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ALAC Statement on the Translation and Transliteration of Contact Information Working Group SO-AC Input Request

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Introduction

Rinalia Abdul Rahim, At-Large member from the Asian, Australian and Pacific Islands Regional At-Large Organization (APRALO), composed an initial draft of this Statement [PDF, 366 KB] after discussion of the topic within At-Large and on the Mailing Lists.

On 13 February 2014, Olivier Crépin-Leblond, Chair of the ALAC, requested ICANN Policy Staff in support of the ALAC to send a Call for Comments on the Recommendations to all At-Large members via the At-Large IDN Working Group Mailing List.

On 02 March 2014, this Statement was posted on the "At-Large Translation and Transliteration of Contact Information Working Group SO-AC Input Request Workspace."

On 11 March 2014, a version incorporating the comments received was posted on the aforementioned workspace and the Chair requested that Staff open an ALAC ratification vote on the proposed Statement.

On 16 March 2014, Staff confirmed that the online vote resulted in the ALAC endorsing the Statement with 11 votes in favor, 0 votes against, and 0 abstentions. You may review the result independently under: https://www.bigpulse.com/pollresults?code=3703yxB23b34wMN9xthGfrae.

Summary of Answers to Questions Asked

  1. We strongly believe that verifiable and verified contact information must be accessible to those with a right and need to access it via the WHOIS database. One option is to transform the contact information into a single language or specific set of languages using scripts that are representable within the constraints of the current WHOIS. Another option is to have the ASCII-based WHOIS record point to a non-ASCII based record, which would be maintained by the Registry and in parallel with the ASCII WHOIS.
  2. Transformed contact information that is verified to be accurate and useable allows users who can understand the information to see who are the domain name registration holders and how to contact/reach them.
  3. The transformation of contact information should be mandatory for gTLDs that allow registration of domains using non-representable scripts in the current ASCII WHOIS for contact information.
  4. Transformation of contact information for the purposes of a limited ASCII WHOIS would be applicable for registrants that use non-ASCII scripts in providing their registration information.
  5. The decision on who should bear the burden of transforming contact information should be informed by the views of and impact on all affected parties.
  6. If the transformation is required for general use, the cost should be borne by the process/entities that collect the information. If the transformation is required for specialized use, the parties requiring the specialized service should bear the cost of contact information transformation.