IDN ccTLD Fast-Track Working Group

IDN ccTLD Fast-Track Working Group
Status:
Issue Areas:	IDNs
Date Established:
Charter:	WG Charter
Workspace:	Community Wiki

The IDN ccTLD Fast-Track Working Group (IDNC WG), or simply IDNC Working Group had the purpose to develop and report on feasible methods that would enable the introduction, in a timely manner and in a manner that ensures the continued security and stability of the Internet, of a limited number of non-contentious IDN ccTLDs while the overall policy is being developed.

The idea of an Internationalized Domain Names Working Group was put forward by the ccNSO council and approved by ICANN's board at the Los Angeles meeting.

The Working Group was comprised of members of the GNSO, ccNSO, GAC, ALAC, and SSAC. Additionally, a representative of the technical community and ICANN staff would be part of the Working Group.

The final report was presented on June 26, 2008.

Background

At its San Juan meeting in June 2007, the ccNSO and the GAC jointly submitted an "Issues Paper" outlining the questions that would have to be answered before ccTLDs could be delegated in non-Latin scripts (IDN ccTLDs). The Board asked all relevant ICANN bodies (GNSO, ccNSO, GAC and ALAC) to comment on that paper and to work together on both an interim "fast-track" and a longer-term policy solution. ICANN

One of the outcomes was a ccNSO survey presented at the Los Angeles meeting showed strong near-term demand for IDN country codes, prompting the Council to recommend creating an Internationalised Domain Name Working Group (IDNC WG) to design the fast-track mechanism. The GAC welcomed the proposal and signalled its active participation; the GNSO and ALAC also voiced support during public sessions. ICANN

On November 2, 2007 the ICANN Board adopted Resolutions 07.88 and 07.89, formally inviting the chairs of the ccNSO, GNSO, GAC, ALAC and the Security and Stability Advisory Committee (SSAC) to establish the IDNC WG, supply members, and begin work under the charter approved by the ccNSO Council. The Board asked for a status report at the New Delhi meeting in February 2008 and directed ICANN staff to support the group.

Members

The members of the group were:

ALAC

• Cheryl Langdon-Orr, Chair of ALAC
• Hong Xue

ccNSO

• Chris Disspain, chair of the ccNSO Council
• Mohamed El Bashir, .sd
• Hiro Hotta, .jp
• Jian Zhang, .cn
• Young Eum Lee, .kr (co-chair)
• Ming-Cheng Liang, .tw
• Ibaa Oueichek, .sy
• Andrey Romanow, .ru
• Bill Semich, .nu
• Jonathan Shea, .hk

GAC

• Bertrand de la Chapelle, France
• Manal Ismail, Egypt (co-chair)
• Janis Karklins, Chair of the GAC

GNSO

• Edmon Chung, .asia
• Charles Shaban, Intellectual Property Constituency

GNSO Observers

• Olga Cavalli, NCA
• Avri Doria, Chair of GNSO Council
• Cary Karp, .museum

SSAC

• Steve Crocker

Technical Community

• Patrik Faltstrom

ICANN Staff

• Doug Brent
• Denise Michel
• Kurt Pritz
• Donna Austin
• Bart Boswinkel
• Michelle Cotton
• Tina Dam
• Baher Esmat
• Olof Nordling
• Gabriella Schittek
• Theresa Swinehart

Final Report and Program Launch

At its Paris meeting on June 26, 2008, the ICANN Board received the final report of the IDNC WG, which set out a "fast-track" route for delegating a limited number of IDN ccTLDs that match entries on the ISO 3166-1 list. The report—developed after extensive public comment—stressed four pillars:

• preserving DNS security and stability;
• complying with the IDNA protocols;
• incorporating technical-community advice; and
• staying consistent with existing IANA delegation practices.

Because the recommendations still needed detailed implementation work, the Board asked staff to:

• publish the final report for public comment;
• begin implementation planning with relevant stakeholders, and
• deliver a comprehensive implementation report (highlighting any open issues) ahead of the Cairo meeting in November 2008.

On October 20, 2009, at ICANN 36 in Seoul, the Board adopted Resolutions 2009.10.30.10–12, formally approving the Final Implementation Plan for the IDN ccTLD Fast-Track Process, based on recommendations provided by the IDNC Working Group (WG) in its Final Report, as well as on public comments provided throughout the IDNC WG's online and public comment facilities, and on public comments received on the previous draft versions of the plan.

Internationalized Domain Name

Country code top-level domain. Determined by "ISO 3166-1: Codes for the representation of names of countries and their subdivisions — Part 1: Country codes".

Internationalized Domain Name

Country code top-level domain. Determined by "ISO 3166-1: Codes for the representation of names of countries and their subdivisions — Part 1: Country codes".

Country Code Names Supporting Organization. Develops and recommends to the Board global policies relating to country-code top-level domains (ICANN Bylaws).

Generic Names Supporting Organization. Develops and recommends to the Board substantive policies relating to generic top-level domains and other responsibilities set forth in the Bylaws (ICANN Bylaws).

Governmental Advisory Committee. Considers and provides advice on the activities of ICANN as they relate to concerns of governments, particularly matters where there may be an interaction between ICANN's policies and various laws and international agreements or where they may affect public policy issues (ICANN Bylaws).

At-Large Advisory Committee. Considers and provides advice on the activities of ICANN related to the interests of individual Internet users (ICANN Bylaws). Not to be confused with the Non-Commercial Stakeholder Group.

Security and Stability Advisory Committee. Advises the ICANN community and Board on matters relating to the security and integrity of the Internet's naming and address allocation systems (ICANN Bylaws).

International Organization for Standardization

Internet Assigned Numbers Authority