This document provides an overview of the IDN TLD Program at ICANN and the process for developing Label Generation Rules (LGRs) for inclusion of scripts in the DNS root zone. It describes the organizations involved in internet governance and standards setting as well as ICANN's role. Key components of the LGR development process are outlined, including the Maximal Starting Repertoire, Generation Panels comprised of script experts, an Integration Panel, and the production of machine-readable LGR specifications and validation tools. Steps for Khmer community involvement in the Generation Panel for their script are proposed.

1. IDN TLD Program at ICANN
Sarmad Hussain | IDN Program Sr. Manager | 28 May 2015

2. | 2
The I* Organizations
 Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)
 Internet Society (ISOC)
 Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF)
 Internet Architecture Board (IAB)
 Regional Internet Registries (RIRs)
 Regional TLD Organizations (RTLDOs)
 Internet Governance Forum (IGF)

3. | 3
ICANN
 ICANN develops Internet Names and Numbers Policies in a
bottom-up, consensus-driven, multi-stakeholder model
 Anyone interested is invited to be part of this process
 Administers the Internet Names and Numbers aspects
 The “Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA)” is the
technical body of such operations
 Has three hub offices around the world (Los Angeles, Istanbul,
and Singapore), and several engagement centers
 Website at http://icann.org
 Online Learning Platform at http://learn.icann.org

4. | 4
ICANN Offices
 Main Location: Los Angeles, California
 Hub Offices
 Singapore
 Istanbul
 Other Offices and Engagement Centers:
 Washington DC
 Brussels
 Cairo
 …

5. 5

6. | 6
ASCII Domain Name Label
www.cafe.com
Second Level
Domain
Top Level
Domain (TLD)
Third Level
Domain
Top Level Domains (TLDs) Domain Stakeholders
 ICANN
 Registry
 Registrar
 Reseller
 Registrant
 End-User
Top Level Domains (TLDs)
 Country Code TLDs (ccTLDs)
 .sg, .cn, .kh, .la, .mm, .th, .ca, …
 Two letter [a..z] codes, reserved for countries
and territories by ISO 3166 standard
 Generic TLDs (gTLDs)
 .com, .org, .net, .edu, … - organizations
 New gTLDs – 1930 applications in 2012

7. | 7
ASCII Domain Name Label
www.cafe.com
Second Level
Domain
Top Level
Domain (TLD)
Third Level
Domain
Forming ASCII Labels
Use LDH
• Letters [a-z]
• Digits [0-9]
• Hyphen (LDH)
Label length = 63
Other constraints (e.g. on hyphen)
Forming ASCII Labels
Use only Letters
• Letters [a-z]
Label length = 63

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Internationalized Domain Name (IDN) Label
https://youtu.be/wnauGpYh96c

9. | 9
Internationalized Domain Name (IDN) Labels
ตัวอย่าง‫۔‬ไทย
IDN Second
Level
Domain
IDN Top
Level
Domain
Syntax of IDN Labels
Valid U-Label: Unicode
code points as
constrained by IDNA2008
Valid A-Label - “xn--”
followed by punycode of
U-Label of length 59
Syntax of IDN Labels
Valid U-Label, further
constrained by the “letter”
principle for TLDs
Valid A-Label
বাাংলা
Бел
‫الجزائر‬
հայ
中国
భారత్
한국
ලංකා

11. | 11
IDN TLD Program
Reports and documentation of all completed projects available at:
https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/reports-2013-04-03-en
PHASE1(2011)
Case Studies:
Arabic
Chinese
Cyrillic
Devanagari
Greek
Latin
PHASE2(2011-12)
Integrated Issues
Report
PHASE3(2012-13)
Projects:
P1 LGR XML
Specification
P2.1 LGR Process
for the Root Zone
P6 User
Experience Study
for TLD Variants
PHASE4(Since2013)
Projects:
P1 LGR Specs.
and Toolset
P2.2 LGR
Development
P7 LGR
Implementation
Community agreed to define a Label Generation Rules (LGR)
Identify Issues Define Problem
Determine
Solution
Implement
Solution

12. | 12
Label Generation Rules for the Root Zone
 For the Root Zone, single “table” containing data for all scripts
 As it is a shared resource, must be conservative
 Must be stable and secure
 For each script or writing system:
 Which code points are valid for use?
 Are any of these code points variants of each other?
 Are the any additional constraints on the labels?

