All domain names and all email addresses work in all software applications

UA Working Groups

• UA Technology WG
• UA EAI WG
• UA Communications WG
• UA Measurement WG
• UA Local Initiatives
• UA Ambassadors

About UASG

Domain names and e-mail addresses should be Accepted, Stored, Processed and Displayed in a consistent and effective manner.Many systems still assume that domain names (and associated e-mail addresses) are only available in ASCII and that Top Level Domain names are restricted to a well-defined and constant two or three characters.   Since the introduction of IDN ccTLDs in 2010 and the most recent wave of new gTLDs in 2013, this is no longer the case.

In February 2015 the community created the Universal Acceptance Steering Group 

About UASG

UASG will be tasked with undertaking activities that will effectively promote the Universal Acceptance (UA) of all valid domain names and email addresses. These efforts will at least target UA Universal Acceptance of all ASCII domain names, ASCII email addresses, IDN domain names, and IDN emailsemail.

UA is a project that will take years to fully address, therefore the Steering Group should be a standing group whose membership will evolve over the years. ICANN should be prepared for the Steering Group to drive action over the course of the next 10 years.

Past Presentations, Public Comment, and other Resources

ICANN 51 Universal Acceptance Session Archive - 15 October 2014

Summary Report of Public Comment on Draft Roadmap - 8 August 2014

ICANN 50: Universal Acceptance session archive - 25 June 2014

ICANN 50 ISPCP: Universal Acceptance - 24 June 2014

Public Comment on Draft Roadmap opened - 18 June 2014

Presentation at CENTR Tech Meeting - Jamboree 2014 - 3 June 2014

APTLD Member Meeting focused on Universal Acceptance - 11-13 May 2014

ICANN presentation slides - 11 May 2014

ICANN 49: TLD Universal Acceptance session archive - 24 March 2014

ICANN Blog Entry - 21 March 2014

W3C Mail thread on TLD Universal Acceptance (with APTLD draft of barriers) - 3 March 2014

TLD Universal Acceptance as part of Asia Pacific Regional Discussions at APRICOT 2014 - 24 February 2014

CircleID Post on TLD operator "use case" - 7 February 2014

Joint ccNSO-gNSO IDN Working Group draft final report announcement - 25 June 2013

Internationalization and Unicode Conference 36 (slides: ICANN's Work On Internationalizing the Domain Name System) - 24 October 2012

Universal Acceptance of All TLDs - ICANN 45 (Toronto) (Session Details) - 17 October 2012

Universal Acceptance of All TLDs – ICANN 44 (Prague) (Meeting Announcement) - 27 June 2012

Presentation to Joint ccNSO-GNSO Internationalized Domain Names Working Group - 12 June 2012

Registry/Registrar Meeting (Los Angeles) -18 May 2012

Universal Acceptance of All TLDs – ICANN 43 (San Jose, Costa Rica) (Session Details) - 14 March 2012

Public Comment: Initial Report on Universal Acceptance of IDN TLDs - 6 January 2012

ICANN Releases Beta-3 Version of TLD Verification Code - 22 March 2007

Github repository (2012)

ICANN has issued today a new version of code intended to assist software developers and application providers whose work assists others in using the DNS.

ICANN Releases Beta TLD Verification Tool - 3 December 2006

Today ICANN released a beta version Top-Level Domain (TLD) Verification Tool. This verification tool has been developed in response to problems reported by gTLD registries and end-users of the non-acceptance of some existing TLDs. These problems occur in some current applications because: 1) they do not recognize any TLD of more than three characters; or, 2) they rely on legacy information where only com/net/org and a handful of ccTLDs are recognized as valid.

ICANN Creates Area on Universal Acceptance of TLDs - 20 March 2006

In order for the full resources of the Internet to be available to all users globally, service and application providers must make use of the complete range of top-level domains (TLDs). To promote accessibility of up-to-date TLD information, ICANN is making available a new page of resources related to this topic.

Universal Acceptance of all gTLD Names - 18 October 2004

Other Resources

• IANA List of Delegated Top-Level Domains
• IANA Reports
• ICP-3: A Unique, Authoritative Root for the DNS
• Keeping the Internet A Reliable Global Public Resource: Response to New.net Policy Paper
• RFC 3696
• TLD-Acceptance Discussion Forum
• TLD Verification Tool
• Why universal resolvability is important (a non-technical explanation)

• UASG Charter and Operational Documents
• UASG Website
• UASG's FY22 Action Plan