Dear All,

Good morning, I hope this email finds you well.

First of all I wish to thank you for having welcomed me into this group, and for the great work that has been done on this topic. As a relative newcomer to the DNS Industry and TLD world , this experience has proven both enlightening and interesting.

Second, I would like to share with you the view of EURid regarding the StrawWoman paper and the eventual release of Alpha-3 codes:

The .eu domain name, administered by EURid, is a unique case in the ISO 3166-1 standard and in the broader discussion of three character codes as top level domains. Because the European Union is not a country, it is not formally included in ISO 3166-1, but for practical reasons the ISO 3166/MA has reserved the two-letter combination EU for the purpose of identifying the European Union within the framework of ISO 3166-1. The .eu TLD exists and functions within a strict framework of EU regulations, none of which include the possibility of delegating additional European Union Top Level Domains outside of the .eu in scripts of other EU official languages. Indeed, these regulations aim to ensure a clear, unique and established web presence for the EU, the EEA and its residents.

However in the case of three-letter combinations, the EUR ISO code is already used within the ISO 4127 currency codes and at this time, no ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 combination exists for the European Union. Thus the opening of the ISO 3166-1 Alpha-3 list for gTLD registration would impact individual Member States, but as of now does not refer to the Union as a whole.

With regards to some of the points proposed in the StrawWoman Paper, I do agree with Panos that even if ISO codes are not legally binding, they are more often than not associated in some form with the countries they are abbreviations for. Thus releasing them as gTLDs can cause user confusion and false association. With regards to the precedent set by .com, I agree with Annebeth’s statement that it could have “grandfather status” due to the period in which it was launched and does not necessarily set precedent for the release of all alpha-3 reserved codes.

Thus, with regards to the topic itself, and in response to the StrawWoman paper, EURid does not support lifting the current protection of ISO-3166-1 alpha-3 country codes in the next round for new gTLDs, rather we support maintaining the status quo and the AGB ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 restriction. This view is based on the need to preserve a clearly demarcated space for ccTLDs to avoid user confusion and in keeping with the CWG’s previous recommendations in relation to the use of ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 codes.

Please do let me know if you have any questions, and I will be happy to answer them via email or over our next call. I look forward to being able to meet you all in person in Helsinki.

Sincerely,

Sebastien

Sebastien Pensis

International Relations Support Manager

EURid

Woluwelaan 150    

1831 Diegem - Belgium

TEL.: +32 (0)2 401 3026

FAX: +32 (0)2 401 27 51

MOB:+32 (0)470 10 55 95

sebastien.pensis@eurid.eu

http://www.eurid.eu

#2016euWA

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