RE: [council] Personal concerns about GNSO reponse to ccNSO-GAC Issues Report on IDN Issues

["Gomes, Chuck" <cgomes@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I also think that Avri raises some very important issues that need to be
addressed.  In my opinion, the intent of the WG was not at all
inconsistent with what Avri is suggesting so I believe the wording can
be clarified, but we may need to form a subgroup of the Council to do
some additional work.  I suggest we take steps to do that in today's
meeting.

I do have one gripe though.  Why weren't these concerns communicated in
L.A. or sooner?  I firmly believe that it is perfectly acceptable and in
fact needed for the chair to provide personal input as long as it is
identified as personal input.  Not doing that, leads to delayed
completion of our work as we see in this case.  I hope that we won't
repeat this in the future.  In my opinion it is always better to raise
concerns as early as possible in the process to maximize the use of our
time.

Chuck Gomes
 
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> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-council@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx 
> [mailto:owner-council@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Robin Gross
> Sent: Tuesday, November 20, 2007 11:16 AM
> To: Avri Doria
> Cc: Council GNSO
> Subject: Re: [council] Personal concerns about GNSO reponse 
> to ccNSO-GAC Issues Report on IDN Issues
> 
> 
> 
> I share all of the concerns that Avri raises below.  Obviously this 
> policy is no where near ready for approval.   We are going to have to 
> spend some time fixing these recommendations and provide some 
> guidance on this process.
> 
> Robin
> 
> 
> Avri Doria wrote:
> 
> > Hi,
> >
> > Part of today's conversation involves a discussion on 
> whether we are 
> > ready to vote on our recommendations at our next meeting.  
> During the 
> > LA meeting, I pretty much kept my viewpoints out of the discussion 
> > because I was concerned with accurately reflecting the state of 
> > discussion in the council.  At this point I would like to add my 
> > personal opinions to the discussion.
> >
> > I am uncomfortable with many of the proposals we are making and 
> > decided I should send in a note prior to the meeting on some of the 
> > issues that most concern me.
> >
> > In general I believe our answers give the governments and 
> the ccNSO a 
> > unconstrained  slate on which they can designate as many 
> names as they 
> > wish as being in ccTLD space.
> >
> > From various conversations I have been involved in, this 
> could come to 
> > mean something as broad as:
> >
> > - every possible name of a country or territory's name
> > - in every possible script/ language
> > - including all possible variants
> >
> > We have also heard discussions that indicate that if one 
> country needs 
> > a certain number of ccTLDs, then obviously, for the sake of 
> fairness, 
> > every country needs the same number.
> >
> > As it currently stands, I cannot vote to approve our 
> current statement.
> >
> > Some of my specific issues:
> >
> >> /b) Could there be several IDN strings for a 'territory' 
> in a script? 
> >> If so, who would /
> >> /determine the number and what are the criteria?/
> >>  
> >> Proposed GNSO response: If multiple scripts are used in a 
> territory 
> >> and if it is judged that those scripts will add value to the user 
> >> experience, then the sovereign government should make the 
> choice of 
> >> which scripts and what number of scripts will be in use for IDN 
> >> ccTLDs.
> >>
> >
> > I am not sure that we actually answered the question in this one.
> >
> > I do not read the question as asking about multiple scripts, but 
> > rather read it as asking about multiple names in a single script.
> >
> > I think that this would be problematic, as this would give 
> license for 
> > a multitude of names might be in general use for a 
> territory or country.
> > E.g in the US, we have  US, USA, UnitedStates, 
> UnitedStatesofAmerica, 
> > TheStates, America, LandoftheFreeHomeoftheBrave  etc...
> > Should all of these be designated as ccTLDs.
> > and should they all be designated in all scripts/languages that are 
> > used, and even only those officially designated in at least 
> one of the 
> > states, in the US?
> >
> > If we extrapolate this for all countries/territories, all 
> variants and 
> > all scripts/languages, we will find that a very large chunk of the 
> > name spaces been being assigned to the ccNSO and to government 
> > control.
> >
> > Is this something the GNSO is comfortable with?
> >
> >
> >> */Should a list of IDN ccTLD strings be mandated?/* / / /In the 
> >> US-ASCII case, ccTLD strings are currently primfarily based on the 
> >> ISO 3166-1 / /Alpha 2 list. If a similar mechanism were 
> adopted for 
> >> IDN ccTLDs, this could mean that / /every ISO 3166 entry 
> would have 
> >> an equivalent IDN ccTLD string(s) to represent it./
> >>  
> >> /a) Is such a list necessary?/
> >>  
> >> Proposed GNSO response: Probably not. Would such a list 
> result in an 
> >> earlier ability to meet the needs of non-English users? If so, it 
> >> would seem to be a good idea. If not, then it seems like 
> the higher 
> >> priority should be to meet user needs and, if that can be done 
> >> without a list, that might be the better approach. If the list 
> >> avoided conflicts and confusion, it might be needed (e.g., in 
> >> situations where there are reports of conflicts and 
> confusion among 
> >> ccTLD members themselves or where there are reports of 
> such conflicts 
> >> and confusion from traditional standards bodies like the ISO).
> >
> >
> > As was shown in the conversation we had in LA, the lack of 
> a list, may 
> > mean that an implicit definition will be used that may open up the 
> > possibility of an indefinitely large number of potential 
> names being 
> > designated as ccTLD space.
> >
> > Is this something the GNSO is comfortable with?
> >
> >> /e) Who would develop the criteria and relevant policies for 
> >> identifying IDN ccTLDs?/
> >>  
> >> Proposed GNSO response: The ccNSO is the policy making body for 
> >> ccTLDs. It seems like the appropriate body for this task with 
> >> appropriate input from the broader community within ICANN and with 
> >> input from the abovementioned non-ICANN entities to establish the 
> >> legitimacy of the process and the outcome.
> >
> >
> > I read this as saying that the GSNO agrees that deciding whether a 
> > string belongs in ccTLD space is a decision that is made by 
> the ccNSO.
> >
> > Without pre-established constraints, there is no limit to 
> what might 
> > be deemed an appropriate IDN ccTLD.
> >
> > I don't see how we can agree to a formulation that is this open.
> >
> > a.
> >
> 
>