INTRODUCTION
The ICANN 45 meeting held in Toronto from the 14 – 19th October, was a huge success in terms of milestones reached at the meeting. The meeting culminated with the formation of the Geographic Top Level Domain (geo TLD) Working Group, a strategy for Africa, and many public comments on the proposed lottery system.
We will be keeping a close eye on the progress of these agendas and we will keep you updated.
The dotAfrica team participated in a number of meetings relevant to new geoTLDs. A Steering Committee feedback and status report session was held, and our very own Michael O’Connell presented at Tech Day on the .co.za Policy Engine.
http://toronto45.icann.org/documents?tid%5B%5D=172
The next ICANN will be held in Beijing from 7-11 April 2013. This meeting promises to be just as exciting and eventful as this last meeting.
GAC Communiqué
GAC members are currently considering whether the existing mechanisms are sufficient to address other identified issues. During the Toronto meeting the GAC shared a range of the issues under consideration, which include, protection of geographic names, strings that are regulated market sectors such as health, finance, etc, consumer protection, religious terms, the relationship between new gTLD applications and all applicable legislation, among others. In addition, the GAC confirmed that it would issue early warnings from it members on 20th November 2012.
On the newly proposed prioritization drawing for new gTLDs, the GAC reiterated previous advice regarding competition and fairness and urged that "geographic name gTLDs approved by the relevant government authority, community names and applications from developing countries should also prioritized.
The full version of the GAC communiqué can be found here:
https://gacweb.icann.org/download/attachments/4817665/FINAL_Toronto_Communique_20121017.pdf
Geographic (Geo) TLD Working Group
Dot Africa is a member of the recently formed Geo TLD Working Group. The working group aims at resolving issues pertaining to geographic TLD’s; sharing knowledge and best practices on running a geographic TLD. Some of the issues raised at their first meeting was prioritization of Geo TLDs in the recently introduced DRAW model; how to release 2 character domain names; Trademark Clearing House / Uniform Rapid Suspension System amongst others.
The Working group submitted comments on the DRAW model urging ICANN to prioritize geographic names. ICANN received 66 geographic applications from all ICANN regions. Each of the applications is required to have support from relevant governments or public authorities. Prioritizing Geographic TLD together with IDN’s would contribute towards some of ICANN’s objectives, promoting DNS diversity, making the Internet more accessible, increasing avenues of participation and serving the public interest.
The Working group plans to submit more substantive comments on the DRAW proposal soon.
Africa Strategy
(ICANN) unveiled the Africa Strategy Working Group (ASWG) interim plan.
The interim plan is expected to underscore ICANN’s new approach to Africa The working group was formed in June 2012, and was tasked with developing a 3year strategic plan with clear goals for Africa, which will be incorporated into the wider ICANN strategic plan.
The strategic plan provides several strategic objectives, which include, Supporting African entrepreneurship in the domain names area, Promoting business development incubators, increased outreach, among others.
For more information on the strategy, please visit:
http://www.afrinic.net/en/community/icann-aswg
ICANN Lottery
ICANN earlier this month introduced their proposal for a new batching and metering solution for processing the new gTLD applications.
The key elements of the proposed solution include:
- Applicants will have to purchase a paper "lottery" ticket sometime in December in person in California in order to participate in a drawing, which will determine the order in which their applications proceed
- ICANN will allow proxies for out-of-town applicants
- Applicants for IDNs will be given a priority
- Evaluation results will be published in March-June 2013 (in batches of about 100 per week)
- Draw numbers will also be used to schedule pre-delegation testing and the signing of the Registry Agreement
- The objection period will terminate 13 March 2013
- The first New gTLDs will launch in Q2 of 2013
ICANN have opened a 30-day comment period looking for feedback around the proposed solution.
More information on the proposed plan can be found here:
http://newgtlds.icann.org/en/applicants/batching/drawing-prioritization-10oct12-en.pdf
More information on the comments can be found here:
http://www.icann.org/en/news/public-comment/drawing-prioritization-10oct12-en.htm
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