ICANN is actively taking part in conferences and events, with a focus on applications and usability of new technology on the Internet. This is to spread information about IDNs and how they work in order to obtain a more streamlined user experience across applications.

We will continue to make more information, such as the examples below, available for users and everyone interested in IDNs. We very much appreciate any feedback you might have, pointers to what type of information you think might be lacking, and suggestions for online forums, seminars, or other type of events where information about IDNs would be good to include.

This first post is focused on how IDNs work and where registrations can be made.

What are IDNs?

The acronym “IDNs” stand for Internationalized Domain Names. IDNs are domain names that include characters used in the local representation of languages that contain one or more characters other than the twenty-six letters of the basic Latin alphabet “a,b,…z”, “0,1,…9” or “-“. 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.

Example: ñandú.cl

Since the Domain Name System is not capable of communicating with these characters, a system is made so that the domain name stored is actually:

xn--and-6ma2c.cl

This “xn--and-6ma2c.cl” is referred to as the A-label for the IDN and does not make a lot of sense for users and was never intended for users to see – however, in some instances you will see this – see below for more explanations and examples.

Why are IDNs introduced?

Historically domain names could only consist of characters from “a,b,c…,z”; “0,1,2,…,9” and “-“.

The geographic expansion of the Internet and the corresponding increase of use by various linguistic groups or communities resulted in the need for domain names also to consist of characters from all scripts used in the world today. Content written in various languages has been around for a long time.

The fact is that for example websites where the content is all in Hindi should also have a web-address in Hindi. Web content in various languages has been around for a long time. The matching addresses are now here.

IDNs are about your choice

Let’s be clear: IDNs will provide opportunities for more people to have easier access to the Internet. Some people are concerned about IDNs dividing the Internet because they are not able to read or type some of these languages.

But it’s all about user choice. The choice of effectively being able to select which script or language a domain name should be based on. In this way you can brand yourself better and in that way target the market you want more effectively. Printed material can have web references in the same script as the material is written in. And keep in mind that a website can for example have more than one address….which now can be a choice between different scripts and languages.

Another aspect of this that is important to realize it that by introducing IDNs in the Internet/single root today means that we hopefully have avoided a fragmentation with various “internets” based on different scripts. That would be a situation where communication between these “internets” would be difficult if not impossible. Introducing IDNs in the Internet today effectively ensures the global interoperability of the Internet.

How can I make registrations of IDNs?

ICANN is not in the business of offering the domain names registrations. The registrations can be made through registrars or their resellers, and for some ccTLDs directly via the TLD registry manager. As such, for information about how to register domain names in the new IDN ccTLDs should be sough via the IDN ccTLD managers.

All current TLD managers and operators are listed at http://www.iana.org/domains/root/db/

This will be updated shortly to include the three IDN ccTLDs that were made available yesterday http://icann.org/en/announcements/announcement-05may10-en.htm

Until then you can find the main points of contacts at: http://icann.org/en/topics/idn/fast-track/string-evaluation-completion-en.htm

IDN registrations under some of the existing (ASCII) TLDs (e.g. .com, .org, .gr, .cn, etc) have been available since as early as 2001. The registry managers or your preferred choice of domain name registrar or reseller will be able to assist you with more information about these IDN registrations under existing ASCII TLDs. Domain names under the gTLDs (generic top-level domains such as .com) can be registered through ICANN accredited registrars or their resellers. A list of all ICANN accredited registrars is available here: http://www.icann.org/en/registrars/accredited-list.html

Note that some IDN ccTLD managers have decided to take pre-registrations before their requests for IDN ccTLDs have been completed. ICANN is not endorsing this as it is not possible to guarantee a certain TLD for availability until it has passed through all steps in the processes successfully.

How do IDNs work?

IDNs have been around for years at the second level (the “icann” portion in the address http://www.icann.org ) and as a result, browsers and other application software started updating their systems years ago. Today the newest versions of all major browsers can handle IDNs. They have implemented IDNs slightly differently, which will give slightly different user experience, but those that are IDN capable will get you to the right and same site. So what’s the difference?

Well due to the different ways that IDNs are implemented, different options are made available by the different browsers. Some examples as follows:

In all of these examples, you will get to the actual site. What does not always display as entered is the address in the address-bar. The examples explain how users can overcome this fact.

Internet Explorer:

The screenshots below is from IE v8 accessing: http://παράδειγμα.δοκιμή (this is the Greek version of the ICANN wiki and the address means “example.test” in English).

You will note two things:
1) The address in the address bar is displayed as:

http://xn--hxajbheg2az3al.xn--jxalpdlp/%CE%91%CF%81%CF%87%CE%B9%CE%BA%CE…

2) There is a small pop-up stating that the address cannot be displayed with your current language settings.

If you click on the pop-up and select the change language settings you will get the following options, where you can add languages to your settings:

Adding, in this example, Greek to your language settings will effectively display the address as in the following screenshot, where the address is displayed in Greek:

It is noticeable that the path in the web address contains “%CE%91%CF%81%CF%87…”. The path should effectively also be internationalized.

Mozilla Firefox

The screenshot below is from Firefox v 3.5.5 accessing: http://उदाहरण.परीक्षा (this is the Hindi version of the ICANN wiki and the address means “example.test” in English).

It is noticed that the address (and the path) in the address-bar is displayed correctly in the Devanagari script: http://उदाहरण.परीक्षा/मुख्य_पृष्ठ

The implementation of IDNs in Firefox is based on a white-list of those TLDs/extensions that Firefox considers ‘safe’. All the “.test” TLDs has been added to this white-list. If you are accessing a site and the address is displayed in the http://xn--p1b6ci4b4b3a.xn--11b5bs3a9aj6g format then this is because that particular TLD or extension is not in the Firefox white-list.

If you trust these addresses and wish them to display in the address-bar as the local characters then you can make changes to the white list manually. A detailed explanation on how to do this is available here: http://idn.icann.org/Firefox_Information

The screenshot below gives you an indication of what to look for, but please be careful when making changes so that you do not damage the functionality of the browser.

Opera Browser

The screenshots below is from Opera 10.53 accessing: http://בײַשפּיל.טעסט (this is the Yiddish version of the ICANN wiki and the address means “example.test” in English).

The Opera browser supports the “example.test” names either directly, or after updating as described in a separate article on the Opera Browser: http://idn.icann.org/Opera_Information

As is noticed in the above, the address in the Hebrew script displayed as http://xn--fdbk5d8ap9b8a8d.xn--deba0ad/הויפּט_זײַט – in order have it displayed as: http://בײַשפּיל.טעסט updates need to be made.

Another example where Opera is supporting the IDNs directly is displayed below, which is the Chinese version of “example.test” – i.e. http://例子.测试/首页

Are you using a different browser than those examples provided here?

Please try things out either live under any of the IDNs that are available, or in the IDN wiki at http://idn.icann.org and let us know how this works for you. The IDN wiki also contains a lot of additional information related to fonts etc. Please feel free to add and share your IDN expertise and experiences on the wiki.

The next IDN topic blog post will be on IDN & Security. Meanwhile, please make sure to let us know any topics you would like to see covered.

Internationalization of the internet means that the internet is equally accessible from all languages and scripts

More information about IDNs can be found at: http://www.icann.org/en/topics/idn/

The ICANN Board also took actions that are expected to expedite Chinese characters in top-level domains as part of the IDN ccTLD Fast Track. This will be the first set of variant IDN ccTLDs to be introduced – under special circumstances. More work is underway on the subject of variants, including policy-procedural analysis and technical definitions and plans for testing.

