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Draft ALAC Statement on the Implementation of IDN Variant Top Level Domains
by Rinalia Abdul Rahim June 9, 2013

June 9, 2013

Dear IDN Working Group Members and ALAC Colleagues, In response to the ICANN Board's request for guidance on the implementation of IDN Variant TLDs as well as the release of the “IDN Variant TLD Program - Risk Analysis Studies” dated May 2013, Edmon and I have developed a draft statement for the ALAC's consideration. Text of the drafted statement is pasted below. WIKI Page for your comments is located here: https://community.icann.org/display/alacpolicydev/ALAC+Statement+on+the+Imp… Please try your best to provide your comments via the wiki by June 16th. Best regards, Rinalia *ALAC Statement on the Implementation of IDN Variant Top Level Domains * *[Version 10 June 2013]* The ICANN Board has requested guidance from the community regarding the implementation of the Recommendations contained within the Report on User Experience Implications of Active Variant TLDs ( http://www.icann.org/en/groups/board/documents/prelim-report-11apr13-en.htm…) After reviewing the Report as well as the “IDN Variant TLD Program - Risk Analysis Studies” dated May 2013, the At-Large Advisory Committee (ALAC) advises the following: *Introduce IDN Variant TLDs carefully and implement complementary IDN policies concurrently * - Facilitate the introduction of IDN Variant TLDs carefully so as to nurture growth of the IDN market. The successful implementation of the initial set of IDN TLDs and IDN Variant TLDs will create higher visibility for IDNs and can be expected to stimulate further demand. - The prioritized implementation of IDN new gTLDs must be accompanied with the concurrent execution of complementary and enabling policies, specifically: - Implementation of policies that support the Universal Acceptance of IDNs, - Implementation of IDN Variant TLDs; and - Inclusion of IDN variant support in the Trademark Clearinghouse (TMCH). * * *Bundle the delegation of TLDs and variant TLDs appropriately* - In cases where variants are well defined and understood, and where they are essential for the communication needs of user communities, IDN Variant TLDs must be delegated together with IDN TLDs to ensure consumer trust among the implicated user communities. - Concurrently, variant support in the Trademark Clearinghouse (TMCH) must be included in time to accommodate the delegation of appropriate TLDs to address the issues of user confusion as well as effective trademark protection. *Prepare user communities via dedicated outreach* - Release appropriate educational materials and conduct awareness-raising initiatives widely on the use and impact of variants on different user communities well in advance of IDN Variant TLD delegation. - These outreach efforts should target IDN users as well as non-IDN users to address any trust issues that they may have. See the following as an example of research findings indicating the need for more education and awareness-raising about IDNs in developed economies - http://www.domainnews.com/en/afilias-research-75-of-uk-and-us-consumers-obl… . *Demonstrate a strong commitment to multilingualism * The introduction of IDN Variant TLDs is a policy choice, which requires the strong commitment of ICANN and the ICANN community to multilingualism. The competing perspectives between the technical (conservative) and linguistic (comprehensive) communities need to be balanced carefully within an overarching commitment to multilingualism. A demonstrated commitment to multilingualism will encourage collaboration between the two communities in finding workable solutions and common ground in introducing IDN Variant TLDs without undermining the security and stability of the Domain Name System. *Expedite the implementation of the Root LGR process * - Expedite the implementation of the Label Generation Rules (LGR) process for the Root Zone to address the risks that have been identified in the “IDN Variant TLD Program - Risk Analysis Studies.” - Ensure that lack of expertise is not a reason for delaying or prolonging the implementation of the process. The inadequate supply and availability of the right kind of experts have been identified as a possible bottleneck for the Root LGR process. We note that a call for subject matter experts has been issued on 6 June 2013. Should the response prove to be inadequate, measures would be required to seek expertise outside of the ICANN community. - Expedite the delivery of the Han script ruleset in the Root LGR process. Among all the writing systems studied by ICANN in the IDN Variant Issues Project* (*VIP), the Han script variants are the most well defined and understood. ICANN experts (Andrew Sullivan and Asmus Freytag) concurred during the ICANN 46th Meeting in Beijing that the Han script is possibly the only exception in this regard. * * *Involve the community in the governance of the Root LGR Process* Involve the ICANN community (Supporting Organizations and Advisory Committee) in the implementation planning and delivery of IDN Variant TLDs as well as in the governance oversight of the Label Generation Rules (LGR) for the Root Zone process, which is crucial for deriving a comprehensive and consistent treatment for variants across the board. In particular, - Ensure that the LGR process is accountable and transparent. - Address its weaknesses (i.e., the lack of a review and appeals process, insufficient supply and availability of experts as well as mechanisms for avoiding capture) - Address the weaknesses of the ICANN Public Comments process (a core feedback mechanism for the LGR process) to enable a more open and meaningful stakeholder participation. The ALAC’s advice as indicated above is consistent with the following statements that we have issued regarding IDNs and IDN Variants: - ALAC Statement on Trademark Clearinghouse and IDN Variants - ALAC Statement on IDN Variant TLD Program – Interim Report Examining the User Experience Implications of Active Variant TLDs<https://community.icann.org/download/attachments/2261148/ALAC%2BStatement%2…> - ALAC Statement on the IDN Variant TLD Program – Procedure to Develop and Maintain the Label Generation Rules for the Root Zone in Respect of IDNA Labels<https://community.icann.org/display/alacdocs/ALAC+Read+Only+Document+Store>- Second Public Comment Draft - ALAC Statement on the IDN Variant TLD Program – Procedure to Develop and Maintain the Label Generation Rules for the Root Zone in Respect of IDNA Labels<https://community.icann.org/download/attachments/2261148/ALAC+Statement+on+…> - ALAC Statement on the Draft Recommendations Overall Policy for the Selection of IDN ccTLD Strings<https://community.icann.org/display/alacdocs/ALAC+Read+Only+Document+Store> - ALAC Statement on the IDN Prioritization in the New gTLD Program Targeted at the ICANN Board<https://community.icann.org/download/attachments/2261148/ALAC+Statement+on+…> - ALAC Statement on the Internationalized Domain Name (IDN) Variant Issues Project (VIP) Proposed Project Plan for Next Steps<https://community.icann.org/download/attachments/2261148/ALAC+Statement+on+…> END

