Since the launch of the Fast Track Process, ICANN has received many questions about how the DNS Stability Panel will determine a confusingly similar string; that is, a requested string that is confusing similar with an existing ccTLD, gTLD or applied-for TLDs. The overall rules seem clear: 1) If you apply for an IDN ccTLD [...]

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One area of the IDN ccTLD Fast Track Process about which questions have arisen is community support for the IDN ccTLD and how such support can be demonstrated. I have provided some clarification here that I hope is helpful to present and future IDN ccTLD Fast Track participants. None of this information replaces or changes [...]

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IDN TLDs: pre-registrations, declined requests, and other misconceptions Recent statements and speculations have been made concerning the IDN ccTLD Fast Track Process and related issues. People seem to be most concerned about: • ICANN denying some countries/territories access to the Fast Track Process • ICANN approving IDN ccTLDs • The notion of pre-registrations in new [...]

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Today I have had the honor to provide the keynote speech at the First Annual .ORG Forum hosted by the Public Internet Registry, in Washington DC. The title of this keynote is “The Future of ICANN” and I am making available a copy of this speech (as well as translations in Spanish, French, Arabic, Portuguese, [...]

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The first four IDN ccTLD requests has just been announced as having completed the String Evaulation portion of the Fast Track Process. These are associated with: Egypt, the Russian Federation, United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia. See the full announcement here: http://icann.org/en/announcements/announcement-21jan10-en.htm So what does that mean? It means that these may now initiate the [...]

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Сделан еще один важный шаг к расширению лингвистического разнообразия в Интернете. ЮНЕСКО и корпорация ICANN, занимающаяся регулированием вопросов, связанных с доменными именами пользователей Интернета, подписали соглашение, которое будет содействовать использованию первых многоязычных доменных имен. Подписание этого соглашения стало возможным благодаря недавно принятому решению Корпорации по присвоению доменных имен и номеров в Интернете (ICANN) о введении [...]

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Just a brief message to keep you up to date. As of 00:00 UTC today – 4 days after the launch of the Fast Track Process we have new requests coming in. The total number is 10 requests. They spread over 5 different languages. Details about the process is at: http://www.icann.org/en/topics/idn/fast-track/ Please keep asking questions. [...]

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The IDN ccTLD Fast Track Process was successfully launched, as planned on 16 November 2009. It was done at exactly 00:00UTC with a very joyful count-down by the Fast Track Staff Team – followed by a wooohooo The launch went smoothly. We have since monitored the system and everything is working. As of 10pm Pacific [...]

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As we (at ICANN staff) have been preparing for the Fast Track launch, for tomorrow, it was suggested to me that I write a blog post about it. I could have written about all the hard work, the long hours, the aggressive testing of the online system, keeping it simple and yet flexible for all [...]

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