Dear At-Large: I've been asked to convey the following to you which I suspect will be of interest to many of you: At its meeting on 2 October 2007 the ccNSO Council requested the creation of an Issue Report as a first step in launching a ccPDP. To identify matters that are potentially relevant to the Issues Report, a comment period was opened on 19 December 2007 and would remain open until 25 January 2008. In the Issue Report the following needs to be considered: 1. Whether Article IX of the ICANN bylaws applies to IDN ccTLDs associated with the ISO 3166-1 two letter codes, and if it does not then to establish if Article IX should apply. 2. Whether the ccNSO should launch a PDP to develop the policy for the selection and delegation of IDN ccTLDs associated with the ISO 3166-1 two-letter codes. As you may have noted both the GNSO Council and ccNSO Council have send a letter to the ICANN Board relating to core elements of the IDN ccPDP. It is anticipated the ccNSO and GNSO Council will meet during the ICANN meeting in New Delhi to explain and discuss the background of the views expressed in the letters. It is my view as Issue Manager of the ccPDP that the outcome of such a meeting, if it will be convened, is significant as input for the Issues Report. Therefore the period to provide input into the Issues Report is extended from 25 January until 22 February 2008. According to the ICANN by laws the creation of the Issue Report is the second step in launching the IDN ccPDP. The first step was the request of the ccNSO Council on 2 October 2007 to create an Issue Report. The final step is the decision of the ccNSO Council to initiate the ccPDP (see ICANN by laws Annex B, section 2). -- Regards, Nick Ashton-Hart Director, At-Large ICANN Main Tel: +33 (450) 40 46 88 USA Tel: +1 (202) 657-5460 Fax: +41 (22) 594-85-44 Mobile: +41 (79) 595 54-68 email: nick.ashton-hart@icann.org Win IM: ashtonhart@hotmail.com / AIM/iSight: nashtonhart@mac.com / Skype: nashtonhart Online Bio: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashtonhart