Dear All, Following our discussion over the weekend concerning the proposed charter for the CWG to develop a framework for the use of country and territory names as TLDs, if you are interested in further background information you may want to review the report of the ccNSO Study Group on the Use of Country and Territory names which formed the basis for the creation of this CWG (see http://ccnso.icann.org/workinggroups/unct-final-08sep12-en.pdf). In short, the study developed the following comments & recommendations: * Throughout its deliberations, the Study Group observed an incredible level of complexity associated with any attempt to definitively categorize country or territory names, especially when such an effort includes multiple languages or scripts. * A consistent observation was the inability of individual “lists” or resources to provide comprehensive, consistent or universal guidance regarding the various representations of country and territory names, in particular as a result of geo--political changes, the creation of new countries and the dissolution of others. * ICANN’s current policies and procedures (as they may relate to ccTLDs, IDNs or current and potential new gTLDs) do not afford consistent treatment of country and territory names. This may give rise to stakeholder and end--user confusion and uncertainty. * ICANN’s current policy framework (the Applicant Guidebook) for the introduction of new gTLDs affords an unprecedented level of protection for country and territory names, though notes that such protections are only confirmed for the first and current round of new gTLD applications. * The current Fast Track and IDN ccTLD policy are restricted. The major restrictions are the requirements that: 1. the IDN ccTLD string is a meaningful representation in a designated language of the territory, and 2. only one string per designated language If adopted the IDN ccTLD policy should be reviewed in five years, which includes a review of these restrictions. Based on that, the study group recommended that the ccNSO Council establish a cross community working group to: A. * Further review the current status of representations of country and territory names, as they exist under current ICANN policies, guidelines and procedures; * Provide advice regarding the feasibility of developing a consistent and uniform definitional framework that could be applicable across the respective SO’s and AC’s; and * Should such a framework be deemed feasible, provide detailed advice as to the content of the framework. The GNSO, ALAC and GAC should be invited to participate in such a WG. B. In light of the need for further work on the treatment of country and territory names, the complexity of the issue at hand and the aforementioned inconsistencies between various ICANN policies, it is also recommended that the ccNSO Council request that the ICANN Board extend the current rule in the new gTLD Applicant Guidebook regarding the exclusion of all country and territory names in all languages, for consecutive rounds of new gTLD applications. I hope this is helpful. Best regards, Marika