Public Comment
Proposal for Sinhala Script Root Zone Label Generation Rules
Open Date
2 October 2018 23:59 UTC
Close Date
14 November 2018 23:59 UTC
Staff Report Due
28 November 2018 23:59 UTC
Brief Overview
Purpose: The Sinhala script community has formed the Sinhala script Generation Panel (GP), which in turn has developed a Proposal for the Sinhala Script Root Zone Label Generation Rules (Proposal [XML, 17 KB] and Supporting Documentation [PDF, 1.8 MB]). As per the LGR Procedure [PDF, 772 KB], this proposal is being posted for public comment to allow those who have not participated in the Sinhala script GP to make their views known.
The Sinhala Script Root Zone Label Generation Rules (LGR) follow the posting of eight related Neo-Brahmi Scripts' LGR proposals, which have been published in three sets. The first set includes Devanagari, Gujarati and Gurmukhi scripts' LGRs, the second set includes Kannada, Telugu, and Oriya scripts' LGRs and the third set includes Malayalam and Tamil scripts' LGRs.
Overlapping the comment periods of these LGRs of related scripts, to the extent possible, will allow the community to consider these proposals in the context of each other. Based on the feedback, the Sinhala script GP will finalize the proposal for submission for integration into the Label Generation Rules for the Root Zone (RZ-LGR).
Current Status: Currently there are multiple script communities which have formed generation panels and are actively working towards developing the Label Generation Rules for the Root Zone, including Chinese, Greek, Japanese, Korean, Latin, Myanmar and Neo-Brahmi. In addition, Arabic, Armenian, Cyrillic, Ethiopic, Georgian, Khmer, Lao and Thai script GPs have already completed and submitted their LGR proposals. Except for Armenian and Cyrillic, which have been deferred, the remaining six scripts have been integrated into the second version of the RZ-LGR.
Next Steps: Following the public comments and submission with any changes to reflect the public comments, the Integration Panel (IP) will evaluate the final proposal by the Sinhala script GP. If evaluation by the IP is successful, the Proposal for the Sinhala Script Root Zone Label Generation Rules will be integrated into a subsequent version of the RZ-LGR. Otherwise, the proposal will be sent to the Sinhala script GP with comments for further consideration and revision.
Section I: Description and Explanation
Following the Call for Generation Panels to Develop Root Zone Label Generation Rules, the Sinhala script GP was seated by ICANN on 3 January 2018. The Sinhala script GP has developed the Proposal for the Sinhala Script Root Zone Label Generation Rules (Proposal [XML, 17 KB] and Supporting Documentation [PDF, 1.8 MB]), following the format prescribed in the LGR specification.
The starting point for creating a script LGR for the Root Zone is the latest version of the Maximal Starting Repertoire (MSR-3). The work has been carried out following the specification of the Generation Panel's tasks, as described in the LGR Procedure [PDF, 772 KB], in particular, Section B.3 "Variant Rule Generation Procedure". These tasks are summarized in the guide on Setting up and Running a Generation Panel [PDF, 441 KB].
As per the LGR Procedure [PDF, 772 KB], each generation panel's proposal is posted for public comment. This permits those who have not participated in the generation panel to make their views known. A well-functioning public comment is a critical component of this procedure because there is no formal appeal mechanism for the RZ-LGR being developed.
The LGR Procedure [PDF, 772 KB] consists of two passes. The first pass creates a set of LGRs, each specific for a given script or writing system; this task is carried out by Generation Panels composed of people with deep experience or interest in the script, writing system, or language used by some community of Internet users. These panels submit their LGR proposals to ICANN for review by an Integration Panel. The Integration Panel consists of independent experts in DNS, Unicode and scripts, and has responsibility for the second pass. This second pass involves integrating the proposals into a unified set of LGRs for the root zone, taking into account the need for a secure, stable and reliable DNS root zone.
Section II: Background
Label Generation Rules for the Root Zone (RZ-LGR) are being developed to define a conservative mechanism to determine valid IDN TLDs and their variant labels for stable and secure operation of the Internet's Root Zone.
Successful development of Label Generation Rules depends on having community-based Generation Panels for each script that will be used in the Root Zone. Generation Panel members are representatives of the each of the communities that use a particular script or writing system – their role is to identify the valid characters, variants and Whole Label Evaluation (WLE) rules for the given script or writing system. Each Generation Panel starts by considering the code points for the relevant script that are present in the Maximal Starting Repertoire and, based on these, develop a Label Generation Rules proposal to be used to generate TLDs for that script. In doing so, they may need to coordinate efforts with other GPs whenever their respective scripts are closely related. These proposals are then reviewed by the community through public comment and by an expert Integration Panel for approval and integration into the LGR for the Root Zone. The details are defined in the LGR Procedure [PDF, 772 KB].
Section III: Relevant Resources
Proposal for the Sinhala Script Root Zone Label Generation Rules (Proposal [XML, 17 KB] and Supporting Documentation [PDF, 1.8 MB]).
Section IV: Additional Information
Related materials can be found at the following links:
- Root Zone Label Generation Rules: https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/root-zone-lgr-2015-06-21-en
- Maximal Starting Repertoire: https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/msr-2015-06-21-en
- Procedure to Develop and Maintain the Label Generation Rules for the Root Zone in Respect of IDNA Labels: https://www.icann.org/en/system/files/files/draft-lgr-procedure-20mar13-en.pdf [PDF, 1.39 MB]
- Machine readable specification for the Label Generation Rules: https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc7940.txt
- Guidance on Designing LGRs Supporting Variant Labels: https://tools.ietf.org/rfc/rfc8228.txt
- LGR Toolset: https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/lgr-toolset-2015-06-21-en
- Repository of Guidelines and other relevant documents: https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/root-zone-lgr-documentation-2017-12-15-en
- LGR proposals already received: https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/lgr-proposals-2015-12-01-en
Comments Closed
Report of Public Comments