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Fwd: [ALAC-Announce] FW: ICANN News Alert -- Webinar: TMCH & IDNs
by Rinalia Abdul Rahim June 8, 2013

June 8, 2013

Fyi ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: "ICANN At-Large Staff" <staff(a)atlarge.icann.org> Date: Jun 9, 2013 2:06 AM Subject: [ALAC-Announce] FW: ICANN News Alert -- Webinar: TMCH & IDNs To: "alac-announce(a)atlarge-lists.icann.org" < alac-announce(a)atlarge-lists.icann.org> Cc: [http://www.icann.org/images/gradlogo_bow.jpg]<http://www.icann.org/> News Alert http://www.icann.org/en/news/announcements/announcement-06jun13-en.htm ________________________________ Webinar: TMCH & IDNs 6 June 2013 Webinar Details Date: Wednesday, 19 June 2013 Time: 14:00-15:30 UTC Adobe Connect: TBD You are invited to a webinar intended to address questions and provide a background around Internationalized Domain Names and the Trademark Clearinghouse processes, including the comments in Beijing about implementation of variant rules. As we have prioritized the applications so that the first new gTLDs will be IDNs, this is an opportunity to learn more about the TMCH and IDNs and provide more background to those interested on how things are working. Please join this webinar on Wednesday, 19 June 2013 at 14:00 UTC (duration 90 minutes). The meeting will be run in an Adobe Connect room with a slide presentation. Participants will have the opportunity to offer comments and ask questions during the Q&A section. During the course of the webinar, these may be submitted using the chat function of Adobe Connect. If you cannot join the live session, the recording of the session will be made available shortly after the meeting. This message was sent to matt.ashtiani(a)icann.org<mailto: matt.ashtiani(a)icann.org> from: ICANN | 12025 Waterfront Drive Suite 300 | Los Angeles, CA 90094-2536 Email Marketing by [http://app.icontact.com/images/icontact_tryFree.gif] < http://www.icontact.com/a.pl/144186> Manage Your Subscription < http://app.icontact.com/icp/mmail-mprofile.pl?r=24564788&l=6333&s=BCA3&m=91… > _______________________________________________ ALAC-Announce mailing list ALAC-Announce(a)atlarge-lists.icann.org https://atlarge-lists.icann.org/mailman/listinfo/alac-announce At-Large Official Site: http://www.atlarge.icann.org

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Fwd: vip Digest, Vol 21, Issue 1
by Rinalia Abdul Rahim June 5, 2013

