Re: [soac-newgtldapsup-wg] Additional Criteria "Indigenous Peoples"

[Mike Silber <silber.mike@xxxxxxxxx>]

I think this is an excellent idea.

I previously raised a suggestion (quickly shot down by Avri) that the
content or purpose of the string should be considered. I thought I would
raise it again and see if there is any traction.

I have been trying to think of a hypothetical example so as not to
offend anyone but I have struggled.

I would accordingly like to use as an example a possible new gTLD
applicant that has been mentioned to me before namely .desi - now this
is a community to which I do not belong, so please accept the example as
one which contains no judgement but rather is multi-lingual and
multi-national and to a greater extent multi-cultural. As it extends to
multiple people across many countries, some extremely rich and many
incredibly poor - I think it is useful.

As I understand it - the term "Desi" refers to people from the Indian
sub-continent and the Wikipedia entry (yes I know how lame it looks to
rely on the Wikipedia as an authoritative source) is very informative:

"people, cultures, and products of the Indian subcontinent
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_subcontinent> and, increasingly, to
the people, cultures, and products of their diaspora
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diaspora>. Desi countries include India
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India> and Pakistan
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pakistan>. There are large desi
populations in (e.g.) the UK
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom>, US
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States>, Canada
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada>, and other western countries as well."

The entry on the etymology of the term is equally instructive:

"Hindi <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindi_language>: देसी, Urdu
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urdu>: دیسی, Punjabi
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punjabi_language>: ਦੇਸੀ, Marathi
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marathi_language>: देशी, Gujarati
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gujarati_language>: દેશી, Bengali
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bengali_language>: দেশী, Tamil
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamil_language>: தேசி, Telugu
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telugu_language>: దేశీయుడు, Malayalam
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malayalam_language>: ദേശി, Nepali
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nepali_language>: देसी / देशी.

This ethnonym <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnonym> belongs in the
endonymic <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endonym> category (i.e. it is a
self-appellation). Desi originated from the Sanskrit
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanskrit> word देश /deśa-/ ("region,
province, country"). Its first known usage is in the /Natya Shastra
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natya_Shastra>/ (~200 BC), where it
defines the regional varieties of folk performing arts
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Performing_arts>, as opposed to the
classical, pan-Indian /margi/."

Now it is possible that an applicant for such a name will restrict its
use to one community or one language or one script - however it is
likely to be attractive to multiple communities, using multiple
languages and multiple scripts.

Based on the current formulation a for profit applicant based in the
subcontinent's diaspora (let us say the USA) is very unlikely to succeed
in a request for assistance, while a not for profit applicant based for
example in Nepal is quite likely to succeed, given the other criteria.
HOWEVER the USE to which the string is intended to be used may be identical.

This in my view leads to problems of unequal treatment based on
accidents of geography and more importantly the possibility of gaming
the system.

Now I recognise that "purpose" is a difficult criterion to measure
objectively and there is no provision in the RAA to hold an applicant to
the purpose described (just have a look at the difficulties it has
created in the sponsored TLD round). However it is in my view something
that should be considered in evaluating requests for financial
assistance. Not that the purpose has to be "not for profit" in all cases
- I think a good case can be made for a profitable TLD sustaining a
community objective.

Anyway - one more try and I will retire to my observer ivory tower.

Regards

Mike



On 2011/04/26 06:16 PM, Eric Brunner-Williams wrote:
>
> Alain,
>
> Thank you for the complements. I agree that our work product will be
> most useful if we provide overall guidance to the eventual
> implementation body. It was for this purpose that I proposed the
> following:
>
>
> "Applications by Indigenous Peoples, as described in Article 1 of
> Convention No. 169 of the International Labor Organization."
>
>
> I could live with simply "Applications by Indigenous Peoples", but I
> expected that some would want a definition or description of what is
> meant by "Indigenous Peoples", hence the cite to Article 1 of ILO No.
> 169.
>
> This provides additional guidance to the guidance provided by
> references to levels of development in UN Member States.
>
> Eric