Comments on the New Generic Top-Level Domains (gTLDs) Proposed Final Applicant Guidebook by Hong Kong Internet Registration Corporation Limited (HKIRC)

["Henry Chan" <henry.chan@xxxxxxxx>]

Hong Kong Internet Registration Corporation Limited (HKIRC), the registry of
the .hk ccTLD, submits the following comments on the New Generic Top-Level
Domains (gTLDs) Proposed Final Applicant Guidebook as found on the ICANN
public comment page:
http://www.icann.org/en/topics/new-gtlds/comments-5-en.htm.

 

Protection of geographic names

 

HKIRC supports and appreciates the exclusion of strings that are country or
territory names on the ISO 3166-1 list, their translations in any language,
abbreviations, permutations, and transpositions, from this application round
of new gTLD. HKIRC opines that these strings shall always be protected and
never made available for application through a gTLD process. 

 

Objection and dispute resolution

 

As described in the subsection 1.1.2.2 of the Guidebook, ICANN will post all
applications considered completed in batches and the objection filing period
for the respective batch will commerce (1.1.2.4) at the same time.
Considering the possible large volume of applications, HKIRC recommends
ICANN to provide a newsfeed or mailing list service regarding the updates on
the applications, so that different stakeholders can prepare and file their
objections, if necessary, in a timely manner.

 

The principles (standards) of the community objection (3.4.4) have been
significantly amended in the proposed final Guidebook. Now, the objector
must prove that "the application creates a likelihood of material detriment
to the rights or legitimate interests of its associated community." or the
objection will fail. HKIRC opines that in many cases, it is not possible for
the objector to supply evidence in material terms against an applied-for
gTLD representing or related to a community. For instance, the string
"Hongkonger" is not a geographic name protected by the Guidebook yet
representing Hong Kong people as a clearly and distinctly defined community.
If a non-Hong Kong based organisation applies for the string "Hongkonger",
it would be difficult for the community of Hong Kong people to file an
objection during the process, as the potential and possible detriment to the
interests of Hong Kong people could not be deduced a priori in economic or
reputational terms. The same goes for more generic terms like "Honkie" (a
common nickname for Hong Kong people) and "Kiwi" (a common nickname for New
Zealanders). Communities are institutionally disadvantaged in the process of
dispute resolution for new gTLD. HKIRC recommends that community objections
with reasonable ground, not limited to those stipulated by the subsection
3.4.4 of the Guidebook, should also be formally considered by a panel of
experts.

 

Single-character IDN TLD

 

HKIRC echoes and reiterates the positions of the Draft Final Report on
Policy Aspects Regarding Introduction of Single Character IDN TLDs
(http://ccnso.icann.org/workinggroups/jig-draft-final-report-04dec10-en.pdf)
by the joint ccNSO and GNSO IDN working group on the matter of
single-character IDN TLD. As innumerable single Chinese characters are
meaningful in themselves, single-character IDN TLDs should be acceptable,
but must not be confusingly similar to single or two character ASCII TLDs.
The requested single-character IDN TLD strings should be analysed on a
case-by-case basis in the new gTLD process depending on the script and
language. 

 

Delegation of variants

 

In view of the practicality and usability of the IDNs in the Chinese
language, variant strings in Chinese must be delegated to the same IDN TLD
manager for the new gTLD to work seamlessly. This principle of delegation is
necessarily applicable to Chinese IDN TLDs, when the simplified and
traditional Chinese characters are interchangeable and both widely used by
the Chinese language community at large. HKIRC recommends the Guidebook to
be amended to reflect that variants of an applied-for Chinese IDN TLD will
be delegated to the same successful applicant on condition that a workable
variant-management mechanism is provided. 

 

 

Regards,

 

Henry CHAN

International Liaison

Hong Kong Internet Registration Corporation Ltd (HKIRC)
Ph: +852 2319 3830
Fax: +852 2319 2626