Skip to main content
Resources

Root Server System Advisory Committee (RSSAC) Review

The Board took action on 12 June 2022 to defer the Third Review of the Root Server System Advisory Committee. See the Board resolution here.

RSSAC Review Wiki Workspace Page
Find the latest status updates, recordings of past meetings, and opportunities to participate
Introduction to Reviews
Learn more about Reviews, their purpose and process for conducting and opportunities to participate

The role of the Root Server System Advisory Committee ("RSSAC") is to advise the ICANN community and Board on matters relating to the operation, administration, security, and integrity of the Internet's Root Server System.  For more information on the RSSAC, click here.

RSSAC Organizational Review

The goal of the review, to be undertaken pursuant to such criteria and standards as the Board shall direct, shall be to determine (i) whether that organization, council or committee has a continuing purpose in the ICANN structure, (ii) if so, whether any change in structure or operations is desirable to improve its effectiveness and (iii) whether that organization, council or committee is accountable to its constituencies, stakeholder groups, organizations and other stakeholders.

These periodic reviews shall be conducted no less frequently than every five years, based on feasibility as determined by the Board. Each five-year cycle will be computed from the moment of the reception by the Board of the final report of the relevant review Working Group.

The graphic below illustrates phases and status of each review - a  indicates that all activities within a given phase have been completed.  The chart that follows the graphic provides further details of key activities and milestones within each phase – you can view these details by clicking on each of the phases in the graphic.  The table also contains links to relevant documents.

RSSAC2
PhaseActivityDescriptionStart DateDocuments
Plan ReviewInitiate ReviewBoard Resolution Initiating the Second Review of the Root Server System Advisory Committee19 Apr 2017
RFP for Independent ExaminerAnnouncement of Independent Examiner Request for Proposals5 Jun 2017
Request for Proposal ExtensionExtended Deadline: Request for Proposal for the RSSAC Organizational Review11 Jul 2017
Conduct ReviewSelection of Independent ExaminerAnnouncement of Selection of Independent Examiner, Interisle28 Sep 2017
Review Survey Published for Community InputSurvey launched to collect input from those who have interacted with RSSAC27 Nov 2017
Assessment Report PublishedIndependent Examiner published Assessment Report of the RSSAC27 Feb 2018
Draft Final ReportIndependent Examiner published Draft Final Report for Public Comment1 May 2018
Final ReportIndependent Examiner published Final Report2 Jul 2018
Plan ImplementationFeasibility Assessment & Initial Implementation PlanRSSAC2 Review Feasibility Assessment & Initial Implementation Plan2 Oct 2018
Board Accepts Final Report and Implementation Plan Board accepts the final report from the independent examiner and the Feasibility Assessment and Initial Implementation Plan3 May 2019
Implement ImprovementsBoard Accepts Implementation Plan Board accepts the RSSAC Review Detailed Implementation Plan12 Mar 2020
Implementation Report #1RSSAC2 Organizational Review Implementation Progress Report24 Jun 2020
Implementation Report #2RSSAC2 Organizational Review Implementation Progress Report9 Dec 2020
Implementation Report #3RSSAC2 Organizational Review Implementation Progress Report 3 Jun 2021
Implementation Report #4RSSAC2 Organizational Review Implementation Progress Report13 Dec 2021
Implementation Report #5 - FinalRSSAC2 Organizational Review Implementation Progress Report30 Jun 2022
Standard Operating ProceduresDeferral of Third RSSAC ReviewDeferral of the Third RSSAC Review (RSSAC3)12 Jun 2022
Board ActionBoard accepts the status of implementation of recommendations from the RSSAC2 Review as reported by the RSSAC, thereby completing the RSSAC2 Review22 Sep 2022

RSSAC1

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."