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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-CA link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><a name="_MailEndCompose"><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>CIRA, the .ca domain registrar, is proposing to allow a restricted subset of IDNs (Internationalized Domain Names) in order to support accented French characters in domain names.<o:p></o:p></span></a></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>If you speak or write in French, this will likely affect you at some point. If you use any .ca domain names, this may still affect you, although probably in less direct ways.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>Speaking only on my own behalf (specifically: MUUG does not currently have an official position on the matter), I encourage anyone who cares about our national ccTLD to review the information CIRA has made available, form an opinion, and voice your opinion promptly.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>IMHO, this is even more important than voting – if we choose poorly in an election, we have the opportunity to collectively change our minds in five years or less (usually four), whereas the CIRA IDN policy is likely to affect Canadians and Canada itself for decades to come. There’s no automatic reconsultation in four years, and there’s no built-in review process for decisions taken by NGOs like CIRA. In fact, once a decision like this is made, there may be no recourse at all if we collectively decide we don’t like the result. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>It’s obvious to me that CIRA is expecting to make a tidy sum of money by doing this (otherwise I believe they would be taking a different direction altogether), which I believe is OK as long as the internet-using-public’s interests are still served. I already have an opinion on the matter, and I’ll be making a submission.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>CIRA is effectively an NGO [I can’t tell what their legal status is right now], and they’re voluntarily doing the right thing by consulting the public – they’re not obligated to do so – but that consultation process is only effective if CIRA members express their opinions.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>Please express your opinion.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-US'>-Adam Thompson<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-US'> </span><a href="mailto:athompso@athompso.net"><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";mso-fareast-language:EN-US'>athompso@athompso.net</span></a><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-US'><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-US'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div style='border:none;border-left:solid blue 1.5pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 4.0pt'><div><div style='border:none;border-top:solid #B5C4DF 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in'><p class=MsoNormal><b><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>From:</span></b><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'> CIRA / ACEI [mailto:communications.ca@cira.ca] <br><b>Sent:</b> Thursday, September 22, 2011 10:29<br><b>To:</b> athompso@athompso.net<br><b>Subject:</b> CIRA consultation on accented domain names<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><img border=0 width=1 height=1 id="_x0000_i1025" src="http://sm01.ott.cira.ca:80/track?mailingid=4906&messageid=3713&databaseid=2601&type=open&serial=1220890513&emailid=athompso@athompso.net&userid=21232&extra=&&&"><o:p></o:p></p><div align=center><table class=MsoNormalTable border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 width=700 style='width:525.0pt'><tr><td width=224 style='width:168.0pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in'><p class=MsoNormal><img border=0 id="_x0000_i1026" src="http://www.cira.ca/assets/Images/mass-mail/CA-logo.jpg" alt="Consultation on accented doman names"><o:p></o:p></p></td><td width=476 style='width:357.0pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in'><p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><b><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:#949696'>Have your say: Join CIRA’s consultation <br>on accented domain names</span></b><o:p></o:p></p></td></tr><tr><td colspan=2 style='padding:0in 0in 0in 0in'><div class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><hr size=2 width="100%" noshade style='color:#929394' align=center></div></td></tr><tr><td colspan=2 style='padding:0in 0in 0in 15.0pt'><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.5pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></p></td></tr><tr><td colspan=2 style='padding:0in 0in 0in 15.0pt'><table class=MsoNormalTable border=0 cellpadding=0 width=600 style='width:6.25in;display:inine'><tr><td valign=top style='padding:.75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt'><table class=MsoNormalTable border=0 cellspacing=20 cellpadding=0 width=440 style='width:330.0pt'><tr><td style='padding:0in 0in 0in 0in'><p style='line-height:15.0pt'><strong><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:#707273'>Dear Adam Thompson</span></strong><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:#707273'>, <o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='line-height:15.0pt'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:#707273'>As part of our effort to continually enhance the .CA domain, the Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA) is considering the implementation of French character Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs) at the second level (to the left of the dot).