13. | 13
LGR for the Root Zone
Unicode
… …

14. | 14
LGR for the Root Zone
Unicode
IDNA2008 – by IETF

15. | 15
LGR for the Root Zone
Unicode
IDNA2008
Maximal Starting Repertoire – by Integration Panel of ICANN

16. | 16
LGR for the Root Zone
Unicode
IDNA2008
Maximal Starting Repertoire (MSR)
X X X
X
X X
X
X X X X
X X
X X
LGR Proposal – by Generation Panel of Script Community

17. | 17
IDN TLD Program

18. | 18
Label Generation Rules (LGR)
 Valid code points
 Variants code points
‫پا‬‫ک‬‫ستان‬
‫پا‬‫ك‬‫ستان‬
 Label constraints
 Cannot mix ‫ک‬ and ‫ك‬ in a label
‫ک‬‫ل‬‫ک‬‫تہ‬
‫ك‬‫ل‬‫ك‬‫تہ‬
x‫ک‬‫ل‬‫ك‬‫تہ‬
x‫ك‬‫ل‬‫ک‬‫تہ‬

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MSR and LGR for Khmer
1. Which code points from Khmer script must be
included in the Root Zone
 Are exclusions from MSR (pink) correct?
 What must be included in LGR?
 “everyday, general purpose [use ...] in a stable
and widespread manner”
2. Are there any variant code points for Khmer
 Two code points when replaced produce labels
considered confusingly similar by an end-user
3. Are there any label-level constraints in Khmer
 Well-formedness of a syllable?
 Constraints on initial or final position in a label?
 Other?

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LGR Specification
 LGR machine-readable specifications at
https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/draft-davies-idntables
 Example: excerpt from MSR-2 XML file
…
<range first-cp="0780" last-cp="07B0" tag="sc:Thaa" ref="3"/>
<char cp="07B1" tag="sc:Thaa" ref="5"/>
<char cp="08A0" tag="sc:Arab" ref="12"/>
<range first-cp="08A2" last-cp="08AC" tag="sc:Arab" ref="12"/>
<range first-cp="08E4" last-cp="08EF" tag="sc:Arab" ref="12"/>
<range first-cp="08F4" last-cp="08FE" tag="sc:Arab" ref="12"/>
<range first-cp="0901" last-cp="0903" tag="sc:Deva" ref="0"/>
<char cp="0904" tag="sc:Deva" ref="6"/>
<range first-cp="0905" last-cp="0939" tag="sc:Deva" ref="0"/>
<range first-cp="093A" last-cp="093B" tag="sc:Deva" ref="11"/>
<char cp="093C" tag="sc:Deva" ref="0"/>
<range first-cp="093E" last-cp="094D" tag="sc:Deva" ref="0"/>
<char cp="094F" tag="sc:Deva" ref="11"/>
<range first-cp="0956" last-cp="0957" tag="sc:Deva" ref="11"/>
<char cp="0972" tag="sc:Deva" ref="9"/>
<range first-cp="0973" last-cp="0977" tag="sc:Deva" ref="11"/>
<range first-cp="0979" last-cp="097A" tag="sc:Deva" ref="10"/>
<range first-cp="097B" last-cp="097C" tag="sc:Deva" ref="8"/>
<range first-cp="097E" last-cp="097F" tag="sc:Deva" ref="8"/>
<range first-cp="0981" last-cp="0983" tag="sc:Beng" ref="0"/>
…

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LGR Toolset
 Toolset functional priority
 Create LGR
 Easy end-user interface
 Use LGR
 Validate label
 Determine variants
 Manage LGRs
 Difference
 Union
 …
 Open source
LGR Tool
Code Point Rules
Variant Rules
WLE Rules

