- EURO-Discuss - lists.icann.org

Re: [EURO-Discuss] [At-Large] ICANN IDN Laboratory test results online
by Roberto Gaetano March 11, 2007

March 11, 2007

Siavash Shahshahani wrote: > > Could somebody describe a possible 'failure scenario' for the tests? > Siavash IANAE (I am not an expert), but what about, for instance, some code that breaks somewhere because of the hyphen ("-") in the TLD? We had (and some still exists) code that broke because of the length of the TLD, that was assumed to be max. 3, with the exception of .arpa. Having been a developer for many years, I can guarantee that there's no limit to what can be put in the code without apparent reason. Once I'll teel you about a software released in the late 70's by a major company that had a check that a date must be lower than 1984, that an Orwell fan put in as a joke, and that forgot to take out before the final build... Cheers, Roberto

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Re: [EURO-Discuss] [At-Large] ICANN IDN Laboratory test results online
by Vittorio Bertola March 9, 2007

March 9, 2007

Hong Xue ha scritto: > > Dear At-Large Community > > The positive IDN Laboratory test results that have just been posted on > www.icann.org <http://www.icann.org/> - see directly at: > > http://icann.org/announcements/announcement-4-07mar07.htm > > It concludes that "during these tests, we were unable to detect any > deviation at all in any part of the system from the normal behaviour of > DNS systems. The addition of IDN strings seems to have had no measurable > effect at all on the qualitative performance of the test systems. " > > These positive results will enable ICANN to move forward with the test > of phase II. Phase II is currently under development but will be > communicated as soon as possible. This is really a good development... I really hope that we can have full deployment of IDNs as soon as possible. It is very important for many parts of the world! -- vb. Vittorio Bertola - vb [a] bertola.eu <-------- --------> finally with a new website at http://bertola.eu/ <--------

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ICANN-related News Items
by ICANN At Large Staff March 8, 2007

March 8, 2007

I thought many of you would be interested in one or more of these news snippets: 1. ICANN locks down at-risk Registerfly domains ICANN planned to sue Registerfly.com on 6 March according to Computer Business Review Online, “saying the company is putting its customers' estimated 2 million domain names at risk.” The article notes “in an unprecedented move, ICANN has persuaded the four major generic top- level domain registries to lock down all Registerfly's customers' domains for a month, so they cannot expire and then be hijacked by speculators or domain traffic monetization firms.” With a letter to Registerfly last Friday from ICANN noting “Registerfly is refusing to hand over data about its customers' domains, as required by its registrar accreditation agreement, and that it will enforce the contract in court by filing suit on Tuesday.” The article also notes that as ICANN has not been able to get its hands on the registration data, they have got VeriSign, NeuStar and Afilias “to lock all pending-expiration Registerfly domains into a ‘Server-Delete- Prohibited’ status.” http://www.cbronline.com/article_news.asp?guid=80D83445-B5D5-47BC- B74D-D70EA124D72B 2. When Domain Names Bite Back This story on The Motley Fool gives a background on the RegisterFly “debacle” from an investor’s point of view, looking back as far as the dot-com crash where VeriSign's Network Solutions and Register.com were Wall Street darlings”. The article claims “Before the debacle at Registerfly, the industry was coming back into favour” with investors with GoDaddy looking at going public this year. The article concludes “The Registerfly story may still have a happy ending, but the clock on existing annual registrations keeps ticking. Whether the site cleans up its act, is sold off to a rival registrar, or finds ICANN in a more hands-on role, the industry's reputation is at stake. And consumer faith is on the line. In the name of domains, let's hope this nascent industry gets it right.” http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2007/03/07/when-domain-names- bite-back.aspx 3. Porn Industry Against New XXX Domain The Free Speech Coalition released a news release petitioning for help in opposing the .xxx TLD proposal. The Free Speech Coalition is the adult entertainment industry’s professional organisation. Genelle Belmas, professor of communications law, who argued in her dissertation in favour of a xxx TLD says, “The side that does not like pornography argues that if you give it its own domain you're legitimizing the porn. And the pornographers don't like it because they say it 'ghettoizes' the porn." The Executive Director of the FSC is quoted as saying what the adult industry refers to as "ghettoizing," is "making adult entertainment an easy target for anti- industry extremists and government intrusion." Other concerns are the cost of registering domain names ($60/year/domain) and that the TLD could be made “mandatory and subject to trans-Internet filtering that could effectively eliminate much of the adult content currently available on the Web." http://media.www.dailytitan.com/media/storage/paper861/news/ 2007/03/06/News/Porn-Industry.Against.New.Xxx.Domain-2759677.shtml

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ICANN Successfully Conducts Laboratory Tests of Internationalised Domain Names
by Nick Ashton-Hart March 8, 2007