In addition, last week, a new IDN ccTLD request was announced as having passed the String Evaluation stage – for the country of Jordan. This means that Jordan now may enter the String Delegation step, which is the last step in the Fast Track Process. As such Jordan joins 13 other countries/territories having succesfully passed String Evaulation. The full list can be seen here: http://www.icann.org/en/topics/idn/fast-track/string-evaluation-completion-en.htm

The total number of received requests in the Fast Track Process is: 21
The total number of languages represented is: 11

To read more about the IDN ccTLD Fast Track, go here: http://www.icann.org/en/topics/idn/fast-track

If you only see boxes in the above IDN ccTLDs, then you may need to download the necessary font: http://idn.icann.org/Fonts – or perhaps you are experiencing a problem with IDNs that is not rendered correctly when viewed in various applications. Either way we’d love to hear about it

As you may know, one of the ICANN Board resolutions from the recent ICANN meeting in Nairobi directed staff to develop an extension to the Fast Track Process: a mechanism to introduce Synchronized IDN ccTLDs. A Proposed Implementation Plan was subsequently published for public comments.

The Proposed Implementation Plan can be found here: http://icann.org/en/announcements/announcement-22mar10-en.htm

Since Synchronized IDN ccTLDs in the Fast Track context is a new concept, naturally this has raised some concerns and confusion. The best place to record comments and questions is in the public forum: http://icann.org/en/public-comment/#synch Still, we thought it would be helpful to point to some resources, and answer questions we have seen in mail lists and elsewhere.

If you haven’t read it yet, we encourage you to read the recently published Q&A. The Q&A addresses concerns raised by the technical community due to the usage of certain terminology in the Board resolution and the Proposed Implementation Plan. In particular the Q&A explains that “synchronized” relates solely to policy and procedural requirements. The Q&A further clarifies that there is no (DNS) technical mechanism by which domains under Synchronized IDN ccTLDs will be made to resolve identically (same address/value etc) at the DNS protocol level. As a result, from a purely technical/DNS protocol perspective, two synchronized IDN ccTLDs are simply two separate delegations from the root zone.

If you have further questions, we encourage you to attend one or both of two upcoming webinars. These webinars will be recorded and the recordings will be published at the public comment forum for review by all interested parties. The webinars are scheduled for 14 April at 01:00 and 14:00 UTC. Registration and access information can be found at: http://icann.org/en/announcements/announcement-2-08apr10-en.htm or directly at the e-learning site at: http://icann.org/en/learning/

In addition it is important to note that the plan for synchronized IDN ccTLDs is not a general statement from ICANN about how all variant TLD introductions can or should be made. Quite the contrary, the requirements in the Proposed Implementation Plan for Synchronized IDN ccTLDs assures that it is limited. As one example of these limitations it is required that Synchronized IDN ccTLDs request first must complete the String Evaluation step in the Fast Track Process. Again, the Synchronized IDN ccTLD Process is an extension of the Fast Track Process and all Fast Track rules apply.

Given these designed-in requirements/limitations, the volume of Synchronized IDN ccTLDs will not really increase the total volume of new TLDs already contemplated within the Fast Track Process. Also, confusingly similar IDN ccTLDs will not be allowed for delegation regardless of whether they are considered synchronized or not (this type of variant TLDs needs additional work, see below). And, there are no current activities ongoing towards a notion of “Synchronized IDN gTLDs”.

As mentioned, more work is required to create a general mechanism by which all variant IDN TLDs (not just the very limited set of Synchronized IDN ccTLDs) can be introduced. The term variant has been used loosely; other related terminology used is aliasing, sameness, and so forth. A clarification of the terminology and what is meant by it is needed before the ongoing work can be initiated. A more general solution depends on (at least!):

• Definition of what exactly it is that is being sought by a “variant solution”. What is the desired behavior of variants in all cases?

• Definition of the different types of variants – which may inform the answers to 1).

• Review and test of DNAME as a technical solution, and its adequacy to achieve variant TLD management.

• Review/test of BNAME as a technical solution, and its adequacy to achieve variant TLD management. It is noted that the BNAME proposal is rather new and currently exist as an Internet Draft in the IETF.

• Review/test of variant management via procedures and registration policies. This based on the experience with the Synchronized IDN ccTLDs.

Along with the technical community, ICANN wants to contribute to finding the answers to these questions, and is launching a project to address them. Part of this work will be looking to use the community experience on this subject. In particular ICANN is seeking advice from the technical community, such as for example the work currently ongoing in the IETF/DNSEXT on the subject of sameness and variants in context of the DNS.

Meanwhile we look forward to your comments in the public forum, and your participation in the upcoming webinars!

The overall rules seem clear:

1) If you apply for an IDN ccTLD that is confusingly similar with an existing ccTLD, gTLD, or reserved name, then your request will be declined.

2) If you request an IDN ccTLD that is confusingly similar to a “validated” IDN ccTLD, then your request will be declined.

3) If you request an IDN ccTLD that is confusingly similar to another IDN ccTLD under evaluation, and yet not “validated”, then both request will be placed on hold until a solution is found.

4) If you request an IDN ccTLD that is confusingly similar to an applied-for gTLD string that has reached Board approval, and hence considered an existing TLD, then your request will be declined.

5) If you request an IDN ccTLD that is confusingly similar to an applied-for gTLD string, then both parties will be informed.

Validation, for the purpose of the Fast Track Process means that it has been established that the string is a meaningful representation of the corresponding country/territory name, and that it has successfully passed the DNS Stability Panel evaluation.

However, it is the notion of confusingly similar and exactly how it is established that two or more strings are so confusingly similar that they cannot co-exist in the DNS, that reasonably is raising questions.

As the Final Implementation Plan states, any such determination is on a case-by-case basis. However, it is probably useful to provide some insight into how the panel makes such a determination.

While the determination is done by the DNS Stability Panel, Fast Track participants should know that ICANN staff will provide them with concerns about confusability (if such is found) during the initial review of a Fast Track request. The requester then has the opportunity to either (i) change the string they requested, (ii) withdraw the request and resubmit at a later stage, or (iii) continue with the request as originally submitted.

Type styles, fonts, etc.

Issue: A sufficiently creative choice of type styles or the exploitation of information about scripts that a given user may be unable to display can result in one character (or a sequence of characters) in one script being visually confusable with one or more characters (or character sequence(s)) in another script.

The issue becomes even more serious for closely related scripts (for example, Greek/Latin/Cyrillic).

While we are aware of the issues, some level of risk must be accepted. These kinds of issues cannot be completely guarded against, especially as type styles and fonts (just like languages and scripts) evolve and change over time.

Instead, determining confusability is focused on issues that may arise from the basic geometry of characters that is preserved, to a greater or lesser degree, across a variety of fonts, styles, and formatting.

Two-character strings

Issue: Two-character strings that consist of Unicode code points in scripts such as the Latin, Greek, and Cyrillic script blocks are intrinsically confusable with currently defined or potential future country code TLD (ccTLD) strings based on the ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 codes.

This is particularly true when variations in font and presentation interface are considered. And it is not limited to the pairs of “visually confusable characters” identified in Unicode Technical Report #39. Those characters are based on Unicode Reference Fonts that are deliberately designed to reduce the potential for visual confusion.

Therefore, a very conservative standard is being used to assess applied-for strings that consist of two Greek, Cyrillic, or Latin characters, including a default presumption of confusability to which exceptions may be made in specific cases.

How are strings ranked?

The Fast Track Process recognizes the following rankings for requested two-character IDN ccTLD strings. The higher the rank the more likely the applied-for string as a whole presents a significant risk of user confusion.

[6] Both characters are visually identical to an ISO 646 Basic Version (ISO 646-BV*) character. [International Organization for Standardization, "Information Technology – ISO 7-bit coded character set for information interchange," ISO Standard 646, 1991.]

