[council] Public Comment: GNSO Policy Development Process on Vertical Integration Between Registries and Registrars

[Glen de Saint Géry <Glen@xxxxxxxxx>]

Public Comment: GNSO Policy Development Process on Vertical Integration Between 
Registries and Registrars

http://icann.org/en/announcements/announcement-3-29mar10-en.htm
29 March 2010

The GNSO Council is seeking comments regarding the commencement of a policy 
development process on the topic of vertical integration1 between registries 
and registrars. The public comment period ends on 18 April 2010. 

Background 

The GNSO Council has commenced a policy development process (PDP) on the topic 
of vertical integration between registrars and registries. The GNSO Council 
formed a working group to evaluate whether policy recommendations, if any, 
should be developed on the topic of vertical integration between registrars and 
registries affecting both new gTLDs and existing gTLDs. The working group 
expects to define the range of restrictions on vertical separation that are 
currently in effect, to serve as a baseline to evaluate future proposals. 

ICANN is currently in the process of finalizing the implementation details for 
the launch of new gTLDs. ICANN has posted three draft applicant guidebooks and 
a series of topic papers for public comment describing the manner in which 
ICANN proposes to implement this program. These documents include proposals on 
the topic of vertical integration- and whether cross-ownership restrictions or 
other rules related to vertical integration should be adopted to apply to the 
New gTLD Program. 

At Nairobi, the ICANN Board adopted a resolution recognizing the importance of 
establishing a baseline approach to registry-registrar separation for the new 
gTLD process to move ahead. Within the context of the new gTLD process, the 
ICANN Board resolved that there will be strict separation of entities offering 
registry services and those acting as registrars. No co-ownership will be 
allowed. The ICANN Board further resolved that if a policy becomes available 
from the GNSO, and approved by the Board prior to the launch of the new gTLD 
program, that policy will be considered by the Board for adoption as part of 
the New gTLD Program. 

This public comment forum is an opportunity to comment on any aspect related to 
the topic of vertical integration between registries and registrars that you 
think should be taken into account by the Working Group as part of its 
deliberations. For example, comments may be submitted on: (i) recommended 
models for the New gTLD Program, (ii) the economic analysis conducted by 
economists retained by ICANN, including the CRA Report [PDF, 512 KB] as well as 
the one recently submitted by Salop and Wright [PDF, 42 KB], (iii) the Board 
approved model proposed by the Board at the ICANN Meeting in Nairobi on 12 
March 2010, or (iv) whether the restrictions currently applicable to existing 
gTLD registries should be changed, or (v) additional work that should be 
performed by the Working Group to recommend models for the New gTLD Program.. 

Additional Information: 

To review the Issues Report on Vertical Integration Between Registries and 
Registrars, please refer to 
http://gnso.icann.org/issues/vertical-integration/report-04dec09-en.pdf [PDF, 
254 KB]. 

The ICANN Board resolution on Vertical Integration is posted at 
http://www.icann.org/en/minutes/resolutions-12mar10-en.htm#5. 

To review the charter describing the policy work to be undertaken by the 
Vertical Integration Working Group, please refer to: 
http://gnso.icann.org/issues/vertical-integration/vi-chartered-objectives-10mar10-en.pdf
 [PDF, 41 KB]. 

To participate in the GNSO working group for this policy development process, 
please contact Glen de Saint Gery at gnso.secretariat@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx by no 
later than 31 March 2010. 

For information on the details of the implementation planning activities for 
new gTLDs, please refer to the documents posted at 
http://icann.org/en/topics/new-gtld-program.htm

For additional resources on the topic of vertical integration between 
registries and registrars, please refer to the documents posted at: 
https://st.icann.org/vert-integration-pdp/index.cgi?https_st_icann_org_vert_integration_pdp_index_cgi_vi_resources

Staff responsible: Margie Milam 

Deadline and how to submit comments

Comments are welcome via e-mail to pdp-vertical-integ@xxxxxxxxx until 18 April 
2010. 

Access to the public comment forum from which comments can be posted can be 
found at http://www.icann.org/en/public-comment/public-comment-201004-en.htm#vi

An archive of all comments received will be publicly posted at 
http://forum.icann.org/lists/pdp-vertical-integration/


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1 From the VI PDP WG Charter: ' "Vertical Integration" (VI) is defined as a 
business structure in which there is no separation between the Registry 
Operator and the registrar in relation to a particular gTLD. They are either 
owned or controlled by the same company or have another contractual affiliation 
that controls the specific gTLD, and the Registry Operator is not required to 
provide equivalent access and non-discriminatory access to non-affiliated 
registrars to sell names under its gTLD.' Please note that this is a working 
definition, which is subject to further development and refinement.

Glen de Saint Géry
GNSO Secretariat
gnso.secretariat@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://gnso.icann.org