an interesting ICANN development on similar domain names

John C Klensin klensin at jck.com
Sat Aug 9 21:16:22 CEST 2008



--On Saturday, 09 August, 2008 08:02 -0400 Vint Cerf
<vint at google.com> wrote:

> tring Similarity Algorithm Update -- ICANN staff recently
> completed a workshop with SWORD, the partner who is assisting
> ICANN with the creation of an algorithm that will help
> automate the process for assessing similarity among proposed
> and existing TLD strings. SWORD's verbal search algorithms are
> used by various patent and trademark offices throughout the
> world. SWORD has completed a beta algorithm and reviewed
> several test cases with ICANN staff. This is being done in
> order to refine the parameters and discuss how the algorithm
> could be successfully integrated as a tool to help implement
> the GNSO's recommendation that new gTLD strings should not
> result in user confusion with existing TLDs.

Vint,

While I look forward with much curiosity to the outcome of this
work, I believe that it is unlikely to have any bearing on the
work of this WG for several reasons, among them:

(1) At present, there are only a few hundred TLDs, all of which
are relatively short ASCII strings.  Comparing them for
similarity to a large collection of applications is relatively
simple.  By contrast, comparisons to all possible existing
strings (ASCII and IDNs in both U-label and A-label forms) that
might appear in zones further down the tree would be a much
greater challenge.

(2) When names can be presented to the user in a wide variety of
fonts and artistic styles, confusability may be very much in the
eye of the beholder -- an eye conditioned by what the beholder
is expecting to see when side-by-side comparisons are not
available.  If ICANN staff and SWORD can solve that problem...
well, I will be very interested.

Most important, we have already agreed (I think) that confusing
similarity of strings is a matter for zone administrators and
not an objective of this WG.

     john



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