Dear Council members,

Please be so kind as to circulate the following information to your groups and communities. As there is a clear need to ensure consistency of the end user experience, it is important to develop either common language-based or script-based Internationalized Domain Name (IDN) tables. Based in large part on experience during the New gTLD Program implementation, ICANN is developing reference IDN tables in machine readable format, called Label Generation Rulesets (LGRs) for the second level, for use in Pre-Delegation Testing (PDT) and the Registry Service Evaluation Process (RSEP). 

The first step in this process is the release of the proposed Guidelines for Developing of Reference LGRs for the Second Level (https://www.icann.org/en/system/files/files/lgr-guidelines-second-level-30oct15-en.pdf). A public comment forum on these Guidelines is now open, closing on 15 December: https://www.icann.org/public-comments/comments-lgr-second-level-2015-11-05-en.

ICANN staff involved in developing, reviewing and further updating these Guidelines based on community feedback will greatly welcome input from the GNSO community, especially affected parties and users. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Sarmad Hussain directly (sarmad.hussain@icann.org), or I will also be happy to forward the questions on your or your group’s behalf.

Thank you.

Cheers

Mary