Procedure to develop and maintain the Label Generation Rules for the DNS root zone in respect of IDNA labels

This document provides a procedure for establishing some of the label generation rules for the root zone. The label generation rules govern the way a zone is operated. The procedure below provides a mechanism for creating and maintaining the rules with respect to IDN labels for the root. This mechanism can be used to determine which Unicode code points are permitted for use in U-labels in the root zone, what variants (if any) are possible to allocate in the root zone, and what variants (if any) are automatically blocked. The mechanism is not the last stage in making determinations about IDN labels for the root. Rather, its output is to be consumed by other ICANN procedures that actually determine whether a particular label is allocated to someone, and whether it is delegated in the root. The procedure uses two classes of panel to make the determinations. The design is extremely conservative: the panels are arranged so that the natural and automatic answer is to refuse to include a code point or a variant rule. This is in keeping with principles the Internet Architecture Board has proposed for operation of zones, as well as ICANN’s general responsibilities for the security and stability of the root. It is also designed to restrict additions to the root zone to those writing systems where there is a clear interest, possibly to the disadvantage of some language communities (particularly those that are endangered). At the same time, the procedure is intended to permit movement on some kinds of labels without waiting for every language community in the world to be ready.