Hi all, According to the ICANN Board meeting agenda<https://www.icann.org/resources/board-material/agenda-2019-05-03-en> for 3 May 2019, the issue of “Approval of Guidelines for the Implementation of Internationalized Domain Names Version 4.0” is currently on the consent agenda. We have just received the communication below/attached from the Registries Stakeholder Group highlighting concerns, both procedural and substantive, around Board approval of the guidelines at this time. Please take a few minutes to review. As we, the GNSO Council, have just begun our review and consideration of the IDN Variant topic, both at the TLD and second-level, and any associated policy implications, I plan to request a deferral of the Board’s approval of this motion. Concurrently, we need to respond to the related 8 April 2019 letter<https://www.icann.org/en/system/files/correspondence/namazi-to-sataki-drazek...> from Cyrus. I will work on a draft for Council review. Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns. Best, Keith From: Austin, Donna <Donna.Austin@team.neustar> Sent: Monday, April 29, 2019 8:42 PM To: Rubens Kuhl <rubensk@nic.br>; Maxim Alzoba <m.alzoba@gmail.com>; Drazek, Keith <kdrazek@verisign.com> Subject: [EXTERNAL] IDN Email for Councilors Dear Keith, Rubens and Maxim, On behalf of the RySG, I am sending along a document outlining our concerns around IDN variant TLDs, the IDN Guidelines 4.0 and the implementation of IDN tables. As stated in the attached, the RySG is requesting that the GNSO Council take a number of actions to address these concerns, including, most urgently, requesting that the ICANN Board defer its scheduled vote on the IDN Guidelines 4.0 until the impacts of the implementation of those guidelines is better understood. We request that you bring these concerns to the attention of the GNSO Council and we appreciate the Council’s consideration of these important matters. Thank you, Donna Donna Austin Chair, RySG