MARRAKECH, MOROCCO - The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers' (ICANN) 26th International Public Meeting, which was held in Marrakech, Morocco, June 24-30, 2006, concluded with a progress on Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs) and the WHOIS policy process, as well as development of the relationship between the Board and ICANN Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC), a press release by ICANN stated.
During the meeting, a number of workshops and meetings were conducted in relation to IDNs to further the work already conducted in this important area. IDNs will enable people across the world to interact with the Internet's domain name system in their own languages.
The meeting culminated with a Board resolution to extend the timeline for the Top Level Domain (TLD) registries working group to develop a best current practices document for submission during next ICANN meeting in Sao Paulo, Brazil this December.
The Marrakech meeting also saw progress in relation to WHOIS, with the ICANN Board acknowledging that more time is needed by the Generic Names Support Organization (GNSO) and its WHOIS taskforce to make recommendations to the Board on this complex and controversial issue. The Board extended the timeline for reporting issue, urging the two groups to have recommendations ready for Board consideration early in 2007.
In an important step to further improve enhanced cooperation between the GAC and the ICANN Board, both bodies endorsed a regular communications process. This should improve the GAC's participation in ICANN's policy development mechanisms by earlier engagement with relevant ICANN constituencies. It will also secure timely and precise routine communications with the ICANN Board.
ICANN concluded that it has signed and exchanged letters with United Kingdom Country Code Top-Level Domain (ccTLD) manager, Nominet. This demonstrates a willingness to develop cooperation between ICANN and Nominet, the registry responsible for the United Kingdom ccTLD .uk.