Based on practical operational experience, not all systems (e.g. browsers, spam filters, registration databases, user profiles, ISPs, etc.) work seamlessly when new TLDs are added. Users may experience failures in resolution or other issues with newer TLDs, which in turn impacts consumer trust on the DNS. The issue of the Universal Acceptance of TLDs (Top-Level Domains) is critically related to the introduction of new gTLDs, as well as the introduction of IDN ccTLDs. Originally presented during the TLD Universal Acceptance Session at ICANN 49 in Singapore.

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#ICANN49
TLD Universal Acceptance
24 March 2014

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#ICANN49
Agenda
Topic Presenter(s) Duration
Opening Remarks Cyrus Namazi/ICANN 5 min
Early Analysis Edward Lewis/ICANN 5 min
Panel Presentations
• Andrei Kolesnikov/Coordination
Center for .RU/.РФ
• Ram Mohan/Afilias
• Gerv Markham/Mozilla
• Jordyn Buchanan/Google
• Michael Thatcher/Microsoft
• Rinalia Abdul Rahim/ALAC IDN WG
35 min
Moderated Session Francisco Arias/ICANN (moderating) 20 min
Q&A Open Microphone 20 min
Closing Remarks Cyrus Namazi/ICANN 5 min

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#ICANN49
What is TLD Universal Acceptance?
• Be able to use the “new” names the same
as the “old” names
o By clearing technical hurdles to the use of
names in TLDs
o Non-technical hurdles are out of scope

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Early Analysis

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JIG Recommendations
A. Recommend IDN TLD operators (including IDN ccTLD, IDN
gTLD and IDN gTLD Accredited Registrars) to support
Universal Acceptance of IDN TLDs in their own systems
B. Allocate specific resources for the advocacy of Universal
Acceptance beyond the development of informational
materials and toolkits
C. Development of informative reference materials for new IDN
TLDs (including gTLD and ccTLD) to handle issues of
Universal Acceptance
D. Direct efforts, lead by staff, with the participation from the
community, for further studies to investigate the scope of the
issue and what other services or actions could be taken by
ICANN to support the Universal Acceptance of IDN TLDs
beyond outreach and awareness campaigns

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The Challenge
• URLs and email addresses
o A common way a domain name is “exposed” to
places that “judge” a TLD
• Issues identified to date
o Methods used to “judge” URLs and email addresses
o “Text-to-link” converters

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Performance Issues
• Client applications are time sensitive
o Making any decision takes time
o “Looking” things up is fresher but slower
• Different goals exist, no clear “one best way”
o Fast, accurate, heuristic (hint) present different
needs

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Enacting Change
• How do we go about changing tools and
practices?
o One lament: There is no industry standard or
current best practice for some of the tools involved
• What else needs to be done?
• And specifically, how does ICANN play a role?

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Links of Interest
• ICANN Project Page
o http://www.icann.org/en/resources/tld-acceptance
• ICANN Contact Email
o mailto:tld-acceptance@icann.org
• ICANN Community Wiki (coming soon)
o https://community.icann.org/display/TUA/TLD+U
niversal+Acceptance+Home

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Panel Presentations

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Mohan’s Three Rules of
Universal Acceptance
1. An old TLD will be accepted more often than a new
TLD.
2. An ASCII-only TLD will be accepted more than an
IDN TLD.
3. A two or three letter TLD will be accepted more
often than a longer ccTLD or gTLD.

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Panel Session

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Q&A