Posts Tagged ‘ICANN’

ICANN: String Similarity IDN Variant Review Results

In an announcement on 26 February 2013, ICANN published a list of string similarity contention sets wherein two or more applied-for gTLD strings are identical or so nearly resemble one another visually that they are likely to cause confusion. In ICANN’s New gTLD program, string similarity checks on Internationalized Domain Name (IDN) strings go beyond […]

ICANN Head Visiting China After ‘dot-China’ Request

The head of the global Internet addressing authority will visit China this week, according to people briefed on the matter, highlighting questions about China’s Web censorship after it applied to offer domain names that end with Chinese characters. Rod Beckstrom, CEO of the California-based Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), will visit China […]

Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) Regional Meeting

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) Regional Meeting started today at Grand Hyatt in Dubai and will continue for three days, until the 3rd of April. The Meeting is co-hosted by the UAE Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA).

The Meeting commenced with three keynote addresses delivered by Mohamed Al Ghanim, TRA Board Member and Director General, followed by Dr. Paul Twomey, ICANN President and CEO, and Mr. Talal Abu Ghazaleh, Chairman & CEO of Talal Abu Ghazaleh Organization (TAGOrg). The first session was concluded with a presentation by Mr. Mohammad Al-Zarooni, Chief Technology Officer at the TRA.

The first day included many presentations and discussions on ICANN Multi-Stakeholder Models, the IDN (Internationalized Domain Name) General Overview and Initial Protocol Revision Effects, and Writing Domain Names in Different Arabic Script Based Languages – Language vs. Script; where it was concluded with a day summary and closing remarks.

To this end, Mohamed Al Ghanim welcomed the participants to this “Important Regional Meeting” and said: “This outreach initiative by ICANN is vital for the development of a truly global internet, where all countries can actively participate and have a voice. The Arab countries welcome the opportunity to participate and provide input to ICANN as an organization and to the Internet as an industry.” Al Ghanim continued: “During the last GCC ccTLDs group meeting, a technical proposal for implementing Arabic domain names in the GCC Countries was presented and accepted and a technical taskforce was formed and assigned to implement the proposal within 6 months, consisting of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, the UAE, Qatar and Oman. The project was later extended to include all the 22 Arab countries, and hence was indorsed by the Arab League., where its name has become Arabic Domain Names Pilot Project or ADN Pilot Project.

The outcome was remarkable with numerous deliverables such as establishing the steering and technical committees, preparing the Arabic DNS root servers, preparing the Arabic ccTLD servers for the participating countries and connecting them with the Arabic root servers, registering and testing Arabic domain names, testing and developing tools supporting the use of Arabic domain names and DNS, testing and developing end-user applications such as browsers, email clients, and so forth, to ensure support of Arabic domain names, drafting technical guidelines, defining policies and regulations for registering Arabic domain names, and participating in local and regional activities related to Arabic domain names.” Yet, Al Ghanim noted that, “the international recognition of the Arabic TLDs was essential, hence this is the importance of the Regional Meeting of ICANN after the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the United Nations Economic and Social Commission of Western Asia (ESCWA) and ICANN to build a cooperative working relationship in identified areas of common interest, and specifically to work towards the implementation of IDNs in the Arabic language, and to engage in the further development of the generic top-level domain name space.

We do believe that the partnership program will foster discussions and raise awareness within the Arab Internet community regarding technical and policy aspects of the IDN System.” In this respect, Al Ghanim clarified that, “the TRA has recently established a central regulatory and administrative body within the UAE that will provide representation on this issue and any future topics that impact the Internet in this country, particularly those related to the .ae Domain Name. The .ae Domain Administration (.aeDA) has been recently developed after an exhaustive review process, where the TRA has become the legal registry for the Top Level Domain Name (.ae) of the UAE.” He continued saying that, “under this new .ae regulatory framework, users will benefit greatly through a single focused and neutral administrative body; through a facilitated accessibility of the .ae domain name to the Internet users in the UAE; and through enhancing the integrity of the namespace via promoting the strong cultural values of the country while following the ‘International Best Practice’ procedures regarding the technical management and delivery of the Registry.

Through .aeDA we have invested heavily in infrastructure and expertise that will hold the UAE in good stead as the Internet continues its rapid growth. The TRA is delighted to announce at this Meeting that it recently received the delegation of the .ae Domain Name from the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA). Although the process was long and time consuming, this re-delegation is symbolic of the commitment of the TRA for the further development and integration of the Internet within the UAE and the region.” Al Ghanim thanked all the participants, wishing them the best in “building bridges of cooperation for the joint prosperity of our societies and importantly to work together in solving the broader issues of the Internet for the benefit of all users.” WAM