June 5, 2013

Fyi ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: <vip-request(a)icann.org> Date: Jun 6, 2013 8:03 AM Subject: vip Digest, Vol 21, Issue 1 To: <vip(a)icann.org> Cc: Send vip mailing list submissions to vip(a)icann.org To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit https://mm.icann.org/mailman/listinfo/vip or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to vip-request(a)icann.org You can reach the person managing the list at vip-owner(a)icann.org When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than "Re: Contents of vip digest..." Today's Topics: 1. IDN Variant TLD program - Risk Analysis Studies (Naela Sarras) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message: 1 Date: Wed, 5 Jun 2013 17:01:53 -0700 From: Naela Sarras <naela.sarras(a)icann.org> Subject: [vip] IDN Variant TLD program - Risk Analysis Studies To: "vip(a)icann.org" <vip(a)icann.org> Cc: Cyrus Namazi <cyrus.namazi(a)icann.org> Message-ID: <CDD51F81.1E56F%naela.sarras(a)icann.org> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Dear colleagues, In the last few months, a member of the ICANN community raised concerns about risks inherent in the delegation of IDNs ? particularly IDN variant TLDs ? with emphasis on the risks of delegating IDN TLDs before the completion of ICANN?s ongoing IDN Variant TLD Project or wider experience of IDN deployment in other domains. As part of its on-going work to assess risks and risk mitigation strategies, ICANN commissioned an expert study to evaluate these concerns within specific terms of reference. The expert study identified ten risks, rated on probability of occurrence (high, medium, low and near zero), severity if it does happen (high, medium, low) and the type of risk represented (security and stability, user experience, and legal). A key conclusion from the expert study is the following: ?None of these risks are very likely to come to pass, but some are moderately likely. All risks that have a high severity are of low risk of happening.? The report is attached and also available on the ICANN IDN Variant TLD Program Reports <http://www.icann.org/en/resources/idn/variant-tlds/reports> page. Best regards, Naela Sarras Manager, IDN TLDs Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)

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Re: [IDN-WG] [APAC-Discuss] [ALAC] Draft Statement on TMCH and Variants
by Alan Greenberg May 12, 2013

