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<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 29/03/2024 19:23, Roberto Gaetano
via At-Large wrote:</div>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix"><br>
</div>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">Dear Roberto,</div>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix"><br>
</div>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">I can only hope that the at-large
community can help make UA available, since our experience has
been abysmal. <br>
</div>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix"><br>
</div>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">When we announced the date to roll out
a new IDN and followed *all* the guidelines spelled out in the IDN
implementation guidelines:</div>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/implementation-guidelines-2012-02-25-en#">https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/implementation-guidelines-2012-02-25-en#</a></div>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">we were hit with the issue with the
undocumented Public Suffix List (PSL).</div>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix"><br>
Turns out that most browsers (Chrome, Firefox, Opera, etc.) use
the PSL to determine whether a name typed in the search bar is a
domain or a search term:<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://publicsuffix.org/learn/">https://publicsuffix.org/learn/</a><br>
So if one implements a new IDN, most browsers will not recognize
it and will assume it is a search term. <br>
<br>
We had to delay our IDN rollout by 2 months until the PSL was
updated and integrated into all browsers.<br>
<br>
This is an extremely important issue that would appear to have
been overlooked by the IDN Implementation Guidelines. We
contacted all the relevant people involved in ICANN (Nov 2022) and
here are some of the responses:</div>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix"><br>
</div>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">"This is certainly a relevant issue but
related to Universal Acceptance (UA) of domain names and email
addresses (IDN Guidelines are more focused on top-level domain
registries and registrars and do not focus on browser producers).
We normally discuss UA challenges within Universal Acceptance
Steering Group (UASG)."</div>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix"><br>
</div>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">and <br>
</div>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix"><br>
</div>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">"Although I haven't consulted the
UA-Tech WG, I think this is potentially a topic that we should
take up. The issue of static PSLs internally used by browsers for
various purposes (deciding whether the term is a search item or a
TLD is one use case, but there are probably other uses such as
linkification) had been pointed out earlier as well as a source of
user confusion. It would be good if we can prevail upon browser
communities to create a process for the regular updation of
newly-delegated TLDs."</div>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix"><br>
</div>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">and <br>
</div>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix"><br>
</div>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">"The IDN Guidelines generally have
limited focus on security/stability related matters related to
IDNs offered by the top-level domain registries and registrars.
This issue is related more to the usability of IDNs, which is
generally taken up through the UA related work"<br>
</div>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix"><br>
</div>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">And then there is the Github thread
(started in July 2023) which shows how Whatsapp and Meta/Facebook
and Apple and Microsoft and Google don't properly handle new IDNs,
and some random guy has been pursuing to get it fixed with no
assistance from ICANN:</div>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://github.com/publicsuffix/list/issues/1807">https://github.com/publicsuffix/list/issues/1807</a></div>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix"><br>
</div>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">I suggest reading that very long thread
to get an idea of how frustrating this can all be and how little
ICANN has helped. <br>
</div>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix"><br>
</div>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">See as well:
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.einnews.com/pr_news/657779910/tube-unveils-a-major-universal-acceptance-issue-and-detonates-exceptional-cooperation-between-meta-and-google">https://www.einnews.com/pr_news/657779910/tube-unveils-a-major-universal-acceptance-issue-and-detonates-exceptional-cooperation-between-meta-and-google</a>
</div>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix"><br>
Regards,<br>
Hank<br>
<br>
> Hi,<br>
</div>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix"><br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:6CB9D842-5BBC-4EE6-89EA-D556F1837F3B@hotmail.com">
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8">
Hi all
<div><br>
</div>
<div>I have attended the UA Days in Belgrade. I am taking the
opportunity of a delay in my flight back to drop some notes.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>The meeting was very interesting. We had a full house in the
morning, with numbers decreasing in the afternoon. I don’t know
about the online participation. Please find the programme here: <a
href="https://uaday.rs/program/?lang=en"
moz-do-not-send="true" class="moz-txt-link-freetext">https://uaday.rs/program/?lang=en</a></div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>The first panel was about multilingualism, Sally Costerton
was among the speakers. It seems that the concept that the
ultimate goal is multilingualism in the Internet is taking
speed. To be noted that Anil Kumar Jain, UASG Chair, mentioned
the four “pillars” among which there is no mention of the role
of the user community. Interesting contribution by Leonid
Todorov, arguing that we will have a stronger push to UA
readiness from places and people that are more disadvantaged
rather than from places and people that are better aware - in an
intellectual way - about the need for equality of opportunities
in internet access.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>The second panel featured some registries that have been
active in achieving results in term of UA readiness. I was the
last speaker, and brought the point of view of the users, who
are the most affected by lack of UA, making also a couple of
examples. The good news is that my contribution was well
received, the bad news is that I made the point that the user
community should play a role - I argued that it should be the
“fifth pillar” in the UA strategy - as users can put pressure on
the providers that are not UA ready, proposing that we have a
paradigm shift from “providers will graciously become UA
compliant as a bonus for the users” to “users worldwide have the
right to demand that all users have the same Internet experience
regardless their language or script they use”. The bad news is
in the fact that I have proposed that the user community - and
At-Large at the forefront - use their footprint in the wider
community to build awareness of the user rights and produce
pressure - also in collaboration with governments - to providers
to be UA compliant. That means a call for action for At-Large.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>In summary, we need to move from being spectators, waiting
for things to happen, for the technical community to provide
solutions, for providers to deploy UA-compliant services, to an
active part of the community to demand and obtain the same level
of service for all Internet users, regardless language, script,
physical location, or other factors.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Cheers,</div>
<div>Roberto</div>
</blockquote>
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