Yvette Miller ⬥ 11 November
One week out from ICANN’s next public meeting, which will be held in Buenos Aires, and a few more details about the New gTLD Program are taking shape. An open letter from Steven Crocker, Chair of the ICANN Board, to Heather Dryden, Chair of the Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC), indicates that the New gTLD Program Committee (NGPC) has finalized its plan for handling the GAC Advice on strings in Category 1, .EXTENSIONS relating to consumer protection, sensitive strings, and strings linked to regulated markets, and Category 2, generic-term .EXTENSIONS intended to have exclusive registry access, which the GAC determined should serve a public interest goal:
- The correspondence states that the NGPC plans to accept the Advice on Category 1 strings and modify the safeguards in language to be incorporated into the Public Interest Commitments (PICs) for these applications.
- The number of safeguards that will be required of applicants is determined by the string’s categorization as either a string linked to a regulated industry or a highly regulated industry, as determined by the NGPC.
- For Category 2 applications, the NGPC indicated that it has reached out to the 10 applicants that indicated their request to operate exclusive access registries for an explanation of how their proposals serve a public interest goal.
- The NGPC has directed ICANN staff to prepare an analysis and a proposal for how to implement the safeguard advice for these applicants.
This new information sets the stage for further discussion at ICANN48.
For Your Radar
ICANN48 will be held in Buenos Aires from Sunday, November 17 to Thursday, November 21.
Sunrise periods for seven new TLDs (.bike, .clothing, .guru, .holdings, .plumbing, .singles and .ventures) will launch this month, with domain names up for general sale in January 2014.
The 11th World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators will be held December 4 – December 6 in Mexico City, Mexico.
Public Comment Periods
Nov 22: Comment Period Closes on ICANN’s Second Accountability and Transparency Review Team (ATRT 2) Draft Report & Recommendations
Dec 7: Comment Period Closes on ICANN’s Thick Whois Policy Development Process (PDP) Recommendations for Board Consideration
Jan 31: Comment Period Closes on ICANN’s Draft Vision, Mission & Focus Areas for a Five-Year Strategic Plan
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