John Demco
ICANN Releases Revised Guidebook, Aims for June Approval of New gTLD Program – ICANN has published a Discussion Draft of the New gTLD Applicant Guidebook. Two notable changes from the previous draft are: an Early Warning Notice to an applicant from the Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) to flag an application which would be “considered controversial or raise national sensitivities”, and an objection procedure (“GAC Advice on New gTLDs”) which, if representing a GAC consensus position, would “create a strong presumption for the Board that the application should not be approved.”
According to the timeline approved by the ICANN Board in March, ICANN is aiming to have the final version of the Guidebook considered at its meeting in Singapore on June 20.
Picks To Click
- The .xxx domain is live in the root nameservers. The launch timeline for the new domain has not yet been announced.
- A draft renewal agreement for the .net registry has been posted. The agreement between ICANN and VeriSign provides for presumptive renewal so long as certain requirements are met, and allows for 10% annual increases in wholesale prices.
- DotAsia has announced IDN launch dates for the .asia domain.
Timeline
- Wed, Jun 1: two-letter and all-numeric .tel domains landrush
- Wed, Jun 8: World IPv6 Day
- Tue, Jun 14: two-letter and all-numeric .tel domains general availability
- Sun, Jun 19 – Fri, Jun 24: ICANN meetings in Singapore
- Fri, Jul 1: .info registry fee increases
- Tue, Sep 20: CIRA Annual General Meeting in Vancouver
- Wed, Sep 21 – Wed, Sep 28: CIRA Board of Directors election
- Sun, Oct 23 – Fri, Oct 28: ICANN meetings in Dakar, Senegal