<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='line-height:15.0pt'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:#707273'>An Internationalized Domain Name is simply a domain name that contains characters other than a-z, 0-9 or hyphens. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='line-height:15.0pt'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:#707273'>CIRA is planning the addition of the following accented characters to .CA domain names:<o:p></o:p></span></p><ul type=disc><li class=MsoNormal style='color:#707273;mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:15.0pt;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>é, ë, ê, è <o:p></o:p></span></li><li class=MsoNormal style='color:#707273;mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:15.0pt;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>à, â <o:p></o:p></span></li><li class=MsoNormal style='color:#707273;mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:15.0pt;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>ô <o:p></o:p></span></li><li class=MsoNormal style='color:#707273;mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:15.0pt;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>ù, û, ü <o:p></o:p></span></li><li class=MsoNormal style='color:#707273;mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:15.0pt;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>ç <o:p></o:p></span></li><li class=MsoNormal style='color:#707273;mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:15.0pt;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>î, ï <o:p></o:p></span></li></ul><p style='line-height:15.0pt'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:#707273'>This means you could soon see domain names like préside.ca, grâce.ca, etc. Before we can implement IDNs, CIRA is preparing a framework that will help us create a policy for launching accented domain names. As a Registrant, we are seeking your input on our proposed framework. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='line-height:15.0pt'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:#707273'>On September 20, 2011, CIRA opened a public consultation concerning our planned launch of IDNs. The feedback received from .CA holders like you, as well as our Members, Registrars and other stakeholders, will help us shape the final IDN launch policy. Learn more about the proposed policy and share your views at <a href="http://www.idnconsultation.ca/community/en"><span style='color:#C9252B;text-decoration:none'>www.idnconsultation.ca.</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='line-height:15.0pt'><strong><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:#707273'>About CIRA</span></strong><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:#707273'><br>The Canadian Internet Registration Authority is the Member-driven organization that manages Canada’s .CA domain name registry, develops and implements policies that support Canada’s Internet community, and represents the .CA registry internationally.<o:p></o:p></span></p></td></tr></table></td><td valign=top style='background:white;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in'><table class=MsoNormalTable border=0 cellspacing=10 cellpadding=0 width=120 style='width:1.25in'><tr><td style='background:#E6E8E7;padding:7.5pt 7.5pt 7.5pt 7.5pt'><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt'><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:black'><a href="http://www.idnconsultation.ca/community/en/learn-about-it"><strong><span style='font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:black;text-decoration:none'>LEARN MORE ABOUT IDNs </span></strong></a></span><span style='color:#E6E8E7'><br></span><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:black'>CIRA has developed a great interactive tool to map out all the basics about IDNs. </span><span style='color:#E6E8E7'><br></span><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:black'><a href="http://www.idnconsultation.ca/community/en/learn-about-it"><strong><span style='font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:#C9252B;text-decoration:none'>View our great new IDN road map. </span></strong></a></span><span style='color:#E6E8E7'><br><br></span><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:black'><a href="http://www.idnconsultation.ca/community/en/have-your-say"><strong><span style='font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:black;text-decoration:none'>HAVE YOUR SAY! </span></strong></a></span><span style='color:#E6E8E7'><br></span><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:black'>Tell us what you think about our proposed IDN launch process. You can <a href="http://www.idnconsultation.ca/community/en/have-your-say/make-a-submission"><strong><span style='font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:#C9252B;text-decoration:none'>make a submission</span></strong><span style='color:#C9252B;text-decoration:none'> </span></a>or <a href="http://www.idnconsultation.ca/community/en/have-your-say/discussions"><strong><span style='font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:#C9252B;text-decoration:none'>join the discussion</span></strong></a>. </span><span style='color:#E6E8E7'><o:p></o:p></span></p><table class=MsoNormalTable border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0><tr style='height:33.75pt'><td rowspan=2 style='padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;height:33.75pt'><p