May 12, 2013

Note that the TMCH has two separate components. The backend and the interface with registries is, I believe, a single database and is being run under contract to ICANN by IBM. The interface to TM holders and the validation service is contracted to Deloitte. The design explicitly allows for distributed user interfaces and validation services to ensure proper handling of different languages, scripts and TM law. Alan At 23/04/2013 07:17 PM, Dev Anand Teelucksingh wrote: >Also agree with Yaovi on removing the word "centralized" >And thanks to Hong and Rinala for the work done on this statement. > >Dev Anand > >On Tue, Apr 23, 2013 at 2:53 PM, Evan Leibovitch <evan(a)telly.org> wrote: > > +1 > > > > In any case, the opening of offices in Turkey and Singapore makes it hard > > to argue that ICANN isn't at least making an attempt to decentralize. > > > > (Please don't see my relative silence as lack of interest, but rather lack > > of depth in the issue) > > > > - Evan > > > > > > On 23 April 2013 14:19, Yaovi Atohoun <yaovito(a)yahoo.fr> wrote: > > > >> Hi all, > >> > >> In the statement we can read : > >> "... we strongly urge ICANN to move away from a model that is centralized, > >> inflexible and unfriendly to variants. " > >> > >> My question : Is is not possible to have a model that is centralized and > >> taking into account IDN variant issues? > >> If so my recommendation is to remove the word "Centralized" in the > >> sentence above. > >> > >> > >> Yaovi > >> > >> > >> > >> ________________________________ > >> De : JJS <jjs.global(a)gmail.com> > >> À : Rinalia Abdul Rahim <rinalia.abdulrahim(a)gmail.com> > >> Cc : apralo <apac-discuss(a)atlarge-lists.icann.org>; No name < > >> idn-wg(a)atlarge-lists.icann.org>; ALAC Working List < > >> alac(a)atlarge-lists.icann.org> > >> Envoyé le : Dimanche 21 avril 2013 4h11 > >> Objet : Re: [ALAC] [IDN-WG] Draft Statement on TMCH and Variants > >> > >> > >> *Dear Rinalia,* > >> * > >> * > >> *you've done a very thorough job, thank you. * > >> *Below, my **suggested modifications in red.* > >> * > >> * > >> *ALAC Advice to the ICANN Board on Trademark > Clearinghouse and IDN Variants > >> * > >> > >> The At-Large Advisory Committee (ALAC) is deeply concerned by the > >> implementation model outlined in the Trademark Clearinghouse: Rights > >> Protection Mechanism Requirements published > on April 6, 2013. We view the > >> model to be deficient in that it overlooks the critical issue of IDN > >> variants; thus implemented, the model would clearly run against the public > >> interest in the pertinent > >> user communities.* > >> * > >> > >> *(1) Domain Name Matching* > >> > >> Language communities have requested that TMCH services factor IDN-script > >> trademarks involving variants and that ICANN consider adopting > >> community-based solutions to address this issue since October 2011. > >> Despite > >> concerns raised by language community experts in the TMCH Implementation > >> Assistance Group (IAG), the domain name matching requirements of the TMCH > >> still does not take into account trademarks in IDN scripts involving > >> variants. Variant matching is critical in certain languages and > >> particularly in Chinese. To illustrate, when a trademark > >> holder registers a simplified Chinese word-mark and not its traditional > >> equivalent, the TMCH will accordingly generate only one trademark record. > >> The > >> new gTLD registries are obliged to offer sunrise services and trademark > >> claims for trademarks recorded in the TMCH. Without variant matching > >> requirements in place, only that registered simplified word-mark will be > >> eligible for trademark protection. This leaves the traditional word-mark > >> equivalent open for cybersquatting. Given that both simplified and > >> traditional writings of the word-mark are deemed identical by Chinese > >> communities worldwide (and by norm few trademarks are registered in both > >> writings), > >> ruling out the un-registered writing by not > allowing variant matching would > >> make the TMCH completely useless to Chinese > trademarks, and would result in > >> an unfair penalty against users of Chinese. > >> > >> *A More Open and Flexible TMCH Model* > >> > >> Trademarks have a very important function in safeguarding the public > >> interest by > >> identifying the source of goods and services. > >> > >> *The rest seems fine.* > >> * > >> * > >> *Best regards,* > >> *Jean-Jacques.* > >> > >> > >> 2013/4/20 Rinalia Abdul Rahim <rinalia.abdulrahim(a)gmail.com> > >> > >> > Dear Members of the IDN WG, APRALO and ALAC Colleagues, > >> > > >> > I have revised the proposed " *ALAC Advice to the ICANN Board on > >> Trademark > >> > Clearinghouse and IDN Variants*" based on Hong's draft, input received > >> in > >> > Beijing and my own consultation with IDN Variant experts. > >> > > >> > Please review and comment on the draft on > the wiki for tracking purposes. > >> > The wiki page for the draft is here - > >> > > >> > > >> > https://community.icann.org/display/alacpolicydev/ALAC+Advice+to+the+ICANN+… > >> > > >> > Once the text is deemed satisfactory, it will be forwarded to the ALAC > >> for > >> > a vote. Please try your best to respond with comments by Friday April > >> > 26th. > >> > > >> > Text pasted below for rapid review. The final version will be proofread > >> > and > >> > a summary of recommendations will be produced as part of the final > >> version > >> > (as per our norm in giving advice to the Board). > >> > > >> > Best regards, > >> > > >> > Rinalia > >> > > >> > *ALAC Advice to the ICANN Board on Trademark Clearinghouse and IDN > >> > Variants > >> > * > >> > > >> > The At-Large Advisory Committee (ALAC) is deeply concerned by the > >> > implementation model outlined in the Trademark Clearinghouse: Rights > >> > Protection Mechanism Requirements published on April 6, 2013. We view > >> the > >> > model to be deficient in that it overlooks the critical issue of IDN > >> > variants, which would seriously impact the public interest in the > >> pertinent > >> > user communities. > >> > > >> > We wish to highlight two areas of particular concern in the Trademark > >> > Clearinghouse (TMCH) requirements: > >> > > >> > > >> > > >> > *(1) Domain Name Matching* > >> > > >> > Language communities have requested that TMCH services factor IDN-script > >> > trademarks involving variants and that ICANN consider adopting > >> > community-based solutions to address this issue since October 2011. > >> > Despite > >> > concerns raised by language community experts in the TMCH Implementation > >> > Assistance