Colleagues, A draft statement regarding the implementation of the Root Zone Label Generation Rules Project and the Maximal Starting Repertoire is pasted at the bottom of this mail and posted on the At-Large Policy Development wiki - https://community.icann.org/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=47257418# The draft is prepared based on observations as well as input gathered from language community representatives during the At-Large IDN Working Group meeting in Singapore, which was co-chaired by Edmon Chung and myself. Please comment on the wiki. Best regards, Rinalia *ALAC Statement on **IDN Variant TLDs – LGR Procedure Implementation – Maximal Starting Repertoire Version 1* The ALAC notes the progress made in the implementation of the Root Zone Label Generation Rules (LGR) Project, specifically: - Issuance of the Maximal Starting Repertoire Version 1 by the Integration Panel; - Completion of a standardized XML format to represent Label Generation Rules for the Root Zone; - Responses from Language Communities in forming script Generation Panels. We recognize that the project is crucial for ensuring that the Root Zone is able to support IDN variants, which are applicable for major languages used by the global population of Internet users. We are greatly encouraged by the success of the Arabic script community in forming a Generation Panel to address a script that is shared by many languages across Africa, North Africa, East Asia, South Asia and the Middle East. We are also heartened by indications of mobilization by the Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Indic communities towards forming their script Generation Panels. Based on our observations as well as feedback received from various language communities, we wish to highlight some issues of concern that require urgent attention in moving the project forward. *Meeting Demand for IDN TLD* The Maximal Starting Repertoire Version 1 covers 18 scripts requested by new IDN gTLD applicants. The Generation Panels already formed and in the process of being formed do not match the demand. We view the lack of response from the Cyrillic, Greek, Georgian, Hebrew, Lao, Latin and Thai communities as of the ICANN 49 meeting in Singapore to be a matter of concern. We urge ICANN to take action to address the gap. Our recommendations to the ICANN IDN Variant TLD Program Team: - Work together with the ICANN Global Stakeholder Engagement Team and reach out to the target language communities to raise their awareness about the project and encourage Generation Panel formation. - Provide a briefing to the Governmental Advisory Committee, the Country Code Top Level Domain community and regional associations as well as the At-Large Regional Organizations to seek their support in reaching out to the target communities. - Work with the ICANN Communications Team to simplify key documents related to the Root Zone Project to aid community understanding and community-initiated outreach. - As part of the community briefing kit, provide concrete examples of how Generation Panels can be formed by sharing/highlighting the successful experience of Generation Panel/s already formed. - Facilitate or enable appropriate facilitation to support the collaboration of language communities that share a script to form a Generation Panel or for communities with related scripts to resolve joint issues if a request for facilitation is received. - Leverage on the Internet Governance Forum (global and regional) to widen awareness about the project and the need for language community participation. *Feedback on Maximal Starting Repertoire Version 1* We commend the Integration Panel for producing a Maximal Starting Repertoire (MSR) in a format that is easy for language communities to understand and manage. The MSR clearly outlines the set of code points that is ineligible for the Root Zone. It also clearly outlines the set of code points that the Integration Panel has defined as possible for inclusion as well as those that should be excluded based on provided rationale. We note that the MSR will serve as a “fixed collection of code points from which Generation Panels may make a selection in constructing the repertoire for their respective LGR proposals” based on what the Integration Panel has determined to be possible for inclusion. We also note that the Integration Panel intends to “freeze” the MSR version 1 after this call for public comment. We advise against freezing script segments of the MSR without receiving sufficient input from language communities (i.e., via a script Generation Panel or from the script community in general if no Generation Panel has been established). For subsequent versions of the MSR and LGR, we support the suggestion that there be a designated release timeline (i.e., a designated time period for release of updated versions where language communities can plan their submissions as well as expect updates to be published). We also request that the Integration Panel provides confirmation that subsequent versions of the MSR may include a superset or expanded set of possible code points based on the review and input received from language communities. END