[council] New gTLD Program Updates

[Glen de Saint Géry <Glen@xxxxxxxxx>]

[To: council[at]gnso.icann.org; liaison6c[at]gnso.icann.org]
[To: ga[at]gnso.icann.org; announce[at]gnso.icann.org]
[To: regional-liaisons[at]icann.org]



http://www.icann.org/en/announcements/announcement-3-10jun09-en.htm

________________________________
New gTLD Program Updates

10 June 2009

A ICANN offers a set of announcements for public discussion as meeting in 
Sydney nears. The announcements include:

New Explanatory Memo for Pre-delegation Testing for New gTLDs

The module 5 of the Draft Applicant Guidebook version 2 available since early 
February describes procedures applicable at the concluding stages of the gTLD 
application process, more specifically, a pre-delegation test addressing 
technical and other requirements the applicant will be asked to fulfill.

ICANN is posting today the Pre-Delegation Testing explanatory 
memoranda<http://www.icann.org/en/topics/new-gtlds/pre-delegation-testing-08jun09-en.pdf>
 [PDF, 108K]. This explanatory memo has been incorporated to the following 
currently open public comment forum 
http://www.icann.org/en/topics/new-gtlds/comments-e-en.htm. The deadline for 
comments is 20 July 2009.

The purpose of the pre-delegation technical test is to verify the applicant has 
met its commitment to establish registry operations in accordance with ICANN’s 
technical and operational criteria described in the Applicant Guidebook. The 
checks are also intended to ensure that the applicant can operate the gTLD in a 
stable and secure manner. There are three sets of tests or verification: DNS 
infrastructure testing and prerequisites, registry system testing and 
prerequisites, and an additional requirement to provide for continuity of basic 
registry operations.

ICANN encourages comments on the interim language provided. The comments 
received will be considered for version 3 of the draft Applicant Guidebook, 
scheduled to be published in September 2009.

IRT Report of Trademark Protection in New gTLDs Public Comment Period Extended

The public comments period for the Final Report on Trademark Protection in New 
gTLDs<http://www.icann.org/en/topics/new-gtlds/irt-final-report-trademark-protection-29may09-en.pdf>
 [PDF, 299K] prepared by the Implementation Recommendation Team (IRT) has been 
extended to July 6th, 2009.

Malicious Behavior Overarching Issue

The Anti-Phishing Working Group (APWG) has provided a working draft of their 
comprehensive ongoing study on the topic of potential malicious abuse of the 
DNS and new gTLD expansion.  The draft report describes several issues and is 
available for review on the ICANN New gTLD Overarching Issues 
Wiki<https://st.icann.org/new-gtld-overarching-issues/index.cgi>.

Recommended New gTLD Sessions during ICANN Sydney Meeting<http://syd.icann.org>

The ICANN Meeting in Sydney (June 21 – 26) will have several New gTLD program 
sessions. The selection below is a recommendation only and we encourage the 
ICANN community to see the Sydney schedule for additional details.

21 June 2009

New gTLD Program Updates

This session will provide an overview on the progress being made on the New 
gTLD Program. There will be an opportunity for public feedback.

Workshop on Registry-Registrar Cross-Ownership
One of the remaining issues to be resolved with regard to the New gTLD 
Applicant Guidebook is what restrictions should be imposed on new gTLD 
operators concerning the ownership or control of registrars. This Workshop will 
focus on potential harms and benefits associated with vertical integration of 
gTLD registries and registrars, and tools ICANN and the community could 
consider to attempt to address the issue. The workshop will include 
presentations from a panel of economists, plus an opportunity for comments from 
interested registries and registrars, other industry stakeholders, and the 
public.

New gTLD Program: Managing a Registry: Best Practices

At this session, few Top-Level Domain (TLD) Registry managers will share their 
experience discussing the practical aspects of managing a TLD Registry. This 
session will cover business, operational and technical aspects of day-to-day 
Registry management. Some of the topics covered will be: buy vs build; security 
and scalability considerations; channel management; TLD acceptance issues; IDNs 
management.

June 24 2009

New gTLD Program – Consultation Session on Trademark Protection & Malicious 
Behavior

This session is designed to discuss with the community two of the four 
overarching issues identified in the New gTLD Program: (a) trademark 
protection; (b) and potential for malicious behavior. This session will be 
divided in two parts: (1) Trademark Protection - a panel of experts will 
present and discuss with the community several proposed mechanisms for 
enhancing protection of intellectual property rights in the New gTLD Program; 
(2) Malicious Behavior – a panel of experts will provide the community with an 
update of work done to identify and mitigate potential increases in malicious 
conduct following the introduction of new gTLDs.

Other New gTLD Related Events

Sydney marks the first of a series of overarching issues consultation sessions 
ICANN staff is planning to conduct in June and July. The four overarching 
issues that were identified in the first two public comment periods of the 
Draft Applicant Guidebook (DAG) are: Trademark Protection; Malicious Behavior; 
Security & Stability; Scale & Demand (the economic impact of the new gTLDs).

Upcoming live consultation sessions will be held in New York (July 13) and 
London (July 15).

In addition to the overarching issues consultation sessions described above, 
ICANN will also be hosting live outreach/educational events and webinars to 
offer an introduction about New gTLDs, give up-to date program developments and 
make available relevant ICANN staff for face to face discussions. These events 
are designed in a wide range of formats to address different levels of 
knowledge.

A pre-registrations page for these events will be made available soon. For 
updates, please go to the New gTLD Program 
page<http://www.icann.org/en/topics/new-gtld-program.htm>.

Resources:

New gTLD Program: http://www.icann.org/en/topics/new-gtld-program.htm

Overarching Issues Wiki: 
https://st.icann.org/new-gtld-overarching-issues/index.cgi?new_gtld_overarching_issues

Sydney Meeting: http://syd.icann.org/

Relevant Open Public Comments:

Trademark Protection (IRT Final Report): 
http://www.icann.org/en/public-comment/public-comment-200906.html#irt-report

Revised Excerpts of New gTLD Applicant Guidebook (DAG): 
http://www.icann.org/en/topics/new-gtlds/comments-e-en.htm

New GTLDs and the Internet

Openness Change Innovation

After years of discussion and thought, new generic top-level domains (gTLDs) 
are being expanded. They will allow for more innovation, choice and change to a 
global Internet presently served by only 21 generic top-level domain names. As 
a not-for profit corporation dedicated to coordinating the Internet's 
addressing system, ICANN is not doing this to add to its revenue.  An 
implementation plan is being developed with opportunities for public comment.  
There will be processes for objections. There has also been detailed technical 
scrutiny to ensure the Internet's stability and security. There will be an 
evaluation fee but it will recover costs only (expenses so far, application 
processing and anticipated legal costs).

Promoting competition and choice is one of the principles upon which ICANN was 
founded. In a world with 1.5 billion Internet users (and growing), diversity, 
choice and innovation are key.  The Internet has supported huge increases in 
choice, innovation and the competition of ideas, and expanding new gTLDs is an 
opportunity for more.
Glen de Saint Géry
GNSO Secretariat
gnso.secretariat@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://gnso.icann.org