[discuss] ICANN and IDNs with U-labels at the top leve

Thu Jan 2 21:44:38 UTC 2014

In answer to Avri, yes of course names (including gTLD names)
in non-ASCII scripts are important and not a matter of vanity.
And I concede that for anything that is a gTLD, it's hard to
discuss it entirely as a technical matter.

What I don't like is the extent to which this has become a
financial matter.

   Brian

On 03/01/2014 10:07, Andrew Sullivan wrote:
> On Thu, Jan 02, 2014 at 02:59:40PM -0500, Avri Doria wrote:
>> Does this analysis also extend, in your opinion, to the
>> Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs)?
> 
> I can't of course speak for Brian, but I will note that the amount of
> confusion and self-serving nonsense spouted about IDNs makes the Tower
> of Babel look like a minor conversational misunderstanding.
> 
> Moreover, if ICANN had been serious about coping with IDN TLDs they
> would have permitted the LGR panels to function _before_ those labels
> were delegated.  (In addition, there's some reason to suppose that the
> LGR Integration Panel that was actually seated is irredeemably flawed.
> Full disclosure: I wrote much of that procedure, but I did not apply
> to be on the Integration panel.)  But it didn't work that way.
> 
> So I think that even in the case of the "IDN TLDs", there is plenty of
> reason to be cynical about the extent to which domain name industry
> considertions overshadowed important usability issues for real people.
> At least, however, there is an argument to be made that people who can
> only type in Arabic letters need some TLDs they can type.  (Not that
> anyone actually types domain names in any more.  They use an app or
> search in Google.)
> 
> A
> 