[5] One character is visually identical to, and one character is visually confusable with, an ISO 646-BV character.

[4] Both characters are visually confusable with, but neither character is visually identical to, an ISO 646-BV character.

[3] One character is visually distinct from, and one character is visually identical to, an ISO 646-BV character.

[2] One character is visually distinct from, and one character is visually confusable with, an ISO 646-BV character.

[1] Both characters are visually distinct from an ISO 646-BV character.

Some disagreement may arise in assessing whether a string is confusingly similar with existing ccTLDs, gTLDs, or applied-for strings. Thus, these rankings are for guidance only, and the DNS Stability Panel makes its assessment based on the rankings and on the expertise of the panelists. In difficult situations, the panel may conduct extended evaluations that also can include drawing on additional linguistic expertise.

The likelihood of user confusion presented by a given two-character IDN ccTLD string does not depend strictly on the individual confusability of each character, if considered separately. The assessment of “visually distinct” and “visually confusable” takes into account both the individual features of each character and their combined effect.

In general, a two-character IDN string at rank [4] or higher presents a significant risk of user confusion.

In general, a two-character IDN string at rank [3] or lower does not present a significant risk of user confusion.

What about confusable strings already in the DNS root zone?

Some have argued that we already have TLDs in the DNS root zone that could be considered confusingly similar, so there is no need to prevent future confusingly similar strings from being entered in the root zone as well. There is only one answer to such statement: Just because there are issues today does not mean that we should make it worse for the future!

Finally, thank you to the DNS Stability Panel for all their work in this area and for generating the rankings based on their professional experience and prelaunch training!

It is being held 28 February through 5 March, at the Sheraton and also at the nearby Melia Mexio Reforma hotel.

All ICANN staff, board members, and community members are invited and encouraged to attend the sessions, all of which are open to everyone.

As proposed by At-Large Community, the Summit has the following objectives:

• Develop the Community’s capacity for engagement in ICANN by increasing its knowledge and understanding of the key issues confronting ICANN and ICANN’s roles and responsibilities;

• Provide an opportunity for the community to finalise and present its advice on some of the most important issues facing the ICANN community today, and last but not least,

• Highlight the successes of the community in recent years and build upon them to ensure that the interests of the world’s more than 1 billion individual Internet users are well represented in the development of Internet name and number policy.

Summit activities include:

• An opening and closing General Session of all participants (Saturday the 28th),

• Five working groups on key policy issues confronting ICANN,

• Thematic Sessions (workshops on topics submitted by community members for inclusion in the Summit programme)

and much more!

The structure, format, and content of the Summit have been developed through a completely bottom-up process. For example, the five policy working group topics were chosen by surveying the entire At-Large community. Members were asked to rank in order of preference their priorities for policy work during the Summit, and the top five choices were then automatically selected as the subjects for the five working groups to tackle. The subjects are:

• At-Large Community Engagement in ICANN

• The Future Structure and Governance of ICANN

• New gTLDs including IDN gTLDs

• ICANN Transparency and Accountability

• DNS Security Issues within ICANN’s Remit

The Thematic Session subjects are all community driven, too. Community members were asked to propose topics and the format for these sessions and the Summit working group is then taking the proposals and scheduling them. Details of these sessions will shortly be posted to the main meeting schedule at http://mex.icann.org/full-sched.

These sessions are designed to provide Summit delegates with a greater understanding of At-Large and ICANN mandates, structures, and processes and supply the tools needed by At-Large to better involve and engage their members in ICANN activities and policy development processes. Many of them delve into specific policy subjects in more detail and with an At-Large-specific viewpoint.

The opening General Session on Saturday will consist of a full schedule of briefings and panel discussions on current work in ICANN, many led by community members with expertise in the subjects concerned, such as DNSSec, IDNs, and the IPv4-IPv6 transition.

The Closing General Session on Thursday will provide a wrap up of key outcomes and deliverables and identify next steps for the At-Large Community. Expect the unexpected on Thursday morning – it will be a tour-de-force summary of the Summit using a very audiovisual format that should keep everyone engaged.

Last but not least, the public workshop on Wednesday entitled “eCrime and Abuse of the DNS Forum” which is sure to be one of the most popular workshops of the entire ICANN meeting is being organised in cooperation with the Summit and will have various experts from At-Large participating in it.

For those who are interested in learning more, visit the Summit microsite at http://www.atlarge.icann.org/summit. We hope to see you in Mexico City!

Mexico City is no exception. Although this time, it is very much easier to get a quick overview of what is out for public comment by looking at the front page of the ICANN website (the third box down on the right).

Just to present you with another avenue to finding out about these public comment periods, there are all listed below with quick explanations of what they are and the dates when they close.

Open comment periods

1. GNSO Constituency Renewals. Closes 25 FEB
As part of the ongoing changes to ICANN’s main policy-making body, the GNSO, all the existing constituencies have put in submissions stating that they have followed the bylaws and so should be reconfirmed as valid constituencies. You are free to comment on these submissions.

2. IPv4 Global Policy. Closes 26 FEB
We are running out of IPv4 address space and so ICANN has been working with the Regional Internet Registries (RIRs) to decide what system we follow as the addresses get more and more scarce. The policy here proposes that each RIR be allocated one “slash-8″ – equating to roughly 16.7 million IP addresses – as soon as they are only five blocks left. If you have a comment on this you can make it between now and 26 February.

3. Single and Two-Character .BIZ Domains. Closes 15 MAR
The company that runs the .biz registry, NeuStar, wants to make single and two-character domains available. Until recently, no registries were allowed to do this because of technical concerns. But those rules have relaxed over the past year or so. To be allowed to create, for example, i.biz, NeuStar has to change its contract with ICANN, and ICANN puts all contract changes out for public comment and review. So if you have an opinion about this, you can make it online.

4. Geographic Regions Working Group Charter. Closes 24 MAR
As an organization hoping to represent global stakeholders, ICANN has followed the common approach of splitting the world up into different regions in order to make things manageable. The problems is: where do you draw the lines? It may seem simple but the closer the issue is looked at, the more complex it becomes. So, in order to review what these regions are and who they include, ICANN has created a Working Group to go through all the issues and make recommendations at the end of it. The first step in that process is to create a charter for the group – outlining the scope and methodology that will be followed. This public comment period opens that charter up to public review.

5. Fast Track Proposed Solutions. Closes 6 APR
The Fast Track is the process by which governments and the managers of different countries’ registries will be able to apply for and receive versions of their country name in different languages scripts at the top-level of the Internet i.e. the part after the dot in a domain name. An example would be “China” in Chinese characters. These “internationalized domain names” or IDNs are being put out on the Internet for the first time as the technical issues that make it possible have only recently been resolved.

It is not a simple process by any means, so ICANN has been producing drafts of an “implementation plan” to make this process a reality. In this iteration, as well as the latest version of the Fast Track Implementation Plan, there will be three papers identifying specific issues that still need to be resolved. You can see all the papers in question and make comments about them now and until 6 April.

6. ALAC Review Final Report. Closes 17 APR
ICANN regularly reviews of its main supporting organizations and advisory committees to make sure they remain relevant and in the correct format. The At Large Advisory Committee or ALAC exists to represent ordinary Internet users and it has been under review for roughly a year and the process is drawing to a close. A final report of the working group created to carry out much of the review has been released for its final piece of public comment before being formally submitted to a Board Committee that then puts it forward to a vote by the whole Board. So if you want your say on how ordinary Internet users should be represented within the ICANN model, this is your last chance. Until the ALAC is reviewed again in a few years.