Group (IAG), the domain name > matching requirements of the TMCH > >> > still does not take into account trademarks in IDN scripts involving > >> > variants. Variant matching is critical for certain languages and > >> > particularly for the Chinese language. To illustrate, when a trademark > >> > holder registers a simplified Chinese word-mark and not its traditional > >> > equivalent, the TMCH will accordingly > generate only one trademark record. > >> > The > >> > new gTLD registries are obliged to offer sunrise services and trademark > >> > claims for trademarks recorded in the TMCH. Without variant matching > >> > requirements in place, only that registered simplified word-mark will be > >> > eligible for trademark protection. This > leaves the traditional word-mark > >> > equivalent open for cybersquatting. Given that both simplified and > >> > traditional writings of the word-mark are > deemed identical by the Chinese > >> > community (and by norm few trademarks are registered in both writings), > >> > ruling out the un-registered writing by not allowing variant matching > >> would > >> > make the TMCH completely useless to Chinese trademarks. > >> > > >> > > >> > *(2) Domain Name Bundling* > >> > > >> > The TMCH requirements specifically prohibit any registry from > >> implementing > >> > variant or bundling rules and allocating domain names under such > >> variant > >> > or bundling rules prior to the conclusion > of the Sunrise Period. Such a > >> > restriction would exclude the accommodation of any solution for IDN > >> > trademarks involving variants during the > sunrise period at the TLD level, > >> > even though registries may be willing to address the variants through > >> their > >> > own registration management and at their own expense. > >> > > >> > *A More Open and Flexible TMCH Model* > >> > > >> > Trademarks have a very important function of safeguarding the public > >> > interest by > >> > identifying the source of goods and services. If left unaddressed, the > >> > deficiencies of the TMCH model design may likely cause serious public > >> > confusion and result in market chaos. In principle, the At-Large > >> community > >> > does not support over-extensive trademark protection measures. However, > >> we > >> > do strongly believe that ICANN should treat all trademarks equally, > >> > irrespective of the characters of the > trademarks, and that users from all > >> > language communities should be protected from confusion equally. > >> > > >> > > >> > > >> > In September 2012, the ALAC statement on > the TMCH called for a more open > >> > and flexible model that can address our communitys concerns regarding > >> the > >> > limitations of a uniform model, which would be applied to all gTLD > >> > registries irrespective of their differences and competencies. We > >> believe > >> > that new gTLD registries require a more open and flexible TMCH model to > >> be > >> > successful and we strongly urge ICANN to move away from a model that is > >> > centralized, inflexible and unfriendly to variants. > >> > > >> > > >> > > >> > In light of the considerations above, the ALAC urges the ICANN Board to > >> > call for a more open and flexible TMCH model. Towards this end, we urge > >> > the Board to support a community-based, bottom-up solution for TMCH > >> > implementation and to ensure that the IDN variant issue is addressed > >> before > >> > the TMCH begin providing services to the new gTLD registries. > >> > > >> > > >> > > >> > We understand that addressing the IDN Variant issue in a holistic way > >> > requires the development of Label Generation Rules (LGR) for the Root > >> Zone, > >> > which experts and Staff have projected to > require a minimum of 12 months. > >> > We > >> > appreciate that the LGR development requires conscientious effort to > >> > maintain the security and stability of the Internet, but we are also > >> > mindful that the business and practical requirements of new gTLD > >> > applicants, especially from developing economies, call for urgent > >> > implementation. > >> > > >> > > >> > > >> > To expedite the development of appropriate > solutions, the ALAC recommends > >> > that the Board request from the ICANN CEO an interim mechanism that can > >> > yield such solutions efficiently and on an urgent basis. This may > >> require > >> > additional Staff with the appropriate linguistic capabilities working in > >> > tandem with community members with relevant expertise. It may also > >> require > >> > a consideration of expediting the LGR process for the Han script. We > >> > understand that in the general case, the handling of variants is a > >> complex > >> > issue. However, for variant cases that are well defined and understood, > >> > such as the case of the Han script, ICANN should proceed on a fast-track > >> > basis to include variant support in the TMCH in time to accommodate the > >> > delegation of the appropriate TLDs. > >> > > >> > END > >> > _______________________________________________ > >> > IDN-WG mailing list > >> > IDN-WG(a)atlarge-lists.icann.org > >> > https://atlarge-lists.icann.org/mailman/listinfo/idn-wg > >> > > >> > IDN WG Wiki: > >> > https://community.icann.org/display/atlarge/At-Large+IDN+Policy > >> > > >> _______________________________________________ > >> ALAC mailing list > >> ALAC(a)atlarge-lists.icann.org > >> https://atlarge-lists.icann.org/mailman/listinfo/alac > >> > >> At-Large Online: http://www.atlarge.icann.org > >> ALAC Working Wiki: > >> > https://community.icann.org/display/atlarge/At-Large+Advisory+Committee+(AL… > >> _______________________________________________ > >> ALAC mailing list > >> ALAC(a)atlarge-lists.icann.org > >> https://atlarge-lists.icann.org/mailman/listinfo/alac > >> > >> At-Large Online: http://www.atlarge.icann.org > >> ALAC Working Wiki: > >> > https://community.icann.org/display/atlarge/At-Large+Advisory+Committee+(AL… > >> > > > > > > > > -- > > Evan Leibovitch > > Toronto Canada > > > > Em: evan at telly dot org > > Sk: evanleibovitch > > Tw: el56 > > _______________________________________________ > > ALAC mailing list > > ALAC(a)atlarge-lists.icann.org > > https://atlarge-lists.icann.org/mailman/listinfo/alac > > > > At-Large Online: http://www.atlarge.icann.org > > ALAC Working Wiki: > https://community.icann.org/display/atlarge/At-Large+Advisory+Committee+(AL… > >_______________________________________________ >APAC-Discuss mailing list >APAC-Discuss(a)atlarge-lists.icann.org >https://atlarge-lists.icann.org/mailman/listinfo/apac-discuss > >Homepage for the region: http://www.apralo.org

