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[nc-idn] FYI: Briefing Paper on Internet Keyword Issues (ICANN IDN Committee)
http://www.icann.org/committees/idn/idn-keyword-paper.htm
Internationalized Domain Names (IDN) Committee
Briefing Paper on Internet Keyword Issues
15 February, 2002
OVERVIEW
Recent commercial initiatives in the non-DNS Internet identifier market have
caused considerable concern around the potential for Internet user confusion
between domain names (including either ASCII or "internationalized" hostnames)
and certain Internet "keyword" offerings.
This briefing paper provides background information, defines the potential
problems, and reviews the policy considerations and issues from an ICANN
perspective. It is accompanied by a statement from the ICANN IDN Committee
advising strongly against the introduction of Internet keywords using the dot
(".") as a separator, on the grounds that (1) that format would generate
needless user confusion with DNS domain names, and (2) there is a vast range of
alternatives to the dotted notation format that now characterizes DNS hostnames.
DEFINITION
An Internet "keyword" can be defined as an alias (possibly localized) for a
fully-qualified domain name or URL. In many of these systems, one keyword
matches exactly one DNS name. Hence, there is no categorization function (in the
traditional sense) involved, nor is there a search process that could yield more
than one DNS domain name.
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
According to some reports, several commercial providers of non-DNS Internet
identifiers are considering the marketing of proprietary non-ASCII Internet
keyword services that would appear to users in a dotted notation format - i.e.,
a format in which different segments (or "labels") of the keyword are separated
by a period (or dot, "."). Such keywords could take the form of multiple
character strings connected by a dot, such as:
<??.??>
It is entirely conceivable that such a service would involve the marketing of
non-ASCII keywords in which the final segment is a generic word in a non-English
language, such as "company" or "museum" - in other words, a term corresponding
to an existing or potential DNS top-level domain.
Given the widespread lack of familiarity among users with the technical details
of the domain name system, keywords in dotted notation format are likely to be
confused for domain names by many users. Domain names (or, more accurately, "DNS
hostnames") are immediately recognizable to the public in large part due to
their unique taxonomy, characterized by the DNS's use of the period to separate
different hierarchically organized labels. For that reason, it is reasonable to
conclude that many Internet users are likely to confuse '<non-ASCII>.<non-
ASCII>' keyword offerings with domain names.
The danger behind such confusion lies in the possibility that a purchaser of a
<non-ASCII>.<non-ASCII> keyword will be surprised, in the future, to find that
an identical string has been made available directly in the DNS, and registered
by someone else. Such an outcome is entirely possible, because the advancing IDN
standards within the Internet Engineering Task Force ("IETF") will likely permit
the use of non-ASCII characters (encoded to ACE equivalents) in top-level domain
labels.
In sum, the use of a dotted notation format in proprietary keyword services
threatens to create significant user confusion (and consequent user unhappiness)
by blurring the distinction between Internet keywords and DNS domain names.
Given the likely evolution of the DNS to accommodate non-ASCII characters, there
is a potential that identical strings could be registered and used as domain
names and keywords.
Indeed, some might argue that the only plausible purpose behind the use of
periods as separators is to generate user confusion, in an attempt to stake a
"first claim" to any new and matching IDN namespace in the DNS.
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN KEYWORDS AND THE DNS
While the IDN Committee is strongly concerned about the likelihood of user
confusion from the use of a dotted notation format in Internet keywords, it does
not suggest that ICANN should somehow expand its role to include the
coordination of proprietary keyword services.
In general, ICANN is responsible for coordination of the DNS and IP address
allocation systems. ICANN is not responsible for policy matters that arise in
the Internet layers above the DNS, such directory services, search services, and
the content of Internet communications. Even if ICANN wanted to get involved in
such matters (and it does not), it has no practical authority to implement
policies there.
Thus, ICANN does not have any direct policy responsibility for proprietary
keyword systems that may cause the user to think that she is registering or
using a DNS domain name. A keyword system is a separate technology layer that
operates above and independently from the DNS.
STATEMENT ON INTERNET KEYWORD ISSUES
In response to the foregoing analysis, the IDN Committee has issued
recommendations in a Statement on IDN Keyword Issues.
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