7. Operating Plan and Budget FY2010. Closes 30 APR
People are constantly asking how much money ICANN has and how it decides where to spend it. What few people recognise however is that those decisions are heavily influenced by the community itself. Every year, ICANN runs through a public strategic planning process that outlines what the organization needs to do in the next year. It then turns that into an Operating Plan and from that devises its budget. The community is invited every year to provide their feedback on the process of where ICANN spends it money. This is a comment period on the first version of the Operating Plan and Budget for ICANN’s 2010 financial year. The comments from this will be used to revise the plan and budget and it will then be put out a second time before being approved by the Board in June.

And that’s it for now. Much of the community will be focussed on the revised Applicant Guidebook for new generic top-level domains that will come out in the next day or so, but please do not forget these other public comment periods.

You can view all open and recently closed public comment periods on one page, as well as an archive of older comment periods: http://www.icann.org/en/public-comment/.

During the Cairo meeting in general, ICANN together with Domaine.info produced a number of videos covering the main sessions and topics, with each video fronted by a member of either the staff or a chair of the relevant supporting organization or advisory committee.

You can find all of those videos posted on the Cairo site at http://cai.icann.org/video, and on the ICANN main site under the “Video” tab.

This video features consultant Patrick Sharry talking about the AC/SO session, which he helped moderate. This joint session will be repeated in Mexico City on the first day of the meeting with a slightly different format following feedback from the community on the first meeting.

Below is a transcript of the video and off to the right is the video itself.

# ICANN and Domaine.info
# ICANN, CAIRO Egypt- November 3, 2008
# Open Joint Session, GNSO,ccNSO, GAC, ALAC Domain.Name.Space
# Hello, my name is Patrick Sharry
# Today I facilitated a very important meeting.
# For the first time at an ICANN meeting,
# we had the chairs of the SOs and ACs.
# organize themselves together for a joint meeting of those groups.
# There were two topics discussed, we talked about the President’s Strategy Committee and
# the Improving Institutional Confidence work
# and we also talked about new gTLDs, IDN ccTLDs, and the issues around those things.
# It was a meeting that ran very well,
# and not least because people recognized how important it was,
# to bring these groups together to talk about issues of such importance.
# During the PSC session. we started with a presentation by the chairman, Peter Dengate Thrush.
# Peter outlined the recent work that the President’s Strategic Committee had been doing,
# and ran through a few slides that talked about the relevant areas that we needed to consider.
# We then got some views from the Supporting Organization and Advisory Committee chairs
# who were seated at the top table.
# And from there, we began a conversation with the community as a whole with an open mike session.
# There were a number of comments on many different aspects of that work.
# As the conversation proceeded, I tried to capture on the white board, some of the key topics of those conversations.
# That list of topics, will then be presented to staff and to other parts of the organization for further consideration,
# as we move into the next phase of the improving institutional confidence project.
# In the second half of our session, we concentrated on new gTLDs, IDN ccTLDs and the issues that surround that.
# We began with comments from each of the Supporting Organization and Advisory Committee chairs,
# They told us what was important in these areas from their own SO or AC perspective,
# And also why those things should be of importance to the community as a whole.
# We interspersed conversations from the SO and AC chairs, with comments from the floor,
# and in particular, we had a particularly productive session at the end where we looked at the issue of geographic names.
# This conversation produced interesting interplay between a number of people in the ICANN community,
# about the issue of what was a gTLD and was a ccTLD
# How should the process run and who should be involved.
# Again, as we had this conversation, I collected on the white board the main topics that people were covering.
# This list will be put into the process of one of a number of items that have been collected this week,
# to help the team who are working on IDN ccTLDs and new gTLDs to further their work,
# as part of the community consultation that they are doing in order to come up with the next phase of that for our next meeting in Mexico.
# Thank you for listening to all of this. It was a very important meeting for the ICANN community,
# as we work forward, I’m sure that we’ll find better ways of running these meetings,
# and that means by the time we get to Mexico and beyond, we’ll actually have even more productive ways
# of bringing these important parts of the ICANN community together. Thanks again for your time. Bye bye.
# Copyrights Domaine.info 2008 All Rights Reserved
# Your comments and reactions are welcome Vos commentaires et reactions sont les bienvenues participate@icann.org

What was it?

ICANN’s 33nd international public meeting was the third held this year to conduct policy development and outreach. It was hosted by ICANN (the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) and the Government of Egypt.

The meeting was opened by Dr. Tarek Mohamed Kamel, Egypt’s Minister of Communications and Information Technology. There were 1,702 attendees from 144 different countries. The participants engaged in a wide range of discussions about the Internet’s domain name system and related issues.

Further information about the meeting, including presentations and transcripts, is available at http://cai.icann.org/. A number of videos summarizing the key parts of the meeting can be found at: http://cai.icann.org/en/video.

ICANN’s next international public meeting will take place in Mexico City, Mexico, beginning on 1st March, 2009.

What happened and what are the next steps?

Many meetings, workshops, public forums and informal discussions were held over eight days by the different stakeholders of the ICANN model:

• Business interests
• Civil society
• Governments and government agencies
• Internet service providers
• Registrants
• Registrars
• Registries
• The technical community

• New gTLDs
• IDNs and IDN Fast Track
• Improving Institutional Confidence
• Independent Reviews
• DNSSEC and Security
• Business Access Agenda
• Special guests: Dr Hamadoun Touré and Meredith Atwell Baker
• Other matters

A draft Applicant Guidebook was released a week before the meeting for those wishing to apply for a new generic top-level domain. A number of meetings and workshops were dedicated to explaining the guidebook and receiving input and feedback from the community on its contents.

The first were two introductory sessions on the Sunday before the meeting’s official opening, held in English and Arabic. That was followed by a dedicated hour-and-forty-five minute workshop in the main room on the opening day, Monday (http://cai.icann.org/en/video#tue). Further discussion on the subject took place at a joint session of the chairs of the Supporting Organizations and Advisory Committees in the afternoon.

Discussion and updates were then presented to different parts of the community, including the GNSO and its constituencies, ccNSO and GAC over the course of the following two days. A community-led discussion on “Additional Solutions for a Successful gTLD Launch” took place on the Wednesday afternoon.

Much of the two-part public forum on Thursday was taken up with comments and questions on the guidebook specifically and the new gTLD process generally, and an update on the process was given to the Board during its public meeting on Friday morning. Transcripts from most of these sessions are available on the Cairo meeting site (http://cai.icann.org/en/transcripts).

More information is available on ICANN’s new gTLDs page (http://www.icann.org/en/topics/new-gtld-program.htm), including the draft Applicant Guidebook and accompanying explanatory memoranda, as well as an FAQ, and additional resources.

The new gTLD update provided to the Board can be found at: http://cai.icann.org/files/meetings/cairo2008/new-gtlds-06nov08.pdf

Next steps:

The draft Guidebook will be published in five additional languages. A public comment period on the guidebook will run until 8 December (http://www.icann.org/en/topics/new‐gtld‐comments‐
en.htm), after which public comment will be analysed and used to revise the implementation model.

In 2009, ICANN will procure evaluation services for certain aspects of the process, embark on a global communications plan to make as many people as possible aware of the new process and then launch the introduction of new gTLDs.

More information:

See the new gTLD webpage at http://www.icann.org/en/topics/new-gtld-program.htm
An overview video of the Monday session can be found online at http://cai.icann.org/en/video#tue

Just prior to the meeting, the draft implementation plan for the IDN Fast Track was published. The Fast Track would allow a limited number of IDN ccTLDs to be introduced before the formal policy development process is finalized (IDN ccTLDs are country code, as opposed to generic, internationalized domain names at the top level of the Internet).

Public comments on the draft document are being received until 8 December (see http://www.icann.org/en/public-comment/public-comment-200812.html#plan-idn-cctlds).

