APRALO Policy Forum

Call for Public Comments to the Reference Label Generation Rulesets (LGRs) for the Second Level (24 Aug - 15 Oct 2020) 

Purpose: To improve the transparency and consistency of the Internationalized Domain Name (IDN) table review process to facilitate the registry operations of new gTLDs, ICANN has developed additional reference IDN tables in machine-readable format, called reference Label Generation Rulesets (LGRs) for the second level. The reference IDN tables are based on the Guidelines for Developing Reference Label Generation Rules (LGRs), which were finalized after community review. These reference LGRs will be used in reviewing IDN tables submitted by the gTLD registries, e.g. through the Registry Service Evaluation Policy (RSEP) process.

Current Status: ICANN org had published reference second-level LGRs for multiple languages. Additional reference LGRs have been developed based on the detailed analysis and finalized solutions by the script community for the Root Zone Label Generation Rules (RZ-LGRs). Seventeen (17) LGRs are being released for Public Comment including Bangla, Devanagari, Ethiopic, Georgian, Gujarati, Gurmukhi, Kannada, Khmer, Lao, Malayalam, Oriya, Tamil and Telugu script-based LGRs, and Arabic, Chinese, Hindi, and Thai language-based LGRs.

Next Steps: Based on the community input, these reference LGRs will be finalized and published for the use of gTLD registry operators to consult while they design their IDN tables.  These reference LGRs will also be used in reviewing the IDN tables submitted by the gTLD registries.

Particular Focus for APRALO: Possible risk of confusion to individual end-users through use of visually similar multi-lingual scripts in domain names at the second level

At-Large Resources: Presentation by Bill Jouris

CLOSEDCall for Public Comments to the GNSO New gTLD Subsequent Procedures Draft Final Report (20 Aug - 30 Sep 2020) 

Purpose: The objective of this Public Comment period is to share the GNSO New gTLD Subsequent Procedures Working Group's draft Final Report and present draft final recommendations and implementation guidance on topics within the Working Group's charter. The draft recommendations and implementation guidance included in this report are the culmination of years of Working Group deliberations and community input that take into account input received through a number of Public Comment periods, including a survey of existing Stakeholder Group / Constituency / Advisory Committee statements from the 2012 round of new gTLDs, a set of dozens of initial questions aimed at getting input on the processes and results of the 2012 new gTLD round, as well as comments on the Working Group's Initial Report and Supplemental Initial Reports. Given that some of the recommendations have been substantively updated since these earlier reports, this draft Final Report is being published for an additional Public Comment period. While the full report is open for comment, the Working Group would like input to focus on areas that have substantively changed since publication of the Initial Report and Supplemental Initial Report and in limited instances, questions that the Working Group has posed to the community for feedback.

Current Status: This draft Final Report is being posted for Public Comment as supported by the Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO) Operating Procedures.

Next Steps: Upon the receipt of this Public Comment period, all comments will be considered by the Working Group, which will adjust the draft Final Report as applicable.

Particular Focus for APRALO: The GNSO New gTLD Subsequent Procedures Working Group's Draft Final Report and Working Group charter cover a very large number of topics, and the At-Large Consolidated Policy Working Group (CPWG) has been reviewing the development of the Draft Final Report and in that process, a fair few (21 and counting!) Scorecards to capture/present key At-Large feedback/comments/responses. Given that the public comment period closes on 30 Sep 2020, it is suggested that APRALO focus on reviewing and commenting on just a few topics of interest/relevance to our region, in particular, these 3 Scorecards:

1. Universal Acceptance, v4 settled 27 May 2020
2. Internationalized Domain Names, v4 settled 28 May 2020
3. Applicant Support Program, v8 settled 13 Sep 2020 (revised from v7 settled 5 May 2020)   

Other At-Large Resources:

• At-Large Capacity Building Webinar: New gTLD Rounds and Subsequent Procedures, 3 Aug 2020
• CPWG Subsequent Procedures Small Team Updates Workspace
• At-Large SubPro scorecards for final comment on the workspace and Google Doc for comment