March 8, 2007

In October, 2006, ICANN engaged Autonomica AB of Stockholm, Sweden, to develop, conduct, and report on the results of laboratory testing of internationalized top-level domains in a setting corresponding to the public root. Quoting from their report, Just Posted this morning: Autonomica AB has, under a contract with ICANN, investigated whether the addition of top level domains containing encoded internationalized characters (so called IDNs) would have any impact on the operations of the root name servers providing delegations, or the iterative mode resolvers used to look up the information. No impact at all could be detected. All involved systems behaved exactly as expected. Internationalized domain names (IDNs) are domain names containing characters other than those based on the ASCII character sets. Such non-ASCII characters include those available in right-to-left scripts (e.g., Arabic) and non-alphabetic scripts (e.g., Mandarin Chinese). ICANN is actively involved in the efforts to make these available at the top level—that is, so that an entire domain name can be rendered in local characters. The global deployment of IDNs will enhance the local Internet experience in large regions of the world by enabling people to share and access information or use services offered in their own languages. The laboratory technical test is one of the prerequisites to eventual insert internationalized top level labels in the root zone. This test is intended to determine the viability of internationalized top-level names and the effect they may have on the DNS. The work was done by replicating the root server environment. The test intentionally did not incorporate the end-user perspective or a live root test. Autonomica reported successful insertion using two major server implementations used by most root server operators: BIND and NSD. The test design was finalized in December of 2006 following a public comment period. The test procedure was published so that others can replicate the test. Details of the test setup and design can be found here. Details of the test result can be found here. [PDF, 73K] For any questions or request for additional details of the test design and result please contact Tina Dam at tina.dam(a)icann.org For further information around ICANN’s IDN Program please visit http://www.icann.org/topics/idn/ -- Regards, Nick Ashton-Hart Director, At-Large ICANN PO Box 32160 London N4 2XY United Kingdom Main Tel: +44 (20) 8800-1011] USA Tel: +1 (202) 657-5460 Fax: +44 (20) 7681-3135 mobile: +44 (7774) 932798 email: nick.ashton-hart(a)icann.org Win IM: ashtonhart(a)hotmail.com / AIM/iSight: nashtonhart(a)mac.com / Skype: nashtonhart Online Bio: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashtonhart

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RegisterFly situation
by Nick Ashton-Hart March 7, 2007

March 7, 2007

Dear Community: I thought you would be interested in seeing the text of emails which ICANN staff are sending to the large numbers of RegisterFly customers who are contacting ICANN directly for help with their domains, as it also provides some information on what actions ICANN is taking to deal with the situation. --- Thank you for your email. ICANN is taking action in relation to RegisterFly. We have found them to be in breach of their Accreditation Agreement and we have demanded that they address these breaches. In addition to this legal action, ICANN convened a telephone conference among those needed to implement a plan that will help cease unintended deletions. The participants were Registries holding RegisterFly names. The Registries involved have agreed to move any RegisterFly names in Redemption Grace Period status into Server-Delete-Prohibited status. This will prevent them from being deleted from the registry and becoming available for re-registration by others. ICANN is also working to copy and protect data regarding registration applications and registered name holders. Our website http://www.icann.org and our blog http://blog.icann.org/ are updated regularly with information about what ICANN is doing to assist people affected and this is the best source for you to get information you need in the future. Information on transfer policy can also be found at http:// www.icann.org/transfers/ I do appreciate how stressful this situation must be for you and hope the information above is of assistance. --- -- Regards, Nick Ashton-Hart Director, At-Large ICANN PO Box 32160 London N4 2XY United Kingdom Main Tel: +44 (20) 8800-1011] USA Tel: +1 (202) 657-5460 Fax: +44 (20) 7681-3135 mobile: +44 (7774) 932798 email: nick.ashton-hart(a)icann.org Win IM: ashtonhart(a)hotmail.com / AIM/iSight: nashtonhart(a)mac.com / Skype: nashtonhart Online Bio: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashtonhart

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WG: Travel approval request form: Lisbon
by bruch March 6, 2007