In Cairo, the Fast Track document was the focus of much of the discussion related to IDNs. The issue of internationalized domain names that may be applied for through the new gTLD process (as opposed to the Fast Track or the subsequent ccTLD policy development process) was also a main topic of conversation. There was also some discussion about the timing and possible overlap of the two different tracks for IDN top-level domain applications.

There were also two introductory sessions (one in English and one in Arabic) on the subject of IDNs.

The Fast Track and the introduction of IDNs was also discussed in two joint sessions of the chairs of the Supporting Organizations and Advisory Committees on Monday afternoon and Thursday morning. Updates on both, as well as progress being made by the IETF on the IDNA protocol revision (an important step for the process) were provided to ICANN’s different bodies and constituencies over the course of the week.

An update on the process was provided to the ICANN Board at its public meeting on the Friday, complete with some discussion of the issues surrounding IDN implementation issues necessary for the Fast Track process to be implemented. Transcripts from most of these sessions are available on the Cairo meeting site (http://cai.icann.org/en/transcripts). See also: http://cai.icann.org/files/meetings/cairo2008/idn-pf-cairo-06nov08_0.pdf

A meeting of interested parties on the introduction of Arabic script at the top level of the Internet took place on the Saturday after the meeting.

Next steps:

The draft implementation plan for the Fast Track process is out for public comment until 8 December, when it will be evaluated with respect to the comments. At the same time, an IETF working group is finalizing an IDN protocol that ICANN hopes to see completed before the introduction of IDN top-level domains.

Outstanding issues remain including: the relationship between an IDN ccTLD operator and ICANN, both in the type of agreement or framework entered into and the provision of funds; the issue of contention between existing top-level domains and ones applied for through the new gTLD process; and a few technical requirements. Some of these issues will be addressed or resolved at the next ICANN meeting in Mexico in March 2009.

Staff will provide an updated version of the draft Fast Track implementation plan prior to the Mexico meeting, with a specific focus on these issues:

More information:
IDN index page: http://www.icann.org/en/topics/idn/
The Fast Track draft implementation plan: http://www.icann.org/en/topics/idn/fast-track/idn-cctld-implementation-plan-23oct08-en.pdf
An overview video of IDNs and new gTLDs can found online at: http://cai.icann.org/en/video#mon

The IIC consultation was formally launched at ICANN’s Paris meeting in June and has since been the subject of two public comment periods and a global outreach campaign. In Cairo, the meeting was used to give the community an update on the process and also to gather more feedback on the issues it has raised.

The IIC consultation is based on successive drafts of a set of three documents – an Improving Institutional Confidence in ICANN document; a Transition Action Plan; and a Frequently Asked Questions document. These documents have been updated to reflect community input from a special session in Paris,, the two public comment periods and a series of five public meetings in Montevideo, Christchurch, Geneva, Washington DC and Dakar between August and October 2008.

A special joint session of the chairs of the different Supporting Organizations and Advisory Committees considered the IIC documents on Monday afternoon. A session dedicated to the consultation was also held on Thursday afternoon. Transcripts from these sessions are available on the Cairo meeting site (http://cai.icann.org/en/transcripts). The consultation was also one of the main topics discussed by the Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) over the course of the week.

The consultation’s aim is for the community to discuss possible changes to ICANN in the lead-up to the completion of the JPA in September 2009. This work has been led by the President’s Advisory Committee (PSC) whose role is to provide advice to the Board.

Next Steps:

Work will soon begin on an implementation plan with details about the issues identified by the community as needing attention. That plan will be published in early 2009 in time for review prior to the next ICANN meeting in Mexico City in March.

In the meantime, two further outreach meetings, at Afrinic in Mauritius later this month (November 2008) and at the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) in Hyderabad, India in December will take place to build more awareness and gather feedback.

More information:

Full information about the documents, the public comment periods, the regional meetings and the consultation itself can be found on dedicated IIC webpages in ten languages at: http://www.icann.org/en/jpa/iic/
The update on the process, as given at the special IIC session on Thursday can be found online at: http://cai.icann.org/files/meetings/cairo2008/iic-workshop-06nov08.pdf

The independent review process requires each of ICANN’s Supporting Organizations and Advisory Committees to undergo review every few years to make sure that the organization as a whole continues to serves the needs of the global Internet community.

There are several independent reviews currently underway or soon to be launched. The Board of Directors is also undergoing an independent review. The Cairo meeting saw a number of updates and workshops on the current reviews, and an update on the various reviews was also provided to the Board at its public meeting on Friday. A new staff member dedicated to overseeing the reviews process was also publicly introduced.

GNSO
The review effort to improve the structure, operations, communications and outreach of the GNSO has now moved into the implementation stage, but there are two outstanding issues still being considered by the ICANN Board: how the GNSO Council elects members of the Board; and the role of individual users within the GNSO.

Staff is actively soliciting input on the first issue, and the second has been put out to public comment until 28 November (see http://www.icann.org/en/public-comment/public-comment-200811.html#gnso-users).
In the meantime, charters and work plans are being developed for steering committees and operations work teams to enable the GNSO to move into its new two-house structure by June 2009, and to develop implementation proposals for a new policy development process as well as a new working group methodology for addressing policy issues.

Nominating Committee
Currently in “improvement stage”. The Board Governance Committee (BGC) is reviewing a report from a special BGC working group formed to review the independent report produced earlier in the year.

ALAC
Following discussion of the independent reviewer’s report at the Paris meeting in July, a working group on the ALAC review has produced a mid-point report on its findings so far and held several sessions in Cairo seeking input from the community. A final report is expected for the Mexico City meeting in March 2009.

Board of Directors
The independent reviewer’s report was published at the Cairo meeting and a special session held on the Monday evening. A special working group will seek input from the community and produce an initial report for the Mexico City meeting.

RSSAC
The independent reviewers started gathering information at a special session on the Wednesday morning. A draft report is expected for the Mexico City meeting in March 2009.

SSAC
The independent reviewers started gathering information at a special session on the Wednesday morning. A draft report is expected for the Mexico City meeting in March 2009.

Others
The ccNSO and ASO reviews are in their preparatory stages, with the terms of reference for the ccNSO to be published for public comment before the end of the year, and the terms of reference for the ASO expected in early 2009.

Next Steps:
The progress of each review can be followed online, with further details on each given in the staff update provided to the Board on Friday.

More information:
The independent reviews webpage can be found at: http://www.icann.org/en/reviews/
The presentation provided to the Board can be found online at: https://cai.icann.org/files/meetings/cairo2008/organizational-reviews-06nov08.pdf
Transcripts from most of these sessions are available on the Cairo meeting site at http://cai.icann.org/en/transcripts.

Following the issue of an exploit in the domain name system discovered by security researcher Dan Kaminsky, a number of security briefings on this issue and other related issues were given to ICANN’s various supporting organizations and advisory committees.

In particular, the DNSSEC protocol – long promoted by ICANN’s Security and Stability Advisory Committee (SSAC) – was explained and its use in closing down the Kaminsky hole outlined, alongside other short-term measures.

A special workshop on DNSSEC was held on the Wednesday, and an open meeting of the SSAC on Monday also covered the issue.

The SSAC meeting was also used for an experiment in improving remote participation. Through Adobe’s Connect software, participants were able to see and hear the meeting in progress (as well as view the live scribe feed), see the presentation slides as the presenters went through them, and ask questions in a dedicated chatroom.

More information:
DNSSEC Workshop full details and presentations: http://cai.icann.org/en/5nov08/dnssec-workshop

For the second time, a specific agenda and series of targeted meetings and discussions were held for business leaders in an effort to engage business more effectively within ICANN’s processes.

The agenda included briefings on the most significant topics facing ICANN at the moment, including new gTLDs and IDNs, and a meeting with board directors, including the Chair.

