected to the ALAC for 2010–2012 are:

Tijani Ben Jemaa AFRALO
Edmon Chung APRALO
Sandra Hoferichter EURALO
Sergio Salinas Porto LACRALO
Evan Leibovitch NARALO

Background

Under Article XI, Section 2, Article 4b of the ICANN bylaws, the ALAC consists of two members selected by each of the RALOs and five members selected by the Nominating Committee, for a total of 15 members. The two-year terms of the two elected At‑Large representatives from each RALO are staggered, so that one ALAC representative is elected in any given year.

The ALAC is responsible for considering and providing advice on ICANN's activities as they relate to the interests of individual Internet users (the “At-Large” community). ICANN relies on the ALAC and the broader At-Large community to involve and represent a broad set of individual Internet user interests.

More Information

Staff Contact

Matthias Langenegger, At-Large Secretariat


16. At-Large First to Create Workspace Using Confluence Collaborative Wiki

At a Glance

On 4 October, the At-Large Public Workspace was migrated officially to the Confluence collaborative software system. After recognizing its numerous benefits, the At-Large community asked to be the first ICANN community to have its public workspace migrated from Social Text software to Confluence. A series of training sessions ensured that all At-Large community members had an opportunity to become familiar with Confluence system operation.

Recent Developments

The At-Large migration from Social Text to Confluence is the culmination of close cooperation between members of the At-Large community and ICANN staff to development a new, improved public workspace.

Representatives of the At-Large Advisory Committee (ALAC) and regional officers attended a Confluence training session during the 38 th ICANN meeting in Brussels, Belgium, in June. Additional telephonic training sessions were held in late September for all At-Large community members.

Next Steps

At-Large representatives will review the status of the migration and discuss next steps with members of ICANN's IT staff during the 39 th ICANN meeting in Cartagena, Colombia, on 5–10 December.

ICANN's other communities will be migrating to the Confluence collaborative software system over the next several months.

More Information

Staff Contact

Heidi Ullrich, Director for At-Large


SSAC

17. SSAC Report on Protecting Domain Names Due Out Soon

The Security and Stability Advisory Committee is continuing to prepare a report that will help registrants in protecting their domain names and domain registration accounts against misuse. The report will complement SAC040 [PDF, 276 KB], which describes measures registrars could consider to reduce the risk of registration account compromise and domain registration abuse. The report, which is expected later this month, will identify measures that registrants can implement themselves, and will also provide guidelines to assist registrants in making informed decisions in choosing a registrar to manage their domain names.

For reports on other activities for 2010, refer to the SSAC Work Plan.

Staff Contact

Julie Hedlund, Director, SSAC Support

update-oct10-en.pdf  [374 KB]

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."