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Fwd: Request for input and guidance by 1 July 2013
by Olivier MJ Crepin-Leblond May 3, 2013

May 3, 2013

Dear IDN WG, please be so kind to find the attached correspondence requesting input and guidance from our community regarding the User Experience Implications of Active Variant TLDs. Please be so kind to consider this request for advice carefully. I hope you'll be able to come to good conclusions that we can relay back to the requester of this information. Kindest regards, Olivier MJ Crépin-Leblond ALAC Chair CC: ALAC working List; At-Large Worldwide list -------- Original Message -------- Subject: Request for input and guidance by 1 July 2013 Date: Fri, 3 May 2013 11:59:11 -0700 From: Naela Sarras <naela.sarras(a)icann.org> To: Olivier MJ Crepin-Leblond <ocl(a)gih.com> CC: Heidi Ullrich <Heidi.Ullrich(a)icann.org>, Naela Sarras <naela.sarras(a)icann.org> Dear Olivier, Please find attached a letter from Cyrus Namazi, Vice President, DNS Industry Engagement regarding the ICANN Board request for the interested Supporting Organizations and Advisory Committees to provide any input and guidance they may have to be factored into the implementation of the Recommendations from the Report on User Experience Implications of Active Variant TLDs by 1 July 203. Best regards, Naela Sarras Manager, IDN TLDs ICANN

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Re: [IDN-WG] Draft Statement on TMCH and Variants
by Hong Xue May 2, 2013

May 2, 2013

Dear All, Please find below my draft statement. I'd appreciate for your quick review and feedback. I was the drafter of the New gTLD WG Statement on TMCH. Shall we also forward the draft to that WG to make it a joint submission to ALAC? Best, Hong _________________________________________________ At-Large Statement on Trademark Clearinghouse and IDN Variants At-large community is very disappointed at the implementation model outlined by “Trademark Clearinghouse: Rights Protection Mechanism Requirements” (hereafter “Requirements’) published on April 6, 2013. Particularly, the model completely overlooks the critical issues of IDN variants with respect to trademark clearinghouse (TMCH) and as a result would seriously impact the public interest in the pertinent user communities. According to the Requirements, *matching domain name labels will be generated for each Trademark Record in accordance with the Trademark Clearinghouse’s domain name matching rules*. The matching rules at the TMCH obviously, however, fail to take into account the trademarks in IDN scripts involving variants, although the variant issues had been raised by the language community experts at the Implementation Assistant Group (IAG). Variant matching is actually critical for certain language communities. Take Chinese for example, where a trademark holder merely registers a simplified word-mark but not its traditional equivalence, there will only be one trademark record generated in the TMCH. Since the new gTLD registries are obliged to offer sunrise services and trademark claims for the trademarks recorded in the TMCH, only that simplified word-mark will be eligible for sunrise registration and trademark claim services and leaves the traditional equivalence open for cybersquatting. Since both writings of the word-mark are deemed identical in the Chinese community and few trademarks are registered in both writings, ruling out the un-registered writing would make TMCH completely useless to Chinese trademarks. What is even more striking is that the Requirements specifically prohibits any registry from implementing *variant or bundling rules* and allocating domain names *under such variant or bundling rules prior to the conclusionof the Sunrise Period. * Such restriction actually excludes any solution for IDN trademarks involving variants to be accommodated in the sunrise period at the TLD level, even though a registry is willing fix the variants through its registration management and at its own costs. Trademarks have very important function of safeguarding public interests by identifying the source of goods or services. The malfunctioned TMCH design would cause serious public confusion and market chaos. Although at-large community never supports over-extensive trademark measures, ICANN should treat all the trademarks equally, irrespective of the characters of the trademarks, and protect the users in all language communities from confusion equally. At-Large community has made the statement on the Trademark Clearinghouse (TMCH) in September 2012, in which at-large community concerns that the design of TMCH model that uniformly applies to all the gTLD registries, irrespective of their difference, may not provide the tailored services that are really needed by the new gTLD registries. At-large community suggested that “more open and flexible model deserves further exploration.” The Chinese Internet user community, dating back to October 2011, suggested that IDN-script trademarks involving variants should be taken into account in the TMCH services and ICANN consider adopting community-based solution to address this issue. Many other language communities shared the views of Chinese community. Unfortunately, ICANN has been deaf to the user community’s feedback and inputs and moves steadily toward the centralized, inflexible and variants-unfriendly TMCH. At-large community, therefore, strongly suggests that ICANN support community-based TLD-bottom-up solution for TMCH implementation and address the IDN variant issue before TMCH provides the services to the new gTLD registries. -- Professor Dr. Hong Xue Director of Institute for the Internet Policy & Law (IIPL) Beijing Normal University http://www.iipl.org.cn/ 19 Xin Jie Kou Wai Street Beijing 100875 China

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IDN WG meeting in Beijing
by Edmon April 9, 2013

