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Comment on Fees for IDN and Translations of String for Community-based Applicants

  • To: <4gtld-intro@xxxxxxxxx>
  • Subject: Comment on Fees for IDN and Translations of String for Community-based Applicants
  • From: "Ron Andruff" <randruff@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Wed, 21 Jul 2010 13:25:51 -0400

RE: IDN and Translations of String for Community-based Applicants 

 

In our public comments on DAG v3 we made note of the definition of
'community' (as defined in the DAG) is "an awareness and recognition of a
community among its members".  The global ICANN community is one such
example.  ICANN now translates its public meetings into multiple languages
for member participants for whom English is not their first language; ICANN
translates all of the documentation into several different scripts to meet
community-member needs; and ICANN is establishing IDN scripts for both
nations and individual users to facilitate a multi-lingual use of the
Internet.  The fact is, ICANN, like other communities, is a singular group
using multiple languages and scripts so that all members of its specific
community can participate in a common activity.
 
We also noted in our DAGv3 comments that members of one community would
naturally expect to have one TLD operator manage their common space on the
Internet irrespective of the various scripts and languages that might be
utilized by various members of that community. RNA Partners DAGv3 comments
can be found here: http://forum.icann.org/lists/3gtld-intro/msg00001.html
 
Allowing community-based gTLD operators to offer registrants their chosen
domain names in the languages and/or scripts they use daily is the critical
component of establishing the long-hoped-for goal of a multi-lingual
Internet.  ICANN must demonstrate that it understands and supports
community-based applicants with the same standards that it supports its own
global community. In the same manner ccTLDs were given a fast-track process
to allow those registry operators to have IDN versions of their ASCII names.
So too, should community-based applications.
 
The current criteria detailed in DAG v4 continue to ignore requests from the
ICANN community that a community-based applicant should be allowed to
simultaneously apply for multiple translations/IDN scripts of the same
string when applying for their ASCII string.  A recommendation has been made
that two criteria be used to determine if an applicant would qualify for the
translation option: (1) that the application meets all community-based
application criteria; and (2) that the proposed string translation can be
found in any dictionary in any language. Using such criteria only legitimate
communities, as defined in the Applicant Guidebook, will qualify to manage a
unique string in multiple scripts and languages.
 
The current DAGv4 expectation that each community-based applicant pay an
additional USD 185,000 per translation/IDN script is not only unjustified
under ICANN's cost-recovery model, it is an unacceptable financial burden to
place on community-based gTLD applicants. It serves no purpose.  One USD
185,000 application fee, plus a much smaller additional fee per translation
is a more evenhanded approach.  
 
We ask ICANN to reconsider and address the issue of community-based
applicants being able to apply simultaneously for their string in multiple
scripts/languages in the final Applicant Guidebook, so that communities can
wholly serve their respective constituents wherever they may be in the
world.
 
Thank you.
 
Respectfully submitted,
 
Ron Andruff
RNA Partners, Inc.
 
Disclosure: RNA Partners intends to be an applicant for a new gTLD.
 

 



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