[ga] New gTLD Draft Applicant Guidebook, Version 4 Available for Public Comment

[Glen de Saint Géry <Glen@xxxxxxxxx>]

New gTLD Draft Applicant Guidebook, Version 4 Available for Public Comment

http://www.icann.org/en/announcements/announcement-4-31may10-en.htm

31 May 2010

 Quick Links

    * Review & provide feedback to Applicant Guidebook
http://www.icann.org/en/topics/new-gtlds/comments-4-en.htm

    * Read Explanatory Memoranda & Related Reports
http://www.icann.org/en/topics/new-gtlds/explanatory-memoranda-4-en.htm

    * Read Comments Summaries & Analyses
http://www.icann.org/en/topics/new-gtlds/summaries-4-en.htm

A fourth draft of the Applicant Guidebook that describes the process of 
applying for new generic top-level domains was released today along with 
explanatory memoranda and detailed analysis of comments received. The program 
continues to improve and moves toward completion thanks to the outstanding 
collaboration from the ICANN Community working groups whose expertise helped to 
address and bring toward closure several challenging issues.

Also posted are the summaries and analysis of the public comment period on 
topics such as: trademark & community protections, potential for malicious 
conduct, IDN issues and registry operations & agreement.

Public Participation

The evolving product is the successful result of countless hours of proactive 
participation and thoughtful feedback not only from the general public, but 
particularly from the ICANN stakeholder community members. A special thanks to 
the following groups for responding to the challenge of working on difficult 
issues in a brief period of time:

    * IRT (Implementation Recommendations Team) - trademark protections
    * STI (Special Trademark Issues group) - Uniform Rapid Suspension and 
Trademark Clearinghouse
    * ZFA (Zone File Access group) -- standardized zone file access model
    * HSTLD (High Security Top-Level Domains) - special designation for high 
security TLDs
    * TDG (Temporary Drafting Group) registry agreement and post-delegation 
dispute resolution procedures
    * VI-WG (Vertical Integration Working Group) - Registry/Registrar separation

What's new in Draft Applicant Guidebook Version 4?

The new version has important new content, for example:

    * Incorporation of trademark protections, including improvements to the 
Uniform Rapid Suspension (URS), the Trademark Clearinghouse (TM Clearinghouse), 
and the Post-Delegation Dispute Resolution Proposal (PDDRP);
    * Changes to rules for geographic TLDs, including a prohibition on country 
names as gTLDs;
    * A new gTLD Registry transition process model, including provisions for 
emergency transition in the case of prolonged Registry technical outages;
    * A model for providing centralized zone file access (ZFA) to aid in 
combating malicious conduct;
    * A revised base Registry agreement, the contract future registries must 
sign with ICANN, including new features such as:
          o Registry-Registrar cross-ownership language -- proposed position 
pending the Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO) policy-development 
work;
          o Emergency Registry transition provision -- to be used for 
protection of registrants in the event of prolonged Registry technical outage;
          o Special new agreement provisions for governmental and 
inter-governmental organization (IGO) applicants -- based on negotiations with 
Universal Postal Union (UPU) for .post (subject to modification for different 
circumstances of other similar organizations);
          o New "hybrid" process for future amendments -- based on 
consultations with Registries and others;
          o New provisions for centralized registry zone file access (ZFA).

Among the accompanying materials, also open for comments are:

    * Proposed New gTLD Program Budget
    * Market/Economic Study: an initial analysis of the costs and benefits of 
the introduction of new gTLDs - to be released shortly

Upcoming Program Events

During the June ICANN Meeting in Brussels there will be several program 
sessions, including:

    * General New gTLD Program update, including highlights of the Draft 
Applicant Guidebook, version 4.
    * Reducing Barriers to gTLD Creation for Developing Regions
    * Brand Management in the Age of New gTLDs - Trademark Protection 
mechanisms discussed.

For final schedule and remote participation access information see: 
http://brussels38.icann.org/.

Resources:

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