Forwarded From: Julie Hedlund As directed by the ICANN Board in its 26 June resolution, the Security and Stability Advisory Committee (SSAC) and the Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO) are convening an Internationalized Registration Data Working Group (IRD WG) that will be comprised of individuals with knowledge, expertise, and experience in these areas to study the feasibility and suitability of introducing display specifications to deal with the internationalization of Registration Data. The creation of the Working Group is in response to increasing community concerns that the current WHOIS service is deficient in a number of ways, including technical areas as noted in a recent SSAC report titled SAC037 "Display and usage of Internationalized Registration Data" (SAC037) located at http://www.icann.org/committees/security/sac037.pdf. Issues identified in the report include the accessibility and readability of WHOIS contact information in an internationalized domain name (IDN) environment. On 16 September 2009, ICANN held an online presentation (a "webinar") on the "Display and Usage of Internationalized Registration Data" The presentation is available here: http://www.icann.org/en/committees/security/ssac-presentations.htm. ICANN Staff in cooperation with members of the GNSO Council and SSAC developed a draft charter for the IRD WG, which may be viewed at: http://gnso.icann.org/drafts/internationalized-data-registration-wg-draft-ch.... The SSAC and the GNSO encourage SSAC members, GNSO constituencies, stakeholder groups and other GNSO participants, members of the GAC, the ccNSO, the ALAC, and the ASO to identify possible participants of the IRD WG with knowledge, expertise, and experience in these areas to study the feasibility and suitability of introducing display specifications to deal with the internationalization of Registration Data. Please direct questions or request for additional information to Julie Hedlund, Director, SSAC Support, at: julie.hedlund@icann.org. ------ End of Forwarded Message