[CPWG] [GTLD-WG] [registration-issues-wg] URGENT - WT5 proposal for 3-letter country codes

[Roberto Gaetano]

Hi all.
I have remained silent in this discussion because I have already expressed my opinion multiple times in the last 20+ years, so I thought it was not necessary.
However, since many of the participants to this list are not so old like myself (and my good ol’ friend Christopher 😉) I will state it again.
I do not see the need to reserve ISO-3166 three-chars codes, because in the Internet community everybody by now identifies the countries by their 2-letter code and almost nobody by the 3-letter code. About 3-letter codes, let’s face it, the IOC codes and the vehicle license plates international codes are far better known. Let me make an example.
When we see an international sport event broadcast, and see that the athlete is shown as “RSA” we know he/she is from South Africa. On the other hand, although we Internauts know “ZA”, “ZAF” makes little sense.
This is just one of the many examples. If I were South-African, I would attach much more value to reserving “RSA” (the IOC code) than “ZAF” (the ISO-3166 code). Moreover “RSA”, unless I am mistaken, is still not in the ISO-3166-1 list and therefore, according to the proposed solution, remains open for grab.
My personal opinion is that this whole story is what I have often called “the male cat syndrome”, i.e. the habit of the male cat to mark the territory even if there is no plan for using it - just to assert the authority. This is the common behaviour for Governments - why the ordinary users should adopt it, beats me.
Cheers,
Roberto



> On 20.08.2018, at 15:03, wilkinson christopher <cw at christopherwilkinson.eu> wrote:
> 
> Good afternoon:
> 
> We seem to be conducting two parallel discussions; so be it.
> Here is my recent posting to the PDP on ISO 3166:
> 
> CW
> ---------- Mensaje original ----------
> De: "lists at christopherwilkinson.eu Wilkinson" <lists at christopherwilkinson.eu>
> Para: gnso-newgtld-wg-wt5 at icann.org
> Fecha: 19 de agosto de 2018 a las 16:28
> Asunto: Re: [Gnso-newgtld-wg-wt5] ISO-3166 WT5 Agenda, Work Plan & Consensus Call on Country & Territory Names - Please review before our call.
> 
> Good afternoon:
> 
> The length and complexity of the current Threads are such that a reasonably prompt comprehensive reply would be impossible, so I shall reply severally in the next few days, to the main points.
> 
> Regarding ISO 3166:  This in an International Standard. Usually, responsible entities, both public and private respect International standards (even if they are not mandated in law).
> 
> The fact that in his wisdom, Jon Postel chose to use the 2 letter codes for ccTLDs at that time, does not detract from the validity of the rest of the 3166 Standard. The fact that a number of ISO 3 letter codes correspond to generic (EN/ASCII) words is immaterial. No one has ever said that ALL generic words (in how many languages and scripts?) are fair game for expropriation as gTLDs. 
> 
> In any event, it is absolutely essential that these country-related codes are used by and for and in the corresponding jurisdictions. The idea that there may be extraterritorial 'registry families' of ISO three letter codes, whether for geo- or non-geo purposes, will not fly.
> 
> In short, should some of us in WT5 (and it seems that there are some) wish to change the designation of ISO codes, let us go to Geneva and the 3166 maintenance agency and ask them, not to ICANN.
> 
> Regarding the Comores/.com argument, may I say that there are several decisions of the National Science Foundation (US NSF) from the 1980's with which I would have demurred, if asked. The Internet has got used to living with 'mistakes' from the past. But that is no argument for extending bad precedents to the whole of the DNS in the future. NO. Let us bear in mind that the policies and rules that shall be applied in the next 'rounds' would have to apply globally and should be immunised from the vagaries of the accumulated (EN/ASCII) decisions of the past.
> 
> Regards
> 
> Christopher Wilkinson
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