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Resources

In Focus

Public Comment

A vital part of ICANN's processes is the opportunity for there to be public comment on each substantial piece of work before it is put forward for final approval.

Accountability

ICANN has a proven commitment to accountability and transparency in all of its practices. Indeed, ICANN considers these principles to be fundamental safeguards in ensuring that its international, bottom-up and multi-stakeholder operating model remains effective.

Continuity

Information on ICANN's cross-functional efforts related to continuity & contingency.

DNSSEC

This website contains announcements, releases and other pertinent information about the deployment of DNSSEC for the root zone.

Global Addressing

Information about global addressing policies, IPv4 and IPv6 allocation, and Regional Internet Registries.

GNSO Improvements

ICANN's Board will consider a comprehensive set of recommendations to improve the structure and operations of the GNSO.

TLD Acceptance

A current list of all top-level domains that have been delegated within the authoritative root-server system.

Travel Support

Information regarding the travel funding made available for ICANN meetings through the new Community Travel Support Procedure.

Past Topics

ccNSO Survey on Participation in ccNSO Meetings [PDF, 17 KB]

The ccNSO Participation Working Group is inviting all ccTLD managers to reply to a survey on why the do, or do not participate in ccNSO meetings. Replies to be sent to secretariat@ccnso.org.

ccNSO's Timetable for the Possible Introduction of IDN ccTLDs

The ccNSO has developed a timeline on the steps and time it will take for the possible introduction of IDN ccTLDs.

Contractual Compliance

ICANN's approach to enforcement of compliance with its Registry Agreements and Registrar Accreditation Agreements.

Fellowship Program

The Fellowship Program provides a grant of support to individuals from less developed regions of the world to build capacity within the ICANN Multistakeholder Model.

IDN ccTLD Fast Track Process

ICANN's Fast-Track Process focuses on meeting a near-term demand with the implementation of a limited number of IDN ccTLDs.

Improving Institutional Confidence

Information on the public consultation over possible changes to the organization.

Independent Reviews of ICANN Structures

A comprehensive schedule for independent review of ICANN's structures.

Internationalized Domain Names

Information about domain names represented by local language characters.

IPv6 Policy

Proposed global policy for allocation of IPv6 address space.

Joint Project Agreement

Information and updates about the Joint Project Agreement between the United States Department of Commerce and ICANN.

Meetings for the Next Decade

A look at the meetings ICANN holds each year from a holistic and truly bottom-up perspective, to ensure that ICANN meetings optimally serve the community in the most cost-effective and stakeholder-focused ways possible.

New gTLD Program

Process and policy for the creation of new generic top-level domains (gTLDs).

New Registry Services

Process of evaluation of new registry services and discussion of issues related to proposed new registry services.

New Sponsored TLD Applications

Information Page for Sponsored Top-Level Domains.

President's Strategy Committee Consultations

Observations and recommendations concerning strategic issues facing ICANN.

Reconsideration and Independent Review

In order to reinforce its transparency and accountability mechanisms, ICANN has established processes for reconsideration and independent review of ICANN actions.

Registrar Accreditation Agreement Amendments

Public process on enhancing RAA and accreditation process to protect registrants.

Strategic and Operating Planning

Status of ICANN's current Strategic Plan and Operating Plan.

VeriSign Settlement

Archive regarding the now-concluded VeriSign settlement.

VeriSign's Wildcard

Archival information regarding VeriSign's Wildcard service.

Whois Services

WHOIS services provide public access to data on registered domain names, which currently includes contact information for Registered Name Holders.

WSIS and IGF

Information on the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) and the Internet Governance Forum (IGF).

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."