Dear Councilors, When the proposed Council meeting agenda is circulated today, you will see that Council leadership has suggested a Consent Agenda item regarding IDN variant TLDs, to convene a small team to prepare a draft charter and a draft EPDP scoping document (see section 3 here: https://gnso.icann.org/sites/default/files/file/field-file-attach/annex-4-ep...), as a precursor to launching an EPDP. Noting that most members of the IDN Scoping Team believed that an EPDP was appropriate for this subject (i.e., that the topic is substantially scoped previously such that extensive, pertinent background information already exists, and therefore no Issue Report is necessary), Council leadership nevertheless wanted to be sure that an EPDP can be applicable for this subject. Accordingly, staff prepared the attached document to help the Council determine if an EPDP is an appropriate vehicle to develop policy for IDN variant TLDs. Best, Steve Steven Chan Policy Director, GNSO Support Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) 12025 Waterfront Drive, Suite 300 Los Angeles, CA 90094-2536 Email: steve.chan@icann.org Skype: steve.chan55 Mobile: +1.310.339.4410 Find out more about the GNSO by visiting: https://learn.icann.org/ Follow @GNSO on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ICANN_GNSO Transcripts and recordings of GNSO Working Group and Council events are located on the GNSO Master Calendar