*Dear Justine,* First of all, thank you for sharing ALAC’s position on the protection of IGO/INGO identifiers within the context of the String Similarity Review (SSR) for the upcoming round of the New gTLD Program. I greatly appreciate the clarity with which the ALAC’s commitment to safeguarding the public interest and preserving user trust in the DNS has been expressed. I fully support the spirit of the statement and agree with the rationale for endorsing *Option 2*, which calls for the inclusion of IGO/INGO identifiers in the SSR. However, I would like to offer a few observations that, in my view, could further strengthen the practical implementation of this option: 1. *Adopt a proportional protection approach.* Not all IGOs and INGOs share the same level of public recognition or risk of confusion. A tiered or graduated protection system—based on the degree of global prominence or potential for misuse—could preserve the effectiveness of the measure without unduly restricting legitimate applications. 2. *Establish a technical review or appeal mechanism.* It would be valuable for applicants flagged under the SSR to have access to a technical review process where they can demonstrate good faith, a distinct operational scope, and a low likelihood of end-user confusion. 3. *Ensure a periodic review of the protected identifiers list.* As the universe of IGOs and INGOs evolves over time, setting up an annual multistakeholder review mechanism (involving GAC, ALAC, and the broader community) would keep the policy current and precise. 4. *Explicitly link this protection to DNS Abuse mitigation mechanisms.* Integrating these safeguards with existing obligations of registries and registrars regarding abusive or deceptive uses would provide a more coherent and preventive approach. These suggestions are intended to promote a balanced framework—one that upholds the necessary protection of IGO/INGO identifiers while maintaining openness and fair competition within the domain name system. Once again, I would like to express my appreciation for ALAC’s work and for your leadership in ensuring a thoughtful and principled approach to these issues. Rregards, *Sergio Salinas Porto**Presidente Internauta Argentina - LACRALO/ICANN <https://atlarge.icann.org/ralos/lacralo>**Asociación Argentina de Usuarios de Internet <http://www.internauta.org.ar/>/FeTIA <http://www.fetia.org.ar/>**FUILAC- Federación de Usuarios de Internet de LAC <https://fuilac.org>**facebook: salinasporto <http://www.facebook.com/salinasporto> **twitter: sergiosalinas <http://twitter.com/sergiosalinas>**Mobi:+54 9 223 5 215819**"Ojalá podamos ser desobedientes, cada vez que recibimos órdenes que humillan nuestra * * conciencia o violan nuestro sentido común" Eduardo Galeano* El mié, 8 oct 2025 a las 9:43, Justine Chew via ALAC (<alac@icann.org>) escribió:
Dear ALAC colleagues,
At the CPWG call of 24 Sep, it was established that the ALAC/At-Large are supportive of the position that, very simply put, IGO/INGO Identifiers should be protected for the relevant IGO/INGO to apply if and when they choose to, and that this ability to apply should be preserved under all circumstances and certainly, not displaced by a third party's attempt to obtain a confusingly similar string.
There is now an Option 3 being put before GNSO Council, and I plan to speak to this very briefly at today's CPWG call. In line with the ALAC position previously established and in anticipation of CPWG's reaction to Option 3, here is the draft that I am still working to shorten in time for the GNSO Council Extraordinary Meeting on 9 Oct at 13:00 UTC.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1kjVLdF8zMiLDWkFJEo2wMPzvcmU9Ej30qMeO7yWJ...
I am sharing this in advance with the ALAC, in case any of you have (immediate) input to provide. Due to the short turnaround time, I am asking, as I did on 24 Sep, for discretion to relay a version of the ALAC position to GNSO Council during the mentioned extraordinary meeting where a Council decision is expected.
Thanks,
*Justine Chew* At-Large Advisory Committee (ALAC) Liaison to the GNSO Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) At-Large website: https://atlarge.icann.org/ ------ _______________________________________________ ALAC mailing list -- alac@icann.org To unsubscribe send an email to alac-leave@icann.org
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