MULTILINGUAL INTERNET - PROPOSAL TO DRAW UNESCO AND ICANN

UNCLAS PARIS FR 000318

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EINT UNESCO KPAO ETRD
SUBJECT: MULTILINGUAL INTERNET - PROPOSAL TO DRAW UNESCO AND ICANN
CLOSER TOGETHER

REFTEL: PARIS 08 0000089

1. Summary: On February 2, Latvian Ambassador to UNESCO and France
Janis Karklins met with CDA and PAO to seek U.S. support for a
proposal that would bring UNESCO's Communications and Information
(CI) sector and the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and
Numbers (ICANN) in closer partnership. Karklins' proposal would
enlist UNESCO's linguistic expertise in the formalization of a
standardized table of Internationalized Domain Names (IDN). This
latest proposal is a follow-on to a May 2008 meeting (reftel) held
at UNESCO. Action request follows. End summary.
ICANN / UNESCO PARTNERSHIP


2. Meeting with CDA and PAO, Ambassador Karklins outlined an
ambitious plan to create a standardized table of IDNs by the end of

2009. This task would require UNESCO's linguistic expertise, he
argued; while UNESCO and ICANN currently cooperate on a variety of
issues related to a multilingual internet, there is no formal
partnership between the two organizations. (Note: UNESCO is an
observer at ICANN's Governmental Advisory Committee, and Ambassador
Karklins is its chair. End note.) If the U.S. could support this, he
said, Latvia might try to introduce a draft resolution at the
upcoming Executive Board or General Conference.


3. CDA cautioned Karklins about raising such a technical issue at
such a large forum; as seen last year (reftel),many countries who
would be directly affected by this have very little understanding of
what IDNs are, and how ICANN is seeking to standardize them.
Karklins thought that perhaps a negotiated contract between UNESCO
and ICANN might be a better option, as such an agreement might not
need the approval of member states and could be interpreted as
falling under the CI sector's current mandate.
UNESCO AS LINGUISTIC ADVOCATE


4. Subsequent conversations with CI's Information Society Division
director Miriam Nisbet and her staff revealed a willingness on
UNESCO's part to be part of such an initiative. Gathering linguistic
experts from the various sectors, such as culture and science, did
not seem to pose a problem, but the work would require a full-time
project manager. A contract with ICANN could fund such a position.
Nisbet thought that UNESCO could act as a voice for the lesser
developed countries who didn't fully grasp the challenges involved,
nor the implications of joining the game too late; i.e., being
assigned a country top level domain name not of their choosing.

5. Action request: Mission seeks guidance on whether we could
support such a contract or arrangement. ICANN's MOU with the
Department of Commerce, which guides the transition management of
the domain name system from the U.S. government to the global
community, is up for renewal this year. Mission would appreciate
input from the National Telecommunications and Information
Administration (NTIA) as well.
ENGELKEN