March 6, 2007

Hi Nick, Heike Jensen and me sent TARFs for Lissbon before February 26 but have not been mentioned in the list of approved requests. Please check what went wrong. Thanks! Christoph _____________________ Dr. Christoph Bruch Neue Christstr. 6 14059 Berlin +49 (0)30 - 3210 3282 -----Ursprüngliche Nachricht----- Von: Dr. Christoph Bruch [mailto:christoph.bruch@charite.de] Gesendet: Samstag, 24. Februar 2007 14:43 An: bruch(a)zedat.fu-berlin.de Betreff: WG: Travel approval request form: Lisbon _______________ Dr. Christoph Bruch Charitè Medical School Berlin c/o Institute of Tropical Medicine Berlin Spandauer Damm 130 D-14050 Berlin - Germany Phone: +49 30 30116 766 Fax: +49 30 30116 888 -----Ursprüngliche Nachricht----- Von: Dr. Christoph Bruch [mailto:christoph.bruch@charite.de] Gesendet: Samstag, 24. Februar 2007 14:27 An: 'travel-staff(a)atlarge-lists.icann.org'; 'nick.ashton-hart(a)icann.org' Betreff: Travel approval request form: Lisbon Dear Nick, Dear Travel Staff, Please advise on how to fill the travel approval form in whole. What should I insert in for meals and airport transfer? Please reply to this address: bruch(a)humanistische-union.de Thank you very much! Kind regards Christoph Bruch _____________________ Dr. Christoph Bruch Neue Christstr. 6 14059 Berlin +49 (0)30 - 3210 3282

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Travel to Lisbon - URGENT INFORMATION REQUIRED
by ICANN At Large Staff March 3, 2007

March 3, 2007

Dear Nadine and Susie: The following TARFs are approved: Timo Kiravro (10) ISOC Finland (Suomen Internet-yhdistys - SIY r.y.) kiravuo(a)tml.hut.fi, Andrés Oliva (14) Internet Society - Catalan Chapteraoliva(a)isoc-cat.org, aoliva(a)diplomaticnet.com Dragoslava Pefeva (08) Internet Society - Bulgariadpefeva(a)isoc.bg Patrick Vande Walle (06) Internet Society (ISOC) Luxembourg A.S.B.L. patrick(a)vande-walle.eu, Patrick(a)isoc.lu Rudi Vansnick (23) Internet Society - Belgiumrudi.vansnick(a)isoc.be Sébastien Bachollet (78) ISOC Frsebastien.bachollet(a)isoc.fr Those listed above please directly contact Nadine Davidson at nadine.d(a)travelstoreusa.com, copied to travel-staff@atlarge- lists.icann.org to arrange your flights. You may provide specific itineraries if you wish and she'll try to accomodate you, though if a less expensive option is available you may be asked to pay the difference in airfares. IF YOUR NAME DOES NOT APPEAR ON THE ABOVE LIST, YOU HAVE NOT RSVPed FOR THE LISBON MEETING! IF YOU STILL WISH TO GO WITH TRAVEL SUPPORT, WE CAN ACCOMODATE YOU ONLY UNTIL 7 MARCH. AFTER THAT TIME YOU WILL HAVE TO TRAVEL AT YOUR OWN EXPENSE. Please send a TARF if you are not on the list above and wish to go ASAP. The form has been provided on the list before, and is also accessible at www.euralo.org. -- Regards, Nick Ashton-Hart ICANN At Large Main Tel: +44 (20) 8800-1011] USA Tel: +1 (202) 657-5460 Fax: +44 (20) 7681-3135 mobile: +44 (7774) 932798 email: nashton(a)spamcop.net Win IM: ashtonhart(a)hotmail.com / AIM/iSight: nashtonhart(a)mac.com / Skype: nashtonhart

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Re: [EURO-Discuss] [At-Large] Preparing for Lisbon: Resolutions from At-Large to the larger community?
by Nick Ashton-Hart March 2, 2007

March 2, 2007

Not sure what you mean there - you mean the Lisbon agenda? If that is what you mean, that will happen - I have provided information for the Lisbon schedule to the conferences team so it should appear shortly. On the teleconference on the 6th ALAC will decide what to talk about at the two scheduled meetings of the committee, and then that will be on the calendar as well. On 02/03/07, Wolfgang Kleinwächter <wolfgang.kleinwaechter(a)medienkomm.uni-halle.de> wrote: > Dear Nick > > it would be probably helpful to integrate the planned AL-Meeting in Lisbon into the overall agenda on ICANNs website. This would allow also other people to coordinate their calendars. > > Thanlks > > wolfgang > > -- -- Regards, Nick Ashton-Hart PO Box 32160 London N4 2XY United Kingdom UK Tel: +44 (20) 8800-1011 USA Tel: +1 (202) 657-5460 Fax: +44 (20) 7681-3135 mobile: +44 (7774) 932798 Win IM: ashtonhart(a)hotmail.com / AIM/iSight: nashtonhart(a)mac.com / Skype: nashtonhart Online Bio: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashtonhart

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Re: [EURO-Discuss] [At-Large] Preparing for Lisbon: Resolutions from At-Large to the larger community?
by Nick Ashton-Hart March 2, 2007

