[council] Interaction between the ICANN Board's IDN Variant Working Group and the GNSO

[Glen de Saint Géry <Glen@xxxxxxxxx>]

The letter has been posted on page

http://gnso.icann.org/en/council/correspondence

and can be directly viewed at:

http://gnso.icann.org/en/correspondence/mohan-to-robinson-28aug14-en.pdf


Thank you.
Kind regards,

Glen

Glen de Saint Géry
GNSO Secretariat
gnso.secretariat@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx<mailto:gnso.secretariat@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
http://gnso.icann.org<http://gnso.icann.org/>

From: Ram Mohan [
Sent: 28 August 2014 13:04
To: 'Jonathan Robinson'
Cc: 'Ram Mohan'; 'Board Variant Working Group'
Subject: RE: Interaction between the ICANN Board's IDN Variant Working Group 
and the GNSO
Importance: High

Dear Jonathan,
The Board's IDN Variant Working Group (BV-WG) members thank the GNSO Council 
and its community for maintaining an active interest in the IDN program.  We 
are pleased to learn that we were able clarify the status of the IDN Program 
during the discussion on topics of mutual interest with the GNSO Council and 
community members in London.

The GNSO Council is correct in its assessment that the current work on the 
development of the Label Generation Ruleset (LGR) for the Root Zone (P2.2) is 
technical in nature and policy advise is not required at this stage.  If the 
Integration Panel or the Generation Panels communicate any such need in the 
future, the ICANN staff will issue the call for the advisor position as per the 
procedure<https://www.icann.org/en/system/files/files/lgr-procedure-20mar13-en.pdf>
 for developing the LGR for the Root Zone.  ICANN staff will ensure that the 
GNSO Council is informed in this case.

BV-WG continues to oversee and guide the progress of the IDN Variant TLD 
program.  The Program is currently being advised by the BV-WG to focus on 
organizing the community efforts for developing the LGR for the Root Zone, 
which is the necessary pre-requisite for further implementation. The BV-WG 
encourages active involvement of the GNSO community in this current phase of 
the work by volunteering for the Generation Panels for the various scripts, 
especially for Latin and Cyrillic.  The BV-WG welcomes the GNSO community's 
intention to self-organize to review the original New gTLD IDN WG 
recommendations, with a view toward assisting Program staff with preparation 
for P7 following maturation of the work on LGR.

Based on our prior agreement, IDN Program staff will continue to provide 
regular updates to GNSO Council and GNSO members.  The BV-WG also looks forward 
to the continued discussion on the status and the future of the IDN Variant TLD 
program.

Regards,
Ram Mohan
Chair, Board Variant Working Group


From: Jonathan Robinson [mailto:jonathan.robinson@xxxxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Tuesday, August 19, 2014 4:39 AM
To: Ram Mohan
Subject: Interaction between the ICANN Board's IDN Variant Working Group and 
the GNSO
Importance: High

Dear Ram,
I write to follow up on the meeting in London between the ICANN Board's IDN 
Variant Working Group and a number of GNSO Council and community members. I'd 
like to thank you and the other Board members for taking the time to meet with 
them to discuss the progress of ICANN's IDN Variant Program. We believe the 
discussion was helpful to all of us, and appreciate the updates that ICANN 
staff has been providing to the GNSO regarding ongoing work on the Program.
I'd like to follow up on a specific observation that had been shared by a few 
GNSO community members in Singapore and London, regarding a perceived need for 
policy input into the Program by individuals with experience and expertise in 
ICANN policy development. Our discussions in Singapore and now in London have 
served to clarify that the current work being done in the Program (and 
specifically in P2.2) is largely technical in nature. In addition, I understand 
that ICANN's call last summer for advisors and experts to assist the Label 
Generation Rule-set (LGR) panels provided that the LGR panels might call on 
advisors (including ICANN staff) as the need arises. I note further that an 
advisor has already been appointed to the Integration Panel and that ICANN has 
announced that any additional advisors to be appointed will be at the request 
of the panels, in accordance with the LGR Procedure.
As the Program progresses, and particularly in the near future as the panels 
conclude their work, some GNSO community members have noted that should the 
need for policy expertise arise at any point there are individuals within the 
GNSO who will be willing to volunteer to assist. In this regard the GNSO 
Council will be happy to serve as a contact point for any such requests. 
Separately, I note that a suggestion was made at the London meeting for 
interested GNSO community members to "self-organize" to review the original New 
gTLD IDN WG recommendations, with a view toward assisting Program staff with 
preparation for P7. It is my hope as GNSO Chair that these suggestions, along 
with ICANN staff continuing to provide their regular update to the GNSO on the 
Program, will allow the GNSO community to be of assistance to the important 
work of the Program and, in particular, if and when any policy questions are 
encountered.
Thank you again for your time. I look forward to continuing our discussion and 
to facilitating any appropriate involvement of interested members of the GNSO 
community in the current and future work of the IDN Variant Program.
Best regards,

Jonathan Robinson
GNSO Council Chair