Dear VIP colleagues, This is an invitation to comment on the recently published interim report examining user experience implications of active variants. To better understand and address the challenges surrounding the activation of variant internationalized top-level domains (IDNs), this interim report: 1) summarizes and compares, from a user experience and registry management perspective, variant practices in several ccTLD registries, 2) proposes a set of guiding principles to define an acceptable user experience, and 3) identifies how various user communities (e.g., end users, system/network administrators, application developers, registrants, registrars and registries) will be impacted by active variant top-level domains. The interim report is published for public comment thirty (30) days (plus 21-day reply period) and is to be followed by the final report, to be published within ninety (90) days after the closure of the public comment forum. The final report will incorporate the community input with proposed guidelines and recommendations for active variant TLDs. Details of the report and how to comment are listed below: http://www.icann.org/en/news/public-comment/interim-variant-ux-23oct12-en.h tm Kind regards, Steve Sheng ICANN