[council] .CAT Cross-Ownership Removal Request

[Glen de Saint Géry <Glen@xxxxxxxxx>]

http://www.icann.org/en/news/announcements/announcement-22dec12-en.htm
.CAT Cross-Ownership Removal Request
Comment/Reply Periods (*)

Important Information Links

Comment Open:

22 December 2012

Comment Close:

21 January 2013

Close Time (UTC):

23:59 UTC

Public Comment 
Announcement<http://www.icann.org/en/news/announcements/announcement-22dec12-en.htm>

Reply Open:

22 January 2013

To Submit Your Comments (Forum)<mailto:comments-cat-xo-removal@xxxxxxxxx>

Reply Close:

11 February 2013

View Comments Submitted<http://forum.icann.org/lists/comments-cat-xo-removal/>

Close Time (UTC):

23:59 UTC

Report of Public Comments

Brief Overview

Originating Organization:

Fundació puntCAT

Categories/Tags:

Contracted Party Agreements

Purpose (Brief):


Fundació puntCAT requests the removal of the cross-ownership restrictions 
reflected on the 23 September 2005 contract signed between ICANN and Fundació 
puntCAT. (http://www.icann.org/en/about/agreements/registries/cat).

This request is submitted according to the "Process for Handling Requests for 
Removal of Cross-Ownership Restrictions on Operators of Existing gTLDs" 
adopeted by the Board on 18 October 2012. See: 
http://www.icann.org/en/resources/registries/removal-cross-ownership.

According to the approved process, in order to lift cross-ownership 
restrictions, existing gTLD registry operators could either request an 
amendment to their existing Registry Agreement to remove the cross-ownership 
restrictions or request to transition to the new form of Registry Agreement for 
new gTLDs. Any proposed material amendments to gTLD registry agreements would 
be subject to public comment prior to ICANN approval.

The proposed Fundació puntCAT amendment to can be found 
here<http://www.icann.org/en/about/agreements/registries/cat/proposed-amendment-22dec12-en.pdf>
 [PDF, 178 KB]. The redlined agreement can be downloaded 
here<http://www.icann.org/en/about/agreements/registries/cat/agreement-redline-22dec12-en.pdf>
 [PDF, 66 KB].

Current Status:


ICANN conducted a competition review in accordance to the process and has 
determined that the request does not raise significant competition issues. 
Furthermore, Fundació puntCAT argues that the removal of the cross ownership 
restrictions would allow its entity to be on a level playing field with the new 
gTLD Registry Operators.

This is the first cross-ownership removal request submitted under the 
Board-approved process.

Next Steps:

Following the public comment period, a summary and analysis will be posted, the 
request will be considered by ICANN and the result will be made public.

Staff Contact:

Karla Valente

Email:

karla.valente@xxxxxxxxx<mailto:karla.valente@xxxxxxxxx?subject=More%20information%20on%20the%20.CAT%20Cross-Ownership%20Removal%20Request%20public%20comment%20period>

Detailed Information

Section I: Description, Explanation, and Purpose


ICANN seeks public comment on the Fundació puntCAT's request to amend its 23 
September 2005 agreement to remove the current cross-ownership restriction. 
This would allow Fundació puntCAT to own or control a registrar that sells .cat 
domains. Per current agreement, .cat domain names are sold only through 
Fundació puntCAT accredited registrars.

ICANN conducted a competition review in accordance to the process and has 
determined that the request does not raise significant competition issues. 
Furthermore, Fundació puntCAT argues that the removal of the cross ownership 
restrictions would allow its entity to be on a level playing field with the new 
gTLD Registry Operators.

Section II: Background


On 18 October 2012, ICANN Board approved a process, by which existing gTLD 
registries could request relief from cross-ownership restrictions on registrars 
to sell domain names in new gTLDs (see 
http://www.icann.org/en/resources/registries/removal-cross-ownership. This 
Board action was based on extensive independent analysis and community 
discussion.

The gTLD registry agreements that are currently in place, including .CAT, have 
cross-ownership restrictions, which means that the existing gTLD registries are 
not allow to own or control a registrar that sells domains in their own 
existing registries. The current .CAT agreement with all appendices is 
available here: http://www.icann.org/en/about/agreements/registries/cat

Section III: Document and Resource Links

The proposed contract amendment can be found 
here<http://www.icann.org/en/about/agreements/registries/cat/proposed-amendment-22dec12-en.pdf>
 [PDF, 178 KB]. The redlined agreement can be downloaded 
here<http://www.icann.org/en/about/agreements/registries/cat/agreement-redline-22dec12-en.pdf>
 [PDF, 66 KB].

Section IV: Additional Information


none




(*) Comments submitted after the posted Close Date/Time are not guaranteed to 
be considered in any final summary, analysis, reporting, or decision-making 
that takes place once this period lapses.


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