class=MsoNormal><img border=0 id="_x0000_i1028" src="http://www.cira.ca/assets/Images/mass-mail/member/bubble-left.jpg"><o:p></o:p></p></td><td colspan=5 style='background:#8E908F;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;height:33.75pt'><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:9.0pt;color:#EEEEEE'>Connect with CIRA<o:p></o:p></span></b></p></td><td rowspan=2 style='padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;height:33.75pt'><p class=MsoNormal><img border=0 id="_x0000_i1029" src="http://www.cira.ca/assets/Images/mass-mail/member/bubble-right.jpg"><o:p></o:p></p></td></tr><tr><td width=19 valign=top style='width:14.25pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in'><p class=MsoNormal><a href="http://twitter.com/ciranews" title=Twitter><span style='text-decoration:none'><img border=0 height=39 id="_x0000_i1030" src="http://www.cira.ca/assets/Images/mass-mail/member/twitter.jpg"></span></a><o:p></o:p></p></td><td width=26 valign=top style='width:19.5pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in'><p class=MsoNormal><a href="http://www.facebook.com/cira.ca?ref=ts" title=FaceBook><span style='text-decoration:none'><img border=0 height=39 id="_x0000_i1031" src="http://www.cira.ca/assets/Images/mass-mail/member/facebook.jpg"></span></a><o:p></o:p></p></td><td width=27 valign=top style='width:20.25pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in'><p class=MsoNormal><a href="http://www.linkedin.com/groups?mostPopular=&gid=2456714" title=Linkedin><span style='text-decoration:none'><img border=0 height=39 id="_x0000_i1032" src="http://www.cira.ca/assets/Images/mass-mail/member/linkedin.jpg"></span></a><o:p></o:p></p></td><td width=26 valign=top style='width:19.5pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in'><p class=MsoNormal><a href="http://www.youtube.com/ciranews" title=YouTube><span style='text-decoration:none'><img border=0 height=39 id="_x0000_i1033" src="http://www.cira.ca/assets/Images/mass-mail/member/youtube.jpg"></span></a><o:p></o:p></p></td><td width=26 valign=top style='width:19.5pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in'><p class=MsoNormal><a href="http://www.slideshare.net/ciranews" title=SlideShare><span style='text-decoration:none'><img border=0 height=39 id="_x0000_i1034" src="http://www.cira.ca/assets/Images/mass-mail/member/slideshare.jpg"></span></a><o:p></o:p></p></td></tr><tr height=0><td width=23 style='border:none'></td><td width=27 style='border:none'></td><td width=28 style='border:none'></td><td width=27 style='border:none'></td><td width=28 style='border:none'></td><td width=19 style='border:none'></td><td width=25 style='border:none'></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td colspan=2 style='padding:7.5pt 0in 0in 15.0pt'><div class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center;line-height:11.25pt'><span style='font-size:8.5pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:#A5A5A5'><hr size=2 width="100%" align=center></span></div><p style='line-height:11.25pt'><strong><span style='font-size:8.5pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:#A5A5A5'>Email Information</span></strong><span style='font-size:8.5pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:#A5A5A5'><br>Please do not reply directly to this email. This email was sent from a notification-only address that cannot accept incoming email.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='line-height:11.25pt'><span style='font-size:8.5pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:#A5A5A5'>Inquiries regarding your .CA domain name should be directed to CIRA's Registration Support Department:<br>Email: <a href="mailto:info@cira.ca"><span style='color:#C9252B;text-decoration:none'>info@cira.ca</span></a><br>Telephone: 1-877-860-1411<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='line-height:11.25pt'><strong><span style='font-size:8.5pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:#A5A5A5'>Unsubscribe</span></strong><span style='font-size:8.5pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:#A5A5A5'><br>If you prefer not to receive future non-mandatory emails from CIRA, you may unsubscribe by sending an email to <a href="mailto:unsubscribe@cira.ca"><span style='color:#C9252B;text-decoration:none'>unsubscribe@cira.ca</span></a>. Please allow 10 business days for processing. If you unsubscribe, CIRA will continue to send mandatory transactional messages related to your .CA domain name registration. If you are a .CA Member, you will also continue to receive mandatory messages related to your membership.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='line-height:11.25pt'><span style='font-size:8.5pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:#A5A5A5'>Please note that if you are currently using the privacy services of your Registrar, or have your Registrar listed as your Administrative Contact, you will not be able to unsubscribe through CIRA.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='line-height:11.25pt'><span style='font-size:8.5pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:#A5A5A5'>View CIRA's <a href="http://www.cira.ca/privacy/policy.html" target="_blank"><span style='color:#C9252B;text-decoration:none'>Privacy Policy</span></a>.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='line-height:11.25pt'><span style='font-size:8.5pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:#A5A5A5'>© 2011 Canadian Internet Registration Authority. All rights reserved.<o:p></o:p></span></p></td></tr></table></div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></div></body></html>