Dear All, I would like to provide you with the following, short update on the string similarity assessment in the ICANN environment. Following the ICANN Board recommendation to ensure that string similarity is evaluated consistently in the TLD environment, I volunteered to liaise with the gTLD sub working group regarding the string similarity in the next gTLD application round. The communication flow has been miserable and the impression I have been having is that the gTLD sub working group could not care less to ensure a consistent approach for string similarity across the TLD environment. I was invited to attend their last call on 30 March at the very last minute despite of previous contacts.

From the call it was clear that the gTLDs have completely different views (large part of the discussion was to exclude "plurals" from string similarity and to eventually introduce a more structured appeal process for rejected strings) and will barely take into account the expertise in string similarity evaluation that the ccNSO has gained from the IDN Fast Track.

I suggested they look carefully into the work we have done to refine the IDN Fast Track and introduce a scientific methodology to assess string similarity. I will continue to be available to the gTLD sub working group for any further information they may need. Kind Regards, Giovanni [cid:image008.jpg@01D6127E.8342A310]<http://www.eurid.eu/>Giovanni Seppia / External Relations Manager EURid vzw Telecomlaan 9, 1831 Diegem, Belgium T: +32 2 401 27 50 | M: +39 335 8141733 www.eurid.eu<http://www.eurid.eu/> RPR Brussel - VAT BE 0864.240.405 [cid:image003.jpg@01D4F6BF.C28BB830]<https://twitter.com/EUregistry> [cid:image004.jpg@01D4F6BF.C28BB830] <https://www.linkedin.com/company/eurid/> [cid:image005.jpg@01D4F6BF.C28BB830] <https://www.facebook.com/EUregistry> [signature] Disclaimer: This email and any attachment hereto is intended solely for the person to which it is addressed and may contain confidential and/or privileged information. If you are not the intended recipient or if you have received this email in error, please delete it and immediately contact the sender by telephone or email, and destroy any copies of this information. You should not use or copy it, nor disclose its content to any other person or rely upon this information. Please note that any views presented in the email and any attachment hereto are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of EURid. Any processing of personal data via email is done in accordance with our Privacy Policy. While all care has been taken to avoid any known viruses, the recipient is advised to check this email and any attachment for presence of viruses. http://www.eurid.eu/en/legal-disclaimer https://eurid.eu/en/other-infomation/privacy-policy