March 2, 2007

To the extent that the effort involves purely coordination, I can help with that - chasing people for contributions etc. The development of the draft text is, I would submit, perhaps best done in the first instance by those in ALAC familiar with the issues in question, and only by the staff in the case that nobody has the time to do this work (though, perhaps, as these first drafts are just that - drafts - and completely subject to amendment, perhaps in some ways it is less important who is the first drafter... I have put a first-draft of an Agenda together for the ALAC teleconference on the ALAC Working Wiki. On 01/03/07, Vittorio Bertola <vb(a)bertola.eu> wrote: > Nick Ashton-Hart ha scritto: > > Dear All: > > > > May I suggest to you that the At-Large community has a unique > > opportunity at the upcoming Lisbon meeting to agree a few resolutions > > on key issues which are in the public and icann policy 'Eye' at the > > moment. With at least two RALO MoUs being concluded, and likely the > > European one too, the conference will have a big spotlight on the > > community. > > I think that your suggestion is good. > I also think that we desperately need leadership to this effect. > Annette's illness is unfortunate, and we need someone to write down a > todo list with actions and deadlines, force people to sign up for items, > and push them until they deliver on time. And we need it now, if we want > to make it by Lisbon. > As all volunteer groups, this is an individual-driven effort, so I would > suggest that any of us who feels like doing it, and especially those who > would like to serve as Vice Chairs, takes this task upon him/her. > (I mean - I can do it if you wish, but we really need to create new > leadership, not rely on the old one...) > -- > vb. Vittorio Bertola - vb [a] bertola.eu <-------- > --------> finally with a new website at http://bertola.eu/ <-------- > -- -- Regards, Nick Ashton-Hart PO Box 32160 London N4 2XY United Kingdom UK Tel: +44 (20) 8800-1011 USA Tel: +1 (202) 657-5460 Fax: +44 (20) 7681-3135 mobile: +44 (7774) 932798 Win IM: ashtonhart(a)hotmail.com / AIM/iSight: nashtonhart(a)mac.com / Skype: nashtonhart Online Bio: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashtonhart

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Preparing for Lisbon: Resolutions from At-Large to the larger community?
by Nick Ashton-Hart March 1, 2007

March 1, 2007

Dear All: May I suggest to you that the At-Large community has a unique opportunity at the upcoming Lisbon meeting to agree a few resolutions on key issues which are in the public and icann policy 'Eye' at the moment. With at least two RALO MoUs being concluded, and likely the European one too, the conference will have a big spotlight on the community. I submit for you all to consider that this spotlight could be used by the community to focus attention on the issues which you care about. There could for example be resolutions on: 1) Domain Tasting - the negative consequences to end-users which many in the community have highlighted and a call for the GNSO and ICANN Board to begin a PDP as an urgent matter; 2) Registry and Registrar performance - the issue of Registerfly has brought to the fore issues of enforcement and the role of ICANN in enforcing these contracts. A resolution could highlight these and call for action; a number of proposed actions have been mooted on community lists. There's also the issue of switching registrars and the difficulty that poses for people which has been brought up in the African discussion lists By resolution, I mean something brief - one page per issue - in the style of a UN resolution with adjectives leading each paragraph of a preamble section, and then a section with specific recommendations for action (not in great detail necessarily but the high-level principles or actions which should be made). At the ALAC monthly teleconference on 6th March, could the committee perhaps propose to discuss this? If one member of the committee could draft a one-page document on the above structure to be completed within a week, then there would be time to send it out to all the regions for their review and comment, and then at Lisbon the two regions present and the ALAC could agree a final text and release it to the rest of ICANN. If nobody on the ALAC is able to do the drafting, I'm happy to do a draft as a "backup drafter" and then forward it to be reviewed. I hope this will not be thought presumptuous. I don't wish to 'take over' the policy work of the community, but I do see a real opportunity for the community to make a big splash of substance at the next meeting and wouldn't like to see that opportunity lost or wasted. At the same time I do understand that people are all volunteers and I'm happy to help in any way I can. There are those - even in the community - who do not believe the At- Large community has the ability to influence ICANN's work. I do not believe they're right, but it seems to me one of the best ways to find out is to take a strong stand and suggest proactive steps to improve things. -- Regards, Nick Ashton-Hart Director, At-Large ICANN PO Box 32160 London N4 2XY United Kingdom Main Tel: +44 (20) 8800-1011] USA Tel: +1 (202) 657-5460 Fax: +44 (20) 7681-3135 mobile: +44 (7774) 932798 email: nick.ashton-hart(a)icann.org Win IM: ashtonhart(a)hotmail.com / AIM/iSight: nashtonhart(a)mac.com / Skype: nashtonhart Online Bio: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashtonhart

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