22. | 22
Root Zone LGR Procedure
Generation
Panel
Generation
Panel
Integration
Panel
Unified
LGR for
the
Root
Zone
One Generation
Panel per script or
writing system
Propose
Reject / Accept Reject / Accept
Integrate
Generation Panels
– Generate proposals for script
specific LGRs, based on community
expertise and requirements
Integration Panel
– Integrates them into common Root
Zone LGR while minimizing the risk
to Root Zone as shared resource
Label Generation Rules (LGR)
– Which labels are permissible
– Which variant labels exist
– Which variant labels may be allocated
TO BE FORMED BY SCRIPT COMMUNITIES

23. | 23
Root Zone LGR Development Status

24. Get Involved:
Speak up for your language

25. | 25
How to get involved?
Volunteer for your script Generation Panel (GP)
To contribute expertise, contribute to the GP for your script. You
can get involved by simply emailing your CV and a brief statement
of interest to idntlds@icann.org
Volunteer
Review
Listen
Review work through public comments
Sign up for the IDN mailing list vip@icann.org (to sign up, visit
https://mm.icann.org/listinfo/vip) and participated in the review of
IDN work being done at ICANN through the public comments
Keep yourself updated
Attend regular IDN Program Update sessions at ICANN meetings
and sign up on the IDN mailing list vip@icann.org to get updates
on the IDN Program at ICANN

26. | 26
Useful Links for IDN Program @ ICANN
• To join a Generation Panel for your language, submit CV and statement of
interest at: idntlds@icann.org; Call for Generation Panels:
http://www.icann.org/en/news/announcements/announcement-11jul13-en.htm
• LGR Document Repository:
https://community.icann.org/display/croscomlgrprocedure/Document+Repository
• Community Wiki for LGR Project:
https://community.icann.org/display/croscomlgrprocedure/Root+Zone+LGR+Proje
ct
• IDN ccTLD Fast Track Page: https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/string-
evaluation-completion-2014-02-19-en
• IDN Implementation Guidelines:
https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/implementation-guidelines-2012-02-25-en

27. | 27
Reach us at: Sarmad Hussain
Email: sarmad.hussain@icann.org
Website: icann.org
Thank You and Questions
gplus.to/icann
weibo.com/ICANNorg
flickr.com/photos/icann
slideshare.net/icannpresentations
twitter.com/icann
facebook.com/icannorg
linkedin.com/company/icann
youtube.com/user/icannnews
Engage with ICANN

28. Next Steps for Khmer

29. | 29
Next Steps
Develop
Proposal to
Form Khmer GP
Schedule
Fortnightly
Meetings
Select Code
Point
Repertoire
Conduct
Variant
Analysis
Determine
any Label
Level Rules
Write-up
Khmer LGR
Proposal

30. | 30
1. General information
2. Proposed initial composition of panel
3. Work plan
4. Other information
Develop LGR Proposal for Khmer Panel

31. | 31
1.1 Script for which the panel is to be established
 List the ISO 15924 script code (from
http://www.unicode.org/iso15924/iso15924-codes.html) plus the
English and native names of script.
1.2 Principal languages using that script
 List Language code and name for each (from ISO 639-3)
1.3 Geographic territories or countries with significant user
communities for the script
1.4 Are there related scripts? If so, which ones?
 Scripts that could be covered by a different panel, but are
structurally or historically related. For example, Cyrillic
proposal should refer to commonality with Latin and Greek.
LGR Panel Proposal: General Information

32. | 32
LGR Panel Proposal: Panel Composition
Name Role Designation Organization
Relevant
Experience
Chair
Member
 Panel experience to cover
 Unicode
 Linguistics
 Policy
 IDN / IDNA
 Community use
 Next Steps
 Gather information
 CV / Resume
 Statement of Interest
 Select Chair
 Select Panel Secretary

33. | 33
LGR Panel Proposal: Work Plan
Activity Description Duration
Develop Principles
Principles to be used to determine valid code
points, variants and labels
?
Determine Code
Points
Select the code points from MSR which are
needed for Root Zone LGR
?
Determine (any)
Variants
From the codes points selected, determine if the
end-user may confuse two code points
?
Determine Label
Rules
Determine if there are any label level constrains
on the use of selected code points
?
Write Proposal and
Create XML
Write up the Root Zone LGR proposal, including
references to each code point included, why
variants needed and details of label rules
developed + XML file
?
Submit Get Public Comments, Finalize and Submit ?