Comment on Proposed Implementation Plan for Synchronised IDN ccTLDs

["Jonathan Shea" <jonathan.shea@xxxxxxxx>]

Hong Kong Internet Registration Corporation (HKIRC) would like to thank
ICANN for the opportunity to comment on the Synchronised IDN ccTLD
Implementation Plan.

 

Firstly we have to commend ICANN on their determination and efforts in
helping the non-English speaking communities to have access to the Internet
by implementing the IDN ccTLD Fast-Track process.  We would also like to
express our strong support for the Synchronised IDN ccTLD Implementation
Plan and urge ICANN to implement it as soon as possible, especially for the
simultaneous delegation of the Traditional and Simplified Chinese ccTLDs for
the Chinese Internet user community.

 

Both Traditional and Simplified Chinese characters are widely used in
Chinese speaking countries/territories.  In Hong Kong, many of the popular
websites support Traditional and Simplified Chinese in addition to English.
HKIRC in particular has been offering registration of Chinese domain names
under .HK at the second and third level since 2007.  Both Traditional and
Simplified forms of the same domain name are offered to the same registrant
for the price of one.  It will be unacceptable to the Chinese Internet user
community if we only offer one but not the other.

 

The availability of both Traditional and Simplified Chinese forms allocated
to the same registrant for the same domain name under the ccTLD is equally
crucial for Chinese-speaking countries such as China and Taiwan.  There is
why similar arrangement is also in place for Chinese domain name
registrations under .CN and .TW.  It is therefore understandable that it
will be near to useless to the Chinese speaking community if only one of the
two forms (Traditional and Simplified Chinese) is allowed for their Chinese
ccTLDs.   

 

We believe that the Synchronised IDN ccTLD Implementation Plan is a good way
to address the above issue and this is a great effort by ICANN to address
the needs of non-English speaking communities.  We have no hesitation to
support its implementation by ICANN as soon as possible.

 

HKIRC is a non-profit organization designated by the Government of HKSAR to
be the registry for the .HK ccTLD for Hong Kong.  We are offering
registration of both English and Chinese domain names under the .HK ccTLD at
the second and the third levels.  We have also applied to ICANN for the
administration of the .香港 Chinese ccTLD (where香港 are the Chinese
characters representing Hong Kong) under the IDN ccTLD Fast-Track process.
 

Jonathan Shea
Chief Executive Officer
Hong Kong Internet Registration Corporation Ltd (HKIRC)
Ph: +852 2319 3821
Fax: +852 3520 0959