Recently, concerns about potential conflicts between interpretations of RFC 1123 and real-world practice with provisioning of labels in the root zone of the Domain Name System (DNS) have come to the attention of the IAB. These concerns arise because some of the RFCs referenced within the ICANN gTLD Applicant Guidebook have not yet been updated as efforts to support Internet internationalization have progressed. While the IAB and IESG consider how to further the development of of definitive specifications, interim guidance is needed. So as not to block progress toward the provisioning of additional generic TLDs, the IAB has posted a statement on “The interpretation of rules in the ICANN gTLD Applicant Guidebook.”