April 9, 2013

Hi Everyone, A quick reminder for everyone for our WG meeting: At-Large IDN Working Group Date: Wed, 10 April 2013 - 17:00 - 18:30 Room: Function 6 Please find below proposed agenda with some additional materials and discussion points: 0. Welcome and Introduction 1. Relevant JIG, VIP and New gTLD Updates Related to IDNs 1.1 Universal Acceptance of IDN TLDs: http://beijing46.icann.org/meetings/beijing2013/presentation-idn-tld-accept… 1.2 VIP related reports http://www.icann.org/en/news/announcements/announcement-3-21mar13-en.htm - Label Generation Rules: http://www.icann.org/en/resources/idn/variant-tlds/lgr-procedure-20mar13-en… - User Experience Study: http://www.icann.org/en/resources/idn/variant-tlds/active-ux-21mar13-en.pdf 1.3 Trademark Clearinghouse not supporting IDN Variants 2. General At-Large position statement 3. Long-term IDN Strategy for ICANN - Stocktaking of items - IDN impact on and adoption by users - Market driven approach of ICANN not enough to support IDN adoption - Consumer trust and choice - etc. 4. Next Steps Edmon

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APRALO Multistakeholder Policy Roundtable on Community Readiness for IDN Variants TLD
by Rinalia Abdul Rahim March 20, 2013

March 20, 2013

Dear At-Large IDN Working Group, Root LGR Project Team and VIP Team, APRALO is organizing a Multistakeholder Policy Roundtable in Beijing that focuses on 2 topics. One of them is on community readiness for IDN Variant TLDs (see program attached and pasted below - Policy Roundtable II). You are all invited to attend and I do hope to see you there or at least on adobe connect participating remotely. Best regards, Rinalia Abdul Rahim Co-Chair, APRALO Beijing Organizing Committee Vice Chair, At-Large IDN Working Group Executive Committee, ALAC ---- *APRALO Multistakeholder Policy Roundtable * *@ ICANN 46 [Beijing, PRC]* Date: 8 April 2013 (Monday) Time: 17:00-19:00 Meeting Room: Function Room 6 ICANN’s new generic Top Level Domain (gTLD) Program will bring a dramatic expansion of the Top Level Domain Space where 1930 new gTLD applications have been received. 303 (15.7%) of the new gTLD applications are from the Asia Pacific region and 100 (86%) of the new gTLD applications for Internationalized Domain Names (IDN) are for the languages of the Asia Pacific region. The APRALO Multistakeholder Policy Roundtable in Beijing will feature discussions on two thematic areas related to the new gTLDs with an emphasis on issues of concern to the end user and the public interest. [17:00-18:00] Policy Roundtable I - End User Protection with New gTLDs [18:00-19:00] Policy Roundtable II - Community Readiness for IDN Variant TLDs *Policy Roundtable I **[17:00-18:00]*** Theme: New gTLDs and Implications for the Asian-Australasian-Pacific Region Topic: End User Protection with New gTLDs Discussion Questions: 1. How can end users be best protected in the event that new gTLDs fail or are unsustainable? 2. What are the issues associated with turning applicant commitments into contractual obligations? 3. What are the issues related to the enforceability of contractual obligations and what recommendations should be made regarding the scaling up of ICANN compliance? Co-Chair: Rinalia Abdul Rahim (ALAC Executive Committee Member, Asia Pacific Region) & Holly Raiche (Chair, APRALO) *Lead Discussants:* 1. End User – Jeremy Malcolm (Senior Policy Officer, Consumers International) 2. Government – Peter Nettlefold (Vice Chair, ICANN Governmental Advisory Committee & GAC Lead on New gTLDs) 3. Business – Zahid Jamil (Executive Committee Member, ICANN Business Constituency & Member, GNSO Council) 4. ICANN Compliance - Maguy Serad (Vice President, ICANN Contractual Compliance Services) Participation: This roundtable is open. Members of the following ICANN community are especially invited to attend - ICANN At-Large community, ICANN Advisory Committees, ICANN Supporting Organizations, ICANN Board, ICANN Legal & Law Enforcement. * * *Policy Roundtable II **[18:00-19:00]*** Theme: Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs) and Implications for the Asian-Australasian-Pacific region. Topic: Community Readiness for IDN Variant Top Level Domains (TLDs) Discussion Questions: 1. Will the introduction of IDN Variant TLDs de-stabilize the Internet and undermine its security? 2. What is the level of readiness among language communities already active in ICANN in forming “Generation Panels” to propose script character repertoires and variant rules for the Root Zone that will enable variant IDN TLDs? What are the key issues in moving forward? 3. How can the readiness of language communities not yet active in ICANN be supported? Co-Chair: Rinalia Abdul Rahim (ALAC Executive Committee Member, Asia Pacific Region) & Holly Raiche (Chair, APRALO) Moderator: Edmon Chung (Chair, At-Large IDN Working Group & At-Large IDN Policy Liaison) * * *Discussants:* · Arabic Script - *Sarmad* Hussain (Al-Khawarizmi Institute of Computer Science, Pakistan) · Chinese Script – Wang Wei (China Domain Name Consortium) · Indic Script - Ram Mohan (Afilias) · Japanese Script – Hiro Hotta / Yoshiro Yonaya (Japan Registry Services) *· **Khmer Script - Norbert Klein (Internet Society Cambodia) *** *· *Korean Script - *Young*-*eum Lee (Korea National Open University)* ** *· **Sinhala Script - *Harsha Wijayawardhana (Internet Society Sri Lanka) ** · *ICANN Security and Stability Advisory Committee - *Jim Galvin (Deputy Chair, SSAC) Participation: This roundtable is open. Members of the following ICANN community are especially invited to attend - ICANN At-Large community, ICANN Variant Implementation Program Team, ICANN IDNA Root Label Generation Project Team Members, ICANN Advisory Committees, ICANN Supporting Organizations, ICANN Board.

