ICANN Board approves new policy for internationalised country-code domains

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) Board has approved a new policy governing the selection, delegation, transfer, revocation and retirement of internationalised country-code top-level domains (IDN ccTLDs). The decision, adopted on 22 October 2026, advances the development of permanent rules for country-code domains in different languages and scripts.

Developed by the Country Code Names Supporting Organization (ccNSO), the policy will replace the existing IDN ccTLD Fast Track Process. It establishes procedures for selecting IDN ccTLD strings and their variants, while requiring that each domain and its delegatable variants be assigned to the same entity.

The Board adopted the ccNSO recommendations with one exception: Section 7.8 and related provisions concerning a Risk Treatment Appraisal Procedure. The proposed mechanism would have allowed applicants to submit mitigation measures for review when their proposed strings were considered confusingly similar to existing top-level domains, reserved names or two-character ASCII strings solely when displayed in uppercase.

The Board cited concerns about DNS security and stability. It noted that some proposed mitigation measures could require separate top-level domain operators to coordinate registration practices, potentially involving bundled registrations and additional technical or administrative obligations. The Board concluded that these arrangements could introduce unacceptable complexity and risks.

Applicants whose proposed strings fail similarity evaluations will still be able to seek alternative strings under the approved framework. ICANN also considers the rejected provisions separable from the rest of the policy, allowing implementation of the approved recommendations to proceed.

The decision returns the unresolved issue to the ccNSO. Under ICANN’s Bylaws, the Board must formally explain its rejection of a policy recommendation. The Board and the ccNSO Council will then discuss whether they can reach a mutually acceptable solution. The Council may reaffirm or modify its recommendations, with any revised proposal requiring further Board consideration.

The policy follows work initiated in 2020 after ICANN’s 2019 recommendations on managing IDN variants. The ccNSO submitted the policy package to the Board in June 2024, following community consultation and approval by its membership. The framework also extends eligibility to internationalised domain names in Latin script, which are not supported by the existing Fast Track Process.

Implementation will require further work, including an implementation plan with cost and resource estimates. Certain provisions will also require amendments to ICANN’s Bylaws, subject to the applicable approval procedures and the role of the Empowered Community.

The Board’s decision establishes most of the framework for permanent IDN country-code domain rules, while the treatment of uppercase-only confusing similarity remains unresolved.

The full decision is available in the ICANN Board resolutions of 22 October 2026.