[ccnso-idncctld] Comments from the Arabic team for domain names

[Ibaa Oueichek <oueichek@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Dear all, I have been a "silent member" of this WG, but I will try to have a 
better contribution during the next period, especially that I have been 
asked formally to present the view of several countries interested in the FT 
approach.
The Arabic team for domain names has been created by the LAS (league of Arab 
states) to discuss issues related to implemeting IDN (more specifically : 
Arabic domain names). Several countries who are members of the team are 
extremely interested by the fast track approache and are more than willing 
to participate. The current position of the team is to push for IDN support 
by ccTLDs and NOT by gTLDs for several reasons mainly related to mixing 
languages using the same script and the risk of visual confusion (but this 
is out of scope for this list).
A pilot project running IDNs for several cc-TLDs in the region is currently 
running with 10 member countries (unfortunately, this project is not 
accessible from outside member countries).
A few issues have been raised regarding the interim report during the last 
meeting :
1)  The report clearly identifies the Purpose of Fast Track as   "to meet
pressing demand". However, it defines its scope as
    "experimental in nature". Our worry is regarding the meaning of
"experimental". "Experimental" should not mean that:

       - The fast track delegations are temporary

       - The registered domain names during the fast track could become
invalid at a later stage!

       - It should not discourage the application developers from putting
their full support to IDN



2) Regarding delegation of IDN ccTLDs

     - Countries/registries should not be forced to sign
documents/agreements they believe would limit their full control over their
IDN ccTLDs

      - Signing documents/agreements may involve very heavy and slow
governmental process that contradicts the fast track concept

Sincerely
Dr. Ibaa Oueichek
Chairman of the Arabic team for domain names.