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ALAC Statements on IDNs [Help]
by Salanieta T. Tamanikaiwaimaro March 6, 2013

March 6, 2013

Dear All, I am trying to access past ALAC statements on IDNs and in particular: Following the ALAC Statement to advise for the Prioritization of IDN gTLD Applications in the New gTLD Program<https://community.icann.org/download/attachments/2261148/ALAC+Statement+on+…>, APRALO would like to express our explicit support for such prioritization. This link is broken and can't seem to access this statement via https://community.icann.org/x/sYEoAg If you know where the statement has moved to, please let me know. Thank you. Kind Regards, -- Salanieta Tamanikaiwaimaro aka Sala P.O. Box 17862 Suva Fiji Twitter: @SalanietaT Skype:Salanieta.Tamanikaiwaimaro Tel: +679 3544828 Fiji Cell: +679 998 2851

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Draft submission for .jiankang (.健康) to the ALAC
by Salanieta T. Tamanikaiwaimaro March 6, 2013

March 6, 2013

Dear All, Following Dev's recent email and noting that the ALAC will meet on Friday to discuss the RALO Objections, I have made some draft submissions which I intend to send to the ALAC in under 10 hours of sending this email. Apologies for the short notice, we were only recently told of our meeting. Any inconvenience caused is regretted. If you feel that there are things that are missing which I should add, please let me know. I have also made reference to the APRALO's general position on prioritising IDN gTLDs. Thank you. Kind Regards, Sala On Thu, Mar 7, 2013 at 9:38 AM, Dev Anand Teelucksingh <admin(a)ttcsweb.org>wrote: > FYI - Dev Anand > > ---------- Forwarded message ---------- > From: Dev Anand Teelucksingh <devtee(a)gmail.com> > Date: Wed, Mar 6, 2013 at 4:52 PM > Subject: [New gTLD RG] Fwd: PIC submission for .jiankang (.健康). > To: newgtldrg(a)atlarge-lists.icann.org > > > FYI - Dev Anand > > > ---------- Forwarded message ---------- > From: Stéphane Van Gelder Consulting <svg(a)stephanevangelder.com> > Date: Wed, Mar 6, 2013 at 4:51 PM > Subject: PIC submission for .jiankang (.健康). > To: DEVTee(a)gmail.com > Cc: Jasonscdu <jasonscdu(a)aol.com> > > > Hi Dev, > > On behalf of Stable Tone, applicant for the .jiankang (.健康). IDN gTLD, > please find attached the PIC submission. > > If you feel that it might be useful to do so, please share with your > colleagues in ALAC. Please do not hesitate to contact us with any > questions you may have. > > Kind regards, > > > Stéphane Van Gelder > Chairman and Managing Director/Fondateur > STEPHANE VAN GELDER CONSULTING > > T (UK): +44 (0)7583 457053 > T (FR): +33 (0)6 20 40 55 89 > Skype: SVANGELDER > www.StephaneVanGelder.com > ---------------- > Follow us on Twitter: @stephvg > Facebook: www.facebook.com/DomainConsultant > LinkedIn: fr.linkedin.com/in/domainconsultant/ > > _______________________________________________ > Newgtldrg mailing list > Newgtldrg(a)icann.org > https://mm.icann.org/mailman/listinfo/newgtldrg > > _______________________________________________ > APAC-Discuss mailing list > APAC-Discuss(a)atlarge-lists.icann.org > https://atlarge-lists.icann.org/mailman/listinfo/apac-discuss > > Homepage for the region: http://www.apralo.org > -- Salanieta Tamanikaiwaimaro aka Sala P.O. Box 17862 Suva Fiji Twitter: @SalanietaT Skype:Salanieta.Tamanikaiwaimaro Tel: +679 3544828 Fiji Cell: +679 998 2851

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