Re: [ga] On Elections

[Andy Gardner <andy@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Oct 5, 2007, at 3:00 AM, Debbie Garside wrote:

> This is a subject very close to me and at present I am unable to  
> comment too
> much due to an ISO NWIP for Internationalized Country Codes that is
> currently out for vote.  I am the Editor of the said NWIP and at this
> present moment it looks like it might fail which is a damn shame  
> because if
> it does it is my belief that there will be mayhem if IDN TLDs are  
> introduced
> piecemeal in an unstructured way.
I see 3 separate issues here.

1. Brand new "IDN" gTLDs

- these should be treated the same as any new gTLD, but must not  
infringe on the "meaning" of any existing gTLD, as that might cause  
user confusion - a bilingual Korean might reasonably expect an email  
sent to 컴퓨터.영업 to reach 컴퓨터.biz safely.
2. Existing gTLDs

- these should be assigned non-English lingual equivalents to  
facilitate the expansion of the Internet across the world's  
languages, with database mirroring or DNAME to tie existing  
registrations to their lingual equivalents. .net == .网络 == קום.  
= .нет  .I feel this should be a requirement for existing gTLD  
owners so they don't use their lingual equivalent extra gTLD's and  
free gifts. If they don't want to mirror their existing users, they  
can compete for a brand new gTLD like everyone else.
3. ccTLDs

- ccTLDs should be given the opportunity to be assigned extra ccTLDs  
that conform to their country name, or an abbreviation of it, in  
whatever scripts/languages are designated official languages of that  
country. South Korea gets .한국 (and can mirror it to .kr or run it  
separately - their choice).
Note that this doesn't always mean the extra ccTLD's would be IDNs.  
Hungarians would probably be a lot more comfortable with an  
abbreviation of magyarország rather than .hu and it's probably not  
going to need an IDN to do it. Māori is an official language in New  
Zealand, so they would get an extra ccTLD for an abbreviation of  
Aotearoa (the Māori name for New Zealand).
One thing that definitely should be frowned upon is attempts to get  
extra ccTLD's that are commercial in nature (say .tv gunning for .  
텔레비전 = television in Korean).
Once the 10th comes around you can explain to us what you mean by  
"piecemeal" and "unstructured". :^)