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ICANN GNSO Call for Expressions of Interest: Chair of the EPDP on IDNs

02-Jun-2021 | Source : The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) | Visits : 2272

LOS ANGELES -  The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO) Council announced in a press release that it is seeking Expressions of Interest for a chair of the Expedited Policy Development Process (EPDP) team that will address issues related to Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs). Candidates interested in serving in this role should review the Expression of Interest document before submission. The document details the role, required skills and experience, and the selection process.

The deadline to submit an Expression of Interest is Friday, 25 June 2021 at 23:59 UTC.
All submissions should be sent to gnso-secs@icann.org. By submitting your personal data, you agree that your personal data will be processed in accordance with the ICANN Privacy Policy, and you agree to abide by the electronic Terms of Service.

Background
On 25 September 2010, the ICANN Board resolved that "no variants of gTLDs will be delegated through the New gTLD Program until appropriate variant management solutions are developed." There were two challenges as identified in the Integrated Issues Report:

1. The lack of accepted definition for what may constitute a variant relationship between top-level labels
2. The lack of a "variant management" mechanism for the top-level

To address challenge 1, a group of contributors developed the Procedure to Develop and Maintain the Label Generation Rules for the Root Zone in Respect of Internationalized Domain Names in Application Labels, which has resulted in the creation of the Root Zone Label Generation Rules (RZ-LGR). To address challenge 2, ICANN org developed a set of recommendations (ICANN org Paper) on how to allocate IDN variant top-level domain (TLD) labels, which was adopted by the ICANN Board in March 2019. In January 2020, the ICANN Board approved the Recommendations for the Technical Utilization of the RZ-LGR (Technical Study Group [TSG] recommendations) on how to employ the RZ-LGR to determine valid IDN TLDs and their variant labels. To facilitate the delegation of variant generic topic-level domain names (gTLDs) in the root zone, the ICANN Board requested that the GNSO and Country Code Names Supporting Organization (ccNSO) take all these recommendations into account while developing their respective policies to define and manage IDN variant TLDs for the current TLDs and future TLD applications.

In February 2021, the GNSO Council adopted the GNSO New gTLD Subsequent Procedures (SubPro) PDP Final Report and forwarded it to the ICANN Board for adoption. SubPro recommendations under topic 25 focus on the IDN subject. They were developed by taking into account the previous policy work on IDNs, specifically the ICANN org Paper and TSG recommendations.

On 20 May 2021, the GNSO Council resolved to initiate an EPDP on IDNs and adopted the charter for the EPDP team, which is expected to provide the GNSO Council with policy recommendations on:

1. The definition of all gTLDs and the management of variant labels
2. How the IDN Implementation Guidelines, which Contracted Parties are required to comply with, should be updated in the future

The EPDP team is expected to develop its recommendations by building on the existing body of policy work, research, and analysis on IDNs, with a focus on SubPro recommendations. The charter includes a total of 48 questions under seven broader topics, ranging from the impact from the same entity requirement at the top- and second-levels to adjustments to ICANN policies and procedures as they relate to IDNs. The charter also includes a representative + open model for the EPDP team, consisting of members, participants, and observers. This model is designed to enable the EPDP team to conduct its work in an efficient manner while creating additional opportunities for broader community participation.

During ICANN71, an outreach session will be held on Monday, 14 June 2021, 16:30-17:30 (CEST) to provide additional information about this EPDP, including its mission, scope, and how to get involved.
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