Two special guests visited the Cairo meeting on the Thursday.

Dr. Hamadoun Touré is Secretary-General of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), and Meredith Atwell Baker is Acting Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information at the US Department of Commerce and responsible for the relationship ICANN shares with the US government.

Both gave speeches and Dr. Touré answered questions from the audience. Dr Touré stressed the importance of collaboration between the ITU and ICANN and Acting Assistant Secretary Attwell Baker acknowledged ICANN’s institutional progress in the 10 years since its creation and stressed that proactive contribution from the community is vital to the organization as the Internet continues to evolve.

Both Touré and Atwell Baker then held a number of separate sessions with various members of the ICANN community.

More information:
Transcripts of both speeches can be found online at:
https://cai.icann.org/files/meetings/cairo2008/toure-speech-06nov08.txt and https://cai.icann.org/files/meetings/cairo2008/baker-speech-06nov08.txt respectively.

• ICANN signed an Exchange of Letters with the managers of .eg, Egypt’s country-code top-level domain (see a video of the occasion at http://cai.icann.org/en/video#sun.
• The .mobi and .coop registries were authorized to make single-letter domains available e.g. www.c.mobi.
• A new working group will study and review the issues related to the definition of the ICANN Geographic Regions, and submit proposals for community and Board consideration. The Board asked all interested Supporting Organizations and Advisory Committees to nominate two individuals to serve on the working group.
• Sydney was chosen as the location for the June 2009 meeting and the Board asked Staff to review the possibility of Seoul as the host for the October 2009 meeting, with the European meeting deferred until a later date.
• Since it was ICANN’s annual meeting, the Board was reformed with new members Katim Touray (NomCom appointee), Thomas Roessler (TLG liaison) and Ram Mohan (SSAC liaison). Previous SSAC chair Steve Crocker became a voting member of the Board following his selection by the Nominating Committee.
• Peter Dengate Thrush was re-elected as chairman; Roberto Gaetano was re-elected as vice-chairman.

• Two new Board members
• Two members of the ALAC
• One member of the ccNSO Council
• One member of the GNSO Council

In total, 78 individuals applied (13 female and 65 male). The geographic split saw 27 apply from Europe, 20 from North America, 15 from Africa, 14 from Asia-Pacific and 8 from Latin America and the Caribbean.

All the successful applicants, introduced below, will take up their positions at ICANN’s 33rd international public meeting in Cairo, starting on 2 November. We wish them all the best in their new roles.

Board of Directors

The ICANN Board makes all final decisions pertaining to ICANN’s work. It comprises 21 members – 15 voting and six non-voting. The Nominating Committee chooses eight of the voting members, a majority, over a three-year period.

In addition, each of the three supporting organizations within ICANN chooses two voting members each, and the president (also the CEO) makes up the final voting member. The non-voting members are liaisons from each of the six advisory committees.

The successful applicants will serve a three-year term on the Board and they are:

Steve Crocker (USA, North America)

Dr Steve Crocker has served on the ICANN board as a non-voting liaison representing the Security and Stability Advisory Committee (SSAC) since 2003. He is the CEO and co-founder of Shinkuro, a company focused on dynamic sharing of information across the Internet. He has also served on the board of the Internet Society (2003-06).

Dr Crocker has been involved in the Internet since its inception. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, he was part of the team that developed the protocols for the Arpanet and laid the foundation for today’s Internet. He organized the Network Working Group, which was the forerunner of the modern Internet Engineering Task Force, and initiated the Request for Comment (RFC) series. He remains active in Internet standards work through the IETF and IAB. For this work, he was awarded the 2002 IEEE Internet Award.

Dr Crocker’s experience includes research management at DARPA, USC/ISI and The Aerospace Corporation, and co-founder of CyberCash and Longitude Systems. He earned his BA in mathematics and PhD in computer science at UCLA, and he studied artificial intelligence at MIT.

“I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my time as SSAC chair and liaison to the Board. But I’ve done it for long enough and I think for the health of the organization, we should have a transition.

“The organization is going through maturation and I want to be a part of helping it evolve while making sure that the technical aspects run smoothly with the organizational aspects.”

Katim S. Touray (Gambia, Africa)

Dr Katim S. Touray is an independent development consultant based in Gambia. A follower of the early Internet, he is a well-known advocate for the network and its uses across a range of media and to a wide variety of audiences for over 15 years.

With a B.Agric, an MS, and PhD degrees in Soil Science (from the universities of Nigeria, Montana State and Wisconsin-Madison, respectively), Dr Touray worked for a number of years for Ministry of Agriculture in The Gambia, and serves as Chairman of the National Agricultural Development Agency (NADA). He has also conducted consultancies on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the media, HIV/AIDS, and other subjects for non-governmental organizations, as well as government and UN agencies.

Dr Touray has significant experience as a producer and host of African music, educational, and public affairs programs on community radio and TV in the US, and national radio in Gambia. He has written a number of articles about the Internet and ICT, and helped found the Consumer Protection Association of The Gambia (CPAG). Dr Touray is self-educated about the Internet and ICT in general. He is also a free and open source software enthusiast and advocate, and serves on the Council of the Free Software and Open Source Foundation for Africa (FOSSFA).

“I’m really excited and looking forward to working in ICANN. It’s a privilege to have been chosen and I see it as a challenging opportunity.

“I hope to be an active representative of Africa on the Board of ICANN, representing not just the the middle classes but also those in villages who a lot of people don’t see as users but for whom the Internet will have a lot of benefit. I think I can also be an active member in helping to build bridges between the various interest groups, and ensure that the greater good is taken care of.”

At-Large Advisory Committee (ALAC)

The At-Large Advisory Committee (ALAC) represents the interests of individual Internet users within ICANN.

The Committee comprises 15 members – three from each of ICANN’s five geographic regions. Two members are chosen from each region by its Regional At Large Organization (RALO) and the third in each case is selected by the Nominating Committee. A chair is selected annually by the members.

Two of the five NomCom places were filled this year and the successful applicants will serve two-year terms. They are:

Alan Greenberg (Canada, North America)

Alan Greenberg has forty years of experience with computing and networking technologies. For much of his career, he worked for McGill University in Montreal, Canada, covering software design and development, education technology support, and management and policy development. He has taught courses in computer architecture and design, as well as managed Internet Society workshops which taught personnel from 150 developing countries how to build, support, manage and use the Internet in their countries.

Since retiring as Director of Computing and Telecommunications at McGill, he has served as an independent consultant focusing on the effective use of technology in developing countries. More recently he has worked with several donor countries providing guidance on how they should focus their technology-related support of developing and least-developed countries.

He has been a Nominating Committee appointee to the ICANN At-Large Advisory Committee (ALAC) since 2006, also acting as liaison to the GNSO.

Mr Greenberg holds a BSc degree in Mathematics and Physics, and an MSc in Computer Science, both from McGill University.

“I am delighted to have been re-appointed to the ALAC. When I was first appointed two year ago, it was to the Interim ALAC, with 10 of its members appointed by the Board and five by the NomCom. Now all five RALOs are functioning and the ten Board-appointed members have been replaced by those selected within their own regions. I look forward to continuing to work with the ALAC, helping to ensure that it truly represents user issues and needs within ICANN.”

Adam Peake (UK, Europe)

Adam Peake has been involved in ICANN since its creation in 1998, most recently as Associate Chair of the Nominating Committee in 2006 and 2007.

He was an early member of the non-commercial users constituency, a founding member of the .ORG Advisory Council (to May 2006), and a member of the NAIS Project that in 2000-2001 contributed to the review of the At-Large elections and public representation and participation in ICANN.

