Recognizing WSIS Impacts

PP RESOLUTION 133 (Rev. Busan, 2014)

Role of administrations of Member States in the management of internationalized (multilingual) domain names

The Plenipotentiary Conference of the International Telecommunication Union ( Busan, 2014),

• considering
  • the provisions of Resolutions 101 and 102 (Rev. Busan, 2014) of this conference, on ITU’s role with regard to international public policy issues pertaining to the Internet and the management of Internet resources, including domain names and addresses,
• recalling
  • a) the role of the ITU Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU‑T), as defined in resolutions adopted at the World Telecommunication Standardization Assembly, including, inter alia, Resolution 47 (Rev. Dubai, 2012), on country code top-level domain names, and Resolution 48 (Rev. Dubai, 2012), on internationalized domain names, and ongoing activities in ITU-T Study Group 16 in this regard;
  • b) the commitment of the Tunis Agenda for the Information Society adopted by the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) to advance the process for the introduction of multilingualism in a number of areas including domain names, e-mail, Internet addresses and keyword look-up;
  • c) the need to promote regional root servers and the use of internationalized domain names in order to overcome linguistic barriers to Internet access;
  • d) past successful standardization activities undertaken by ITU-T with regard to the adoption of recommendations pertaining to non-Latin character sets for telex (five-character code) and data transfer (seven-character code), allowing the use of non-Latin character sets for national and regional telex and for data transfer at global, regional and international level,
• aware
  • a) of the continuing progress towards integration of telecommunications and the Internet;
  • b) that Internet users are generally more comfortable reading or browsing through texts in their own language and that, for the Internet to become more widely available to a large number of users, it is necessary to make the Internet (DNS system) available in non-Latin based scripts, taking into account the progress recently made in this regard;
  • c) that, recalling the results of WSIS and resolutions of the Plenipotentiary Conference (Antalya, 2006), there should be a continuing commitment to working earnestly towards multilingualization of the Internet, as part of the multilateral, transparent and democratic process, involving governments and all other stakeholders, in their respective roles in implementation of this resolution;
  • d) of the progress made by all stakeholders, in particular through relevant organizations and entities, in the introduction of internationalized domain names (IDNs);
  • e) of the significant progress made towards the provisions of IDNs and the benefits of using non-Latin character sets available on the Internet;
  • f) the progress made in providing multilingualism on the Internet,
• emphasizing
  • a) that the current domain name system has made progress in reflecting the diverse and growing language needs of all users, while recognizing that more remains to be done;
  • b) that internationalized Internet domain names, and more generally information and communication technologies (ICTs) and the Internet, must be widely accessible to all citizens without regard to gender, race, religion, country of residence or language;
  • c) that Internet domain names should not privilege any country or region of the world to the detriment of others, and should take into account the global diversity of languages;
  • d) the role of ITU to assist its membership in promoting the use of their language scripts for domain names;
  • e) that, recalling the results of WSIS and the needs of linguistic groups, there is an urgent need to:
    • • advance the process for the introduction of multilingualism in a number of areas, including domain names, e-mail addresses and keyword look-up;
    • • implement programmes that allow for the presence of multilingual domain names and content on the Internet and the use of various software models in order to fight against the linguistic digital divide and to ensure that everyone can participate in the emerging new society;
    • • strengthen cooperation between relevant bodies for the further development of technical standards and to foster their global deployment,
• recognizing
  • a) the existing role and sovereignty of ITU Member States with respect to allocation and management of their country code numbering resources as enshrined in Recommendation ITU-T E.164;
  • b) that there are a number of challenges with regard to intellectual property and the deployment of internationalized domain names, and adequate solutions should be explored;
  • c) the role played by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) with regard to dispute resolution for domain names;
  • d) the role played by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) with regard to promoting cultural diversity and identity, linguistic diversity and local content;
  • e) that ITU enjoys close cooperation with both WIPO and UNESCO;
  • f) that it is paramount to maintain global interoperability as domain names expand to include non-Latin character sets,
• resolves
  • to explore ways and means for greater collaboration and coordination between ITU and relevant organizations1 involved in the development of IP-based networks and the future internet, through cooperation agreements, as appropriate, in order to increase the role of ITU in Internet governance so as to ensure maximum benefits to the global community,
• instructs the Secretary-General and the Directors of the Bureaux
  • 1 to take an active part in all international discussions, initiatives and activities on the deployment and management of internationalized Internet domain names, in cooperation with relevant organizations, including WIPO and UNESCO;
  • 2 to take any necessary action to ensure the sovereignty of ITU Member States with regard to Recommendation ITU-T E.164 numbering plans whatever the application in which they are used;
  • 3 to encourage the ITU members, as appropriate, to develop and deploy the internationalized domain names in their respective language scripts using their specific character sets;
  • 4 to support Member States in meeting the commitments of the Geneva Plan of Action and the Tunis Agenda in respect of internationalized domain names;
  • 5 to make proposals, where appropriate, for achieving the aims of this resolution;
  • 6 to bring this resolution to the attention of WIPO and UNESCO, which is facilitator for implementation of WSIS Action Line C8, stressing the concerns and requests for assistance of Member States, in particular the developing countries2, with regard to internationalized (multilingual) domain names, and their insistence on help from the Union in this field, in order to ensure Internet use and advancement across language barriers, thereby increasing the international use of the Internet;
  • 7 to report annually to the ITU Council on the activities undertaken and achievements attained on this subject,
• instructs the Council
  • to consider the activities of the Secretary-General and Directors of the Bureaux with regard to the implementation of this resolution and to take necessary actions, as appropriate,
• invites Member States and Sector Members
  • 1 to take an active part in all international discussions and initiatives on the further development and deployment of internationalized Internet domain names, including the initiatives of relevant language groups, and to submit written contributions to ITU-T in order to help implement this resolution;
  • 2 to urge all relevant entities working to develop and implement internationalized domain names in order to expedite their activities in this domain.