Re: internationalized versions of domain name top-level labels

Greg Aaron wrote:
>
> FYI:
>
> A major topic of discussion at ICANN is the introduction of “IDN TLDs” 
> -- internationalized versions of top-level domain (TLD) labels such as 
> “.COM”, “.NET”, “.ORG”, etc. This means that in the future, a whole 
> domain name – both to the left and the right of the last dot – may be 
> internationalized. (Currently only characters to the left of the dot 
> may be internationalized.) Imagine “.COM” rendered in and functional 
> in many different scripts: Chinese, Devanagari, Japanese, Cyrillic, 
> Tamil, etc. etc.
>

This is the main issue. Why only .COM, why not .FR .MA etc... What 
entity will manage all these TLDs? What will be the equivalent of, say, 
.FR in Arabic/Cyrillic/... scripts? Who will define it?
The problem seems far from a practical solution.

Najib.
>
> This topic will have impact on applications. There are also policy 
> issues, such as management of the various “versions” of a TLD.
>
> This topic will be discussed at the upcoming ICANN meeting in San 
> Juan, Puerto Rico on June 25-29, 2007. There is currently work 
> underway in ICANN committees and at the Internet Engineering Task 
> Force (IETF).
>
> As part of the effort, ICANN has posted a set of draft procedures 
> describing how IANA will manage the insertion, administration, and 
> removal of internationalized top-level labels in the DNS root zone. 
> ICANN’s announcement is at:
>
> http://www.icann.org/announcements/announcement-02jun07.htm
>
> A public comment period is open until June 22, 2007.
>
> ICANN has also published a new version of its IDN Guidelines, which 
> for the first time makes specific reference to IDN in top-level 
> labels. It is anticipated to be amended and supplemented in subsequent 
> drafts in preparation for the release of internationalized top-level 
> labels in the production environment. This document is currently open 
> to public comment:
>
> http://www.icann.org/announcements/announcement-2-11may07.htm
>
> With best wishes,
>
> --Greg Aaron
>
> **********************************
>
> Greg Aaron
>
> Senior Manager, e-Commerce
>
> Afilias
>
> vox: +1.215.706.5700 x104
>
> fax: 1.215.706.5701
>
> gaaron@afilias.info
>
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-- 
Najib TOUNSI (mailto:tounsi @ w3.org)
Bureau W3C au Maroc (http://www.w3c.org.ma/)
Ecole Mohammadia d'Ingenieurs, BP 765 Agdal-RABAT Maroc (Morocco)
Phone : +212 (0) 37 68 71 50 (P1711)  Fax : +212 (0) 37 77 88 53
Mobile: +212 (0) 61 22 00 30

Received on Tuesday, 5 June 2007 23:20:20 UTC