Mr Peake is currently a senior researcher at the Center for Global Communications (GLOCOM), International University of Japan, where he works on telecommunications, Internet and broadband policy, performs follow-up activities for the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) and teaches a short course on Internet policy for MBA students. He has been involved in Internet policy-making activities since the mid-1990s.

Mr Peake was co-coordinator of the WSIS Civil Society Internet Governance Caucus from 2003 to 2006, and a member of the UN Secretary-General’s Advisory Group on the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) between 2006 and 2008. He is a UK citizen and currently lives in Japan.

“Having been a member of the Nominating Committee for a number of years, I’m very pleased to be able to add myself to the list of volunteers that I have seen go before me.

“ALAC is an essential part of ICANN’s multistakeholder model, and a great deal of effort has been put in to create the RALOs, but as yet we’re not managing to get voices coming through. So I hope I’ll be in a position to help with that essential user voice.”

ccNSO Council

The Country Code Names Supporting Organisation (ccNSO) develops policy and makes recommendations relating to country-code top-level domains within ICANN. Its decisions are made by the ccNSO Council.

The Council comprises 18 members – three from each of five geographic regions, plus three chosen by the Nominating Committee. Members of the ccNSO from each region select their three representatives. A chair is selected annually by the members.

One of the three NomCom places was filled this year and the successful applicant will serve a three-year term. That person:

Jian Zhang (China/USA, Asia-Pacific/North America)

Jian Zhang is the director of International Business and Policy Development department at CNNIC.
She has over 10 years of experiences in ICT and networking, having also worked at GTE Internetworking, Nextel Communications and Cisco Systems. At CNNIC, Ms Zhang has worked on both domestic and international policy areas, including policy analysis and development strategy. She is on the Board of the Asia Pacific Top Level Domain Association (APTLD) – an organization for ccTLD registries in the Asia-Pacific region.

Ms Zhang has an MS in Information Systems from Northeastern University, Massachussets. She has hands-on experience with Internet technology and management as well as valuable skills in cross-cultural communications.

“I am quite honored by the Nominating Committee and I thank them for giving me the opportunity to contribute to the Internet society.

“As a Council member I hope to make a contribution to the work that is going on, particularly with respect to international TLDs.”

GNSO Council

The Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO) is the main policy development arm of ICANN. Its decisions and recommendations are made by the GNSO Council.

There are 18 members of the GNSO Council, comprising three members from each of the GNSO’s six constituencies, plus three chosen by the Nominating Committee. There are also two non-voting liaisons and a chair chosen from the Council members.

The Nominating Committee 2008 chose one new Council member, who will serve a two-year term:

Terry Davis (USA, North America)

Terry Davis has over 30 years’ experience in large-scale systems and network design, security, implementation, and operations. Heralding from the aviation industry, he is currently in charge of Aircraft Network and Security Architecture & Strategy for Boeing and was previously the Chief Network Engineer for Connexion by Boeing, the in-flight Internet service.

Mr Davis has also been Vice-President of Professional Services for ViaLight, a fiber to the home company; a Technology Leader for Internet security company Adario; and Senior Corporate Security Architect for the Boeing as well as an aircraft simulation designer, network engineer, and system programmer.

An active contributor to and participant in the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) since 1992 and he is also a member of the North American IPv6 Task Force (NAv6TF). In addition, he has served his city and county governments for almost 20 years as a commissioner for Land Use and Development, Basin Water, and Cable TV.

Mr Davis holds a BS in Civil Engineering from Oklahoma State University and an MS in Strategic Planning for Critical Infrastructure from the University of Washington. He is a Boeing Technical Fellow, a member of the IEEE and the American Society of Civil Engineers, and is a registered professional engineer in Oklahoma, Colorado, and Washington. He and his wife Jennie have been residents of Issaquah, Washington for over 20 years.

“I’m extremely honoured to have been selected – it surprised me very much. As to what I want to accomplish in the role, I think the domain name space is one of the most critical things going forward – we have some real challenges in TLDs as well as with security.

“The aviation industry, for example, is just beginning to make planes Internet capable, and there is lots of activity around aircraft naming and addressing. This is going to provide some real challenges.”

ICANN’s 32nd international public meeting was one of three held annually to conduct policy development and outreach. It was hosted by ICANN (the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) and Agifem, a non-profit organization made up of several French Internet companies and organizations.

The meeting was opened by the Eric Besson, France’s Minister of State for forward planning, assessment of public policies, and development of the digital economy.

1,672 people participated from 166 different countries, making this ICANN’s biggest ever meeting. The participants engaged in a wide range of discussions about the Internet’s domain name system and related issues.

Further information about the meeting, including presentations and transcripts, is available at http://par.icann.org/.

ICANN’s next international public meeting will take place in Cairo, Egypt, beginning on 3rd November, 2008.

What happened and what are the next steps?

Many meetings, workshops, public forums and informal discussions were held over six days by the different stakeholders of the ICANN model:
• business interests
• civil society
• governments and government agencies
• Internet service providers
• registrants
• registrars
• registries
• the technical community

Several key issues and themes evolved over the course of the meeting. They are summarized below.

NEW gTLDs

ICANN’s Board of Directors took a significant step forward on the introduction of new generic top-level domains (new gTLDS – extensions to the domain name system in addition to, for example, .COM or .INFO). The Board approved the policy recommendations on new gTLDs developed by the GNSO, ICANN’s policy development arm for the generic name space. The Board directed ICANN staff to further develop and complete a detailed implementation plan.

New generic top-level domains were a featured topic of conversation during the meeting. The week began with a dedicated two-and-a-half-hour interactive session where experts from different industries and sectors around the world shared a diversity of views about the potential changes to the Internet as the New gTLD Program is launched. The workshop was presented with MARQUES, the Association of European trademark owners, which represents trademark owners’ interests before EU and other international bodies.

ICANN staff updated the community on how new gTLDs may be implemented, including a timeline and recent steps taken to address potential disputes. Similar updates were presented to the various stakeholders including the GNSO Council.

New gTLDs were also discussed at the Public Forum, later in the week. During the meeting, a number of suggestions for new gTLDs also emerged. The discussions on new gTLDs were the subject of worldwide and widespread press coverage including by BBC, CNN, NBC, Les Echos, Business Week, Le Monde, Liberation, The Times of London, the Financial Times, and other media outlets all over the world.

More information is available on ICANN’s new gTLDs page (http://www.icann.org/topics/new-gtld-program.htm). This web page includes a factsheet on the topic written in plain language and accessible to a general audience.

Next steps:
The Board approved the policy recommendations on new gTLDs, drawn up by the GNSO, and directed ICANN staff to further develop and complete a detailed implementation plan.

Before the new gTLD introduction process is launched, the Board will be given a final version of the implementation proposals of the proposed process after a community review.

More information:
More information can be found online at: http://www.icann.org/topics/new-gtld-program.htm

IDNS AND IDN FAST TRACK

Much of the discussion about Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs) during the Paris meeting centered on the work of the IDNC Working Group (IDNC WG). The IDNC WG was chartered by the Board at its November 2007 meeting. Its participants were appointed by the following supporting organizations and advisory committees of ICANN: the Country Code Names Supporting Organization (ccNSO), GNSO, Government Advisory Committee (GAC), At-Large Advisory Committee (ALAC) and Security and Stability Advisory Committee (SSAC).

The group has been working on the issue of an accelerated introduction of IDNs (the “fast track”) where specific, non-controversial country-code top-level domains in non-Latin scripts could be approved and added to the Internet’s root without having to wait for the full approval process to be finalized.

The IDNC WG released its draft final report on the feasibility of this approach for public comment two weeks prior to the Paris meeting. The report provided a number of high-level recommendations and received broad approval from the ccNSO and the GAC.

