[council] Further background information on CWG on use of country and territory names as TLDs

[Marika Konings <marika.konings@xxxxxxxxx>]

Dear All,

Following our discussion over the weekend concerning the proposed charter
for the CWG to develop a framework for the use of country and territory
names as TLDs, if you are interested in further background information you
may want to review the report of the ccNSO Study Group on the Use of Country
and Territory names which formed the basis for the creation of this CWG (see
http://ccnso.icann.org/workinggroups/unct-final-08sep12-en.pdf). In short,
the study developed the following comments & recommendations:
* Throughout its deliberations, the Study Group observed an incredible level
of complexity associated with any attempt to definitively categorize country
or territory names, especially when such an effort includes multiple
languages or scripts.
* A consistent observation was the inability of individual “lists” or
resources to provide comprehensive, consistent or universal guidance
regarding the various representations of country and territory names, in
particular as a result of geo-­-political changes, the creation of new
countries and the dissolution of others.
*  ICANN’s current policies and procedures (as they may relate to ccTLDs,
IDNs or current and potential new gTLDs) do not afford consistent treatment
of country and territory names. This may give rise to stakeholder and
end-­-user confusion and uncertainty.
*  ICANN’s current policy framework (the Applicant Guidebook) for the
introduction of new gTLDs affords an unprecedented level of protection for
country and territory names, though notes that such protections are only
confirmed for the first and current round of new gTLD applications.
*  The current Fast Track and IDN ccTLD policy are restricted. The major
restrictions are the requirements  that:
1.    the IDN ccTLD string  is a meaningful representation in a designated
language of the territory, and
2.     only one string per designated language

If adopted the IDN ccTLD policy should be reviewed in five years, which
includes a review of these  restrictions.


Based on that, the study group recommended that the ccNSO Council establish
a cross community working group to:

A. 
* Further review the current status of representations of country and
territory names, as they exist under current ICANN policies, guidelines and
procedures;
* Provide advice regarding the feasibility of developing a consistent and
uniform definitional framework that could be applicable across the
respective SO’s and AC’s; and
* Should such a framework be deemed feasible, provide detailed advice as to
the content of the framework.
 
The GNSO, ALAC and GAC should be invited to participate in such a WG.

 
B.  In light of the need for further work on the treatment of country and
territory names, the complexity of the issue at hand and the aforementioned
inconsistencies between various ICANN policies, it is also recommended that
the ccNSO Council request that the ICANN Board extend the current rule in
the new gTLD Applicant Guidebook regarding the exclusion of all country and
territory names in all languages, for consecutive rounds of new gTLD
applications.


I hope this is helpful.


Best regards,


Marika

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