3. Background Documents

Key Resources in Brief

GNSO New gTLD Subsequent Procedures Policy Development Process Final Report

IDN Variant TLD Implementation Staff Paper

Recommendations for the Technical Utilization of the RZ-LGR

Final Proposed Draft v. 4.0 of IDN Implementation Guidelines

Mapping Document - Charter Questions, SubPro Recommendations, and Prior IDN Efforts

GNSO Council IDN Scoping Team Final Report

List of Background Documents Prepared by The IDN Program (see Annex B of the DNSO Council IDN Scoping Team Final Report)

The IDN Program has prepared a set of documents below to support IDN variant related work. This list of documents is intended to be exhaustive, though not in the sense that it should limit a future EPDP from seeking additional documentation for review.

1. ICANN organization has developed a set of recommendations and supporting documentation on a mechanism for implementing IDN variant TLDs. These documents were released for​ ​public comment​ ​and have been finalized based on the feedback received from the community. 

• IDN Variant TLD Implementation – Executive Summary
• IDN Variant TLD Implementation – Motivation, Premises, and Framework
• IDN Variant TLD Implementation – Recommendations and Analysis
• IDN Variant TLD Implementation – Rationale for RZ-LGR
• IDN Variant TLD Implementation – Risks and their Mitigation
• IDN Variant TLD Implementation – Appendices (A: Definitions, B: Use of ROID, C: Limiting Allocated Variant TLDs)

2. Relevant Board Resolutions

• Recommendations for Managing the IDN variant TLDs: https://www.icann.org/resources/board-material/resolutions-2019-03-14-en#2.a
• IDN Variant TLD Root LGR Procedure and User Experience Study Recommendations: https://www.icann.org/resources/board-material/resolutions-2013-04-11-en#2.a
• Variant Management: https://www.icann.org/resources/board-material/resolutions-2010-09-25-en#2.5
• IDN Variants: https://www.icann.org/resources/board-material/resolutions-2010-03-12-en#10

3. Applicant Guidebook’s relevant sections on variant TLDs and its policy: https://newgtlds.icann.org/en/applicants/agb

• Section 1.3.2 IDN Table,
• Section 1.3.3 IDN Variant TLDs,
• Section 2.2.1 String Review (include string similarity and declaring variant)

4. Reports from Variant Issue Project

• A Study of Issues Related to the Management of IDN Variant TLDs (Integrated Issues Report​)
• Individual script-based case studies from variant issues project; ​Arabic​, ​Chinese​, Cyrillic​, ​Devanagari​, ​Greek​, ​Latin
• User Experience Study

5. Documents from RZ-LGR Project

• How to develop an LGR
  • LGR procedure
  • Guidelines for Developing Script-Specific LGR
  • Guidance on Designing Label Generation Rulesets (LGRs) Supporting Variant Labels
• How to utilize the RZ-LGR
  • Recommendations for the Technical Utilization of the Root Zone Label Generation Rules (RZ-LGR)
• Script proposals for the RZ-LGR already submitted (18):
  • Integrated scripts (16): ​Arabic​, D​evanagari​, ​Ethiopic​, ​Georgian​, ​Gujarati​, Gurumukhi​, ​Hebrew​, K​annada​, ​Khmer​, L​ao​, ​Malayalam​, ​Oriya​, ​Sinhala​, ​Tamil​, Telugu​, ​Thai
  • Scripts waiting for integration(2):​ ​Cyrillic​, ​Armenian

6. Relevant standards

• IDNA2008:
  • Standards Track
    • RFC 5890​ ​Internationalized Domain Names for Applications (IDNA): Definitions and Document Framework
    • RFC 5891​ ​Internationalized Domain Names in Applications (IDNA): Protocol
    • RFC 5892​ ​The Unicode Code Points and Internationalized Domain Names for Applications (IDNA)
    • RFC 5893​ ​Right-to-Left Scripts for Internationalized Domain Names for Applications (IDNA)
  •  Informational
    • RFC 5894​ ​Internationalized Domain Names for Applications (IDNA): Background, Explanation, and Rationale

    • RFC 5895​ ​Mapping Characters for Internationalized Domain Names in Applications (IDNA) 2008

• Additional Relevant RFCs:
  • RFC 8228​ ​Guidance on Designing Label Generation Rulesets (LGRs) Supporting Variant Labels
  • RFC 7940​ ​Representing Label Generation Rulesets Using XML
  • RFC 6927​ ​Variants in Second-Level Names Registered in Top-Level Domains
  • RFC 6912​ ​Principles for Unicode Code Point Inclusion in Labels in the DNS
  • RFC 5730​ ​Extensible Provisioning Protocol (EPP) (See section 2.8 for ROID) This is one of the ‘same entity’ mechanisms

7. Reports from other bodies, organizations

• SSAC
  • SAC060​ SSAC Comment on Examining the User Experience Implications of Active Variant TLDs Report
  • SAC052​ ​SSAC Advisory on Delegation of Single-Character Internationalized Domain Name Top-Level Domains
• UNICODE
  • TR36​ ​UNICODE Security Considerations.
    This document describes some of the security considerations that programmers, system analysts, standards developers, and users should take into account, and provides specific recommendations to reduce the risk of problems.
  • TR39​ ​UNICODE Security Mechanism.
    This document provides mechanisms that can be used to detect possible security problems
  • TR46​ UNICODE IDNA COMPATIBILITY PROCESSING.
    Client software, such as browsers and emailers, faces a difficult transition from the version of international domain names approved in 2003 (IDNA2003), to the revision approved in 2010 (IDNA2008). The specification in this document provides a mechanism that minimizes the impact of this transition for client software, allowing client software to access domains that are valid under either system.

8. Relevant Process Documents: To implement variant TLDs, some operations might need to be adjusted. The following documents are references to design the process adjustment.

• Registry Transition Processes
• Change of Control of Registry Operator or Material Subcontracting Arrangement
• Emergency Back-end Registry Operator (EBERO)
• Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policies (UDRP)
• Uniform Rapid Suspension
• Trademark Post-Delegation Dispute Resolution Procedure (PDDRP)