Internationalized Domain Names: Overview of ICANN Activities

1. Internationalized Domain Names: Overview of ICANN Activities Masanobu Katoh, Chair, IDN Committee Director, ICANN Board CDNC-CNSG-MINC IDN Joint MeetingBeijing, China October 19-20, 2001

2. IDN Working Group • Formation: Melbourne meeting, resolution 1.39 • Members: Auerbach, Campos, Cerf, Katoh • Mission statement: http://www.icann.Org/committees/idn IDN-IWG

3. Mission Statement Working Group “sees its charter as limited to fact finding for the purpose of educating the board and the ICANN community so that ICANN can fulfill its mission of technical management of Internet domain names and IP numbers. The working group will not set technical standards for IDNs.” IDN-IWG

4. Activities of IDN Working Group • Consultations: MINC (Melbourne, 3/14/2001) AINC (Amman, 4/1/2001) • Surveys: www.icann.org/committees/idn/survey-30apr01.htm • Technical Questions (Survey A) • Policy Questions (Survey B) • Current Services (Survey C) IDN-IWG

5. Activities of IDN WG (con’t.) • Status Report: Presented at Public Forum at ICANN Meeting in Stockholmhttp://www.icann.org/committees/idn/status-report-05jul01.htm • Follow Up Questions to Surveys:http://www.icann.org/committees/idn/follow-up-survey-05jul01.htm • Consultations: • ChinaInet 2001 (Beijing 7/11/2001) • Keidanren-JPNIC Workshop (Tokyo 7/13/2001) • Montevideo Report (9/9/2001) http://www.icann.org/committees/idn/final-report-28aug01.htm IDN-IWG

6. Survey A: Technical Questions Two basic approaches to IDN issue • Server side approach Local Encodings (BG, BIG5, DJIS) or Unicode transformation format (UTF-8) sent directly over the internet. May require server reconfiguration, DNS redesign • Client side approach Translate local encoding or Unicode into ASC II compatible encoding (ACE) on the user’s computer IDN-IWG

7. Server Side Approach IDN-IWG

8. Client Side Approach IDN-IWG

9. Hybrid Approach Example: RealNames Proprietary Approach- If a Microsoft browser determines that an IDN is not in ASCII, it forwards it to a RealNames server, which then converts it to ASCII so that it can be resolved. IDN-IWG

10. Absence of Standard • IETF hard at work developing standard • No ideal solution - difficult problem with different stakeholders: • system administrators/operators • end users • technologists • IDNA (Internationalized Domain Names in Application) - client side approach IDN-IWG

11. Adoption of Standard • All respondents said they would adopt IETF standard • Speed of implementation depends on approach • Standard probably will not be interoperable with other approaches IDN-IWG

12. Are “Test Beds” a Problem? IDN-IWG

13. Big Picture Issues • Short-term vs. Long Term Solution? • Are We Asking Too Much of DNS? (Identifier vs. Identity) IDN-IWG

14. Survey B: Policy Questions • Strong support for IDN • Increase Internet use by non-Latin script users • May increase opportunities for cybersquatting IDN-IWG

15. Cybersquatting • Recognized as inevitable • DRP, Sunrise periods, WHOIS database all invaluable tools IDN-IWG

16. Top Level IDNs • Global community expressing demand for top-level IDNs. • ICANN will have to determine how to address the interests of diverse stakeholders. IDN-IWG

17. Survey C: Current Services • Some free registrations, others charge same as ASCII registration • [IDN].[IDN][IDN]. gTLD [IDN].ccTLD IDN-IWG

18. Current Services • Over 1,000,000 registrations (920,000 with Verisign GRS) • Some systems are live • Both client side and server side approaches are in use (Verisign GRS uses client side) IDN-IWG

19. Why Are Registries/ Registrars Offering IDN Service? • Perceive Large Demand • Defensive measure IDN-IWG

20. Why Are Registrants Registering IDNs? • Useful communication tool • Prevention of cybersquatting IDN-IWG

21. IDN Working Group Recommendations ICANN Board Should: • Encourage IETF to adopt standards as quickly as possible; • Establish a committee to provide recommendations on non-technical policy issues, including interoperability, cybersquatting/dispute resolution, top level domains, consumer protection, and competition. IDN-IWG

22. New IDN Committee At the September 10, 2001meeting in Montevideo, the ICANN Board passed a resolution establishing a new IDN Committee "to serve as a general coordination body for the work on policy issues identified in the IDN Working Group Report and such other policy issues that the IDN Committee shall identify." IDN-IWG

23. IDN Committee Process "[T]he IDN Committee should seek to ensure that any recommendations are achieved through a bottom-up process, and that those recommendations reflect a wide range of expertise on the different aspects relevant to the issues" IDN-IWG

24. IDN Committee Structure • Chaired by Director Masanobu Katoh • ICANN President Stuart Lynn, in consultation with the IDN Committee Chair,"shall propose, for approval by the Board, representatives to serve on the IDN Committee from the ICANN Board, the Supporting Organizations, the Governmental Advisory Committee, and such other individuals who in his judgment could meaningfully contribute to this effort" IDN-IWG

25. Input to the IDN Committee "[T]he IDN Committee is encouraged to commission panels of volunteer experts from different countries with practical experience in the policy issues identified in the Final Report, and linguistic experts (including experts in non-ASCII character sets and languages not spoken by persons active in current discussions)" IDN-IWG

26. IDN Committee Work Plan The IDN Committee has been requested to present its initial work plan, schedule, and proposed budget for approval by the Board at the third ICANN annual meeting, to be held in Marina del Rey in November 2001. IDN-IWG