Dear All, In June 2015 the ICANN Board of Directors requested the ccNSO, in consultation with other stakeholders, including GAC and SSAC, to provide further guidance on and refinement of the methodology of second string similarity review process, including the interpretation of its split recommendations, to be applied to the relevant current and subsequent cases in the IDN ccTLD Fast Track process, as well as to inform the proposed policy for the selection of the IDN ccTLD strings. In October 2015, the ccNSO established a working group with participants from the ccTLD community and GAC. In July 2016, the EPSRP working group<https://ccnso.icann.org/workinggroups/epsrp.htm> sought feedback, via a public comment proceeding<https://www.icann.org/public-comments/proposed-epsrp-guidelines-2016-07-20-e...>, on its proposed guidelines for the methodology on the second string similarity review process, including the interpretation of split recommendation. The ccNSO council will discuss<https://community.icann.org/display/ccNSOCWS/6+November+-+Hyderabad+2016> the final EPSRP report<https://community.icann.org/display/ccNSOCWS/13+October+@19%3A00+UTC?preview...> at its meeting in Hyderabad<https://ccnso.icann.org/about/council/minutes.htm>. See announcement: https://ccnso.icann.org/announcements/announcement-2-26oct16-en.htm Best regards, Joke Braeken ccNSO Policy Advisor joke.braeken@icann.org<mailto:joke.braeken@icann.org> Follow @ccNSO on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ccNSO Follow the ccNSO on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ccnso/ http://ccnso.icann.org