Do you really believe Universal Acceptance (UA) started with the Universal Acceptance Steering Group (UASG)? Nope-and it won’t end with it either.
On the last day of an ICANN meeting in Los Angeles, about ten years ago, the first UASG gathering took place. A packed room-filled with both prominent figures and lesser-known folks (myself included)-witnessed its beginning. That was during the time of the IANA transition, which was already shaking the ICANN world, and with GDPR looming on the horizon. Meanwhile, Universal Acceptance, a term defined years before UASG even existed, was seen as some obscure, geeky issue few cared about.
I first heard about UA five years before UASG began. I was drawn in because of my involvement with Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs). And still there…
Back to the Present
Just a few days ago, an announcement by ICANN’s new CEO about cutting funding for UASG hit the community like a bombshell. Many saw it as the end of the UA fight. There was disbelief, emotional emails, calls to action-“Don’t stop fighting for UA!” some wrote, with rhetoric bordering on the theatrical. “He tried to turn the light off, but we will keep the fire alive,” they shouted on mailing lists.
Then there were others-perhaps jaded, like me, who responded with: “Finally!!!” That doesn’t mean we’re against UA. Quite the opposite. The key is in this article’s title. Let me explain why, from someone who was there from the start and wore many hats in the UASG.
UASG – The Early Days
UASG was formed with representatives from major tech players: Google, Apple, Microsoft, GoDaddy, Donuts, Afilias (Ram Mohan was the first chair and driving force), Verisign, .asia, and many more. Don Hollander represented ICANN and was deeply dedicated to the cause. We got off to a strong start: we created a charter, launched a website, published initial documents, designed a logo. The energy was high, the work was hard, fixing numerous issues and also, friendship – for a lifetime.
The group was packed with talent, knowledge and progress followed – Gmail began accepting EAI (Email Address Internationalization), as did Microsoft Outlook… ICANN began implementing UA within its own infrastructure.
But first cracks appeared early. There was a glaring absence of registries and registrars outside the U.S. It was U.S.-centric, understandably so at first, given the tech giants involved. But aside from myself and a colleague from .Asia, voices from outside the U.S. were missing.
We needed input from the ground: real-life problems from users of Arabic, Cyrillic, Armenian, Georgian, Thai, or Ethiopic scripts. Let’s not forget: UA was always about more than IDNs – it included New gTLDs and email systems that couldn’t handle them.
To address the gaps, we launched the UA Ambassador Program to collect feedback globally. This was valuable work, but it barely scratched the surface. We also established structured working groups (on measurements, EAI, tech/dev), and most importantly-regional Local Initiatives, engaging people from registries and registrars. Finally, we had global coverage.
When the Politics Started
It all changed during the leadership elections. Suddenly, odd things appeared on the membership list – fake email addresses, false problem reports, aggressive messages demanding budget accountability. Yes, UASG was funded by ICANN, and unfortunately, money attracts opportunists.
Leadership tried to counteract the manipulation: banning fake accounts, requiring Statements of Interest… but it didn’t work. The fake accounts always resurfaced during elections.
With a bloated structure (chairs, vice-chairs, ambassadors, initiative leads) the UASG began to suffer from a classic multistakeholder ailment: wannabe politicians. Work slowed, big tech companies quietly left, and too many people were more interested in titles or being paid for minimal effort than in achieving real results.
When I left couple of years ago, the leadership made a desperate move: creating UA Day and UA Awards. Fun and games. I was always against that. When you rely on ceremonies to show that you’re doing something, it usually means you aren’t.
The truth? Local Initiatives were doing solid work. The rest of UASG… not so much. Thanks to the couple of enthusiastic newcomers, the fire was staying alive.
The Fall
ICANN kept pushing and promoting UASG. Three banners adorned the venue at the Kigali meeting in Rwanda: one for the new gTLD round, one for the Africa Coalition, and one for UASG. Yet, progress was minimal.
The group was busy fighting fake accounts and drafting endless strategy documents, while actual UA efforts stalled. UASG had become a safe harbor for inactive “leaders” who wanted titles without responsibilities.
Evidence of its irrelevance was everywhere. Every ICANN constituency started its own UA group, GAC, ccNSO, GNSO, and more. Their reasoning was clear: UASG isn’t helping, so we’ll do it ourselves.
At an ICANN session in Kuala Lumpur, I was invited by the ccNSO to speak at UA session. A UASG rep on the panel repeated the same talking points we used eight years ago: “The next billion users will come if we fix UA.” Not even the messaging had evolved…
ICANN did the right thing. When something has been dysfunctional for years, stop funding it. Preserve and support what works-like the Local Initiatives and Ambassadors. That’s not abandonment; it’s prioritization. The mission of UA remains embedded in ICANN’s strategy since the Kobe meeting. UASG simply became obsolete.
My Two Cents
In UASG’s first five-six years, I served in many roles, leadership, project manager, ambassador, local initiative liaison… The work itself was never the issue. The problem was what I saw out in the world.
Many barriers to UA weren’t technical. They were linguistic, systemic. For example: Windows’ Cyrillic code page didn’t have an “@” sign. How can users send email without it? That’s not strictly a UA problem, but it is a UA blocker. These kinds of issues were routinely ignored by UASG last years. The group turned inward, distracted by its own dysfunction.
Fortunately, others noticed the same. During my “rant” (not a presentation) at a mentioned ccNSO session, and in countless face-to-face conversations over the years, I shared these concerns. And now, we’re seeing something new: the launch of CODI (Coalition for Digital Inclusion), to answer those concerns, planned for UA day, on 20th of May. Symbolically, first public appearance of CODI was at last year’s SEEDIG meeting in Belgrade…
If this were a poker game, I’d go all in on CODI. And I will. I’m looking forward to meaningful work again.
Sorry, UASG. Somewhere along the way, you took a wrong turn and left Universal Acceptance behind.
– Dusan Stojicevic