[ga] IDNs & the GNSO New TLD PDP

[Danny Younger <dannyyounger@xxxxxxxxx>]

Vint,

Perhaps you could weigh in on these questions...Your
answers might help to clarify my thinking as to
whether IDNs should or shouldn't be considered within
the GNSO New TLDs PDP.

In the IDN forum, Abdulaziz Al-Zoman, Chairman of the
Steering Committee of the Arabic Domain Name Pilot
Project, reported that "We have two alternate root
servers, one in Saudi Arabia and one in the United
Arab Emirates".  He also stated, "The duration of the
project is open.  So until we have a worldwide
implementation or recognition of Arabic domain names,
this pilot project will continue."

My first question is as follows:  within the context
of the GNSO PDP on new TLDs, are we to regard such a
namespace as a future sTLD that is awaiting ICANN
approval (in that like .cat it appears to have a
sponsoring community that has created it for cultural
and linguistic reasons), or are we to treat it as a
namespace that awaits a process to be instigated by
the ccNSO? That's the jurisdictional question...

The second question pertains to my worry that if ICANN
fails to act quickly, these pilot projects will soon
become permanent alternate roots (which has its own
set of implications):  Would you advise us to consider
IDNs on a preferential basis, perhaps ahead of other
new gTLDs, in order to mitigate the risk of a
potentially bifurcated root?


		
__________________________________________ 
Yahoo! DSL ? Something to write home about. 
Just $16.99/mo. or less. 
dsl.yahoo.com