On the broader topic of IDNs, the Director of the IDN Program, Tina Dam, gave updates to the Supporting Organizations and Advisory Committees, describing progress on technical and other IDN implementation issues. IDNs were discussed at the Public Forum, and a progress update was also given on the final day of the meeting.

Of particular interest was how finalization of the IDNA protocol revision would impact top-level IDN domains, in particular when and how they will be introduced.

Next steps:
The Board asked the IDNC WG final report to be posted for public comment and asked staff to produce a detailed report on implementation issues, following consultation with the community, in time for the next meeting in Cairo in November 2008.

More information:
More information can be found online at: http://ccnso.icann.org/workinggroups/idnc-charter.htm and at http://icann.org/topics/idn

IMPROVING INSTITUTIONAL CONFIDENCE

The Paris meeting saw the release of three documents from the President’s Strategy Committee (PSC) outlining a new “Improving Institutional Confidence” public consultation.

This consultation’s aim is for the community to discuss possible changes to ICANN in the lead up to the completion of the JPA in September 2009. This work has been led by the PSC whose role is to provide advice to the Board.

The three documents – Improving Institutional Confidence in ICANN, Transition Action Plan and Frequently Asked Questions – were used as the basis for a two-hour discussion session. During a public meeting on the issue, the PSC explained how the consultation would work and how people could find out more information at each stage. The issue was also given a dedicated timeslot in the Public Forum.

The documents are currently out for public comment (closing on 31 July).

Next Steps:
The consultation process outlined in the Transition Action Plan will be followed. The entire community is encouraged to read the documents and send their comments in before 31 July.

The documents will then be revised and put out for additional comment in September 2008 in preparation for further discussions at the Cairo meeting in November. A final report by the PSC will be provided to the Board in December.

More information:
More information is available online at: http://icann.org/jpa/iic

INDEPENDENT REVIEWS

The independent review process requires each of ICANN’s Supporting Organizations and Advisory Committees to undergo review every few years to make sure that the organization as a whole continues to serves the needs of the global Internet community.

There are several independent reviews currently underway or soon to be launched. The Board of Directors is also undergoing an independent review in 2008. The Paris meeting saw a number of updates on the current reviews.

GNSO
The GNSO’s review has been completed and it is now in the implementation stage. The Board approved all but one of the recommendations developed by a special Board working group to improve the effectiveness of the GNSO’s policy activities, structure, operations and communications. Recommendations to be implemented include:
• use of a working group model for future policy development
• a revised policy development process
• enhancements to the different constituencies that make up the GNSO
• improved communications.

The Board deferred its final decision on one recommendation – restructuring the GNSO Council – and decided to give the GNSO one last chance to submit a consensus recommendation on how to structure the Council before it makes its final decision in the next few weeks. The Board requested that the GNSO convene a small working group to submit a consensus recommendation on Council restructuring no later than 25 July. The group is to include one member from each constituency, one of the current Nominating Committee appointees, and one member from each liaison-appointing advisory committee (if that advisory committee so desires).

In a related development, the GNSO Council postponed a vote on a top-level GNSO Improvements Implementation Plan and called for a 21-day public comment forum on the document. That open public comment forum closes on 18 July 2008.

ALAC
Two public sessions and two informal sessions were held to discuss a report from the ALAC’s independent reviewers. The Board’s ALAC review working group held its first sessions. The draft report is currently out for public comment.

Board of Directors
The Boston Consulting Group was selected as the consultant to perform the independent review of the Board of Directors.

Nominating Committee
A working group created by the Board Governance Committee is working on recommendations following the independent evaluators’ report on the Nominating Committee.

Others
The Board established three working groups to review future independent review reports. They will cover: the Board, the DNS Root Server System Advisory Committee (RSSAC), and the Security and Stability Advisory Committee (SSAC).

Next steps:
The reviews will continue to progress through each step in the review process. Updates will be provided at the Cairo meeting in November.

More information:
More information including links to each of the reviews and public comments pages can be found online at: http://www.icann.org/reviews/

REGISTRAR ACCREDITATION AGREEMENT

More progress was made on improvements to protections for registrants provided through the Registrar Accreditation Agreement (RAA – the contract ICANN holds with companies that register domain names on behalf of registrants).

15 revised changes and amendments were published in a report currently out for public comment (the comment period closes 4 August 2008). The amendments were outlined in meetings with individual Supporting Organizations and Advisory Committees, as well as a dedicated one-and-a-half-hour public workshop. RAA amendments also had a specific timeslot for discussion during the Public Forum, and were further outlined at the final day’s report session.

There are four categories of amendment to the RAA:

• Enforcement tools, including graduated sanctions, liability and audit provisions
• Protections for registrants, including possible improvements to data escrow and the ability to make resellers comply with RAA obligations
• A more stable registrar marketplace, including training for registrar operators
• Modernizing the agreement, bringing it up to date with changes in the use and reuse of domain names

Next steps:
The amendments will be revised following input during the public comment period and then shared with the Board, who will determine the next steps.

More information:
More information can be found online at: http://www.icann.org/topics/raa/

MEETINGS REVIEW

A paper covering possible changes to ICANN meetings themselves was put to the community in a number of different sessions, including several Supporting Organization and Advisory Committee meetings, the opening day public forum, mid-week Public Forum, and the closing-day reports session.
There were two main recommendations in the paper:

• that ICANN move from three to two meetings a year; and
• that one of those meetings be held in a “hub” city.

There was a broad range of views and discussion on both points, as well as discussion of the change to the Paris schedule which saw the meeting end a day earlier on Thursday, rather than on Friday.

Next steps:
The meetings paper is out for public comment until 10 July and will be revised following feedback from the community.

More information:
More information can be found online at:
http://www.icann.org/public_comment/#meeting-consultation-2008

IPv6

A number of information sessions on the new Internet Protocol were held in order to the make community more aware of support issues and to outline ways forward.

The ALAC, ccNSO, Registry and Registrar constituencies were also addressed by experts on this topic during their own meetings. Business leaders were given an overview as part of the Business Access Agenda. IPv6 was also discussed during the Public Forum.

The GAC heard from several individuals and organizations, including the OECD and the Names Resource Organization, about current trends and the challenges to IPv6 deployment worldwide.
More information:

A factsheet written in plain and clear language has been produced: “IPv6 – The Internet’s vital expansion – October 2007”. It explains the protocol upgrade to a non-technical audience and is available here: http://www.icann.org/announcements/factsheet-ipv6-26oct07.pdf

BUSINESS ACCESS AGENDA

For the first time, a specific agenda and series of targeted meetings and discussions were held for business leaders in an effort to engage business more effectively within ICANN’s processes.
The agenda included briefings on the most significant topics facing ICANN at the moment, including new gTLDs, IDNs and IPv6, and a meeting with the Board of Directors. It was organized in cooperation with the E-Business, IT and Telecoms Commission of the International Chamber of Commerce.

OTHER ISSUES

• The Board approved a recommendation by the GNSO to tackle “domain tasting”.
• The FY09 ICANN operating plan and budget of $57.1m were adopted by the Board.
• Approval was given to a plan by PIR (the Public Interest Registry) to add the security protocol DNSSEC to the .org registry.
• An “At Large Summit” was approved to enable representatives of Internet user groups (At-Large Structures) to meet together within the next year, most likely at the Mexico City meeting in March 2009.
• The SSAC published a number of new reports and survey results relating to security and stability of the Internet. (http://www.icann.org/committees/security/)
• A number of policy development processes were started or advanced at the GNSO including Fast Flux and inter-registrar transfers.
• The GAC reiterated its strong support for a number of studies into the use and abuse of Whois data, and asked for clarification from the Board on whether studies would depend on the outcome of the GNSO Council’s decision. The GNSO Council created a working group to review recommendations for Whois studies.