[registrars] gTLD Registries Statement on new gtlds
gTLD Registries Statement on New TLDs At its meeting in Amsterdam on 15 December 2002, the ICANN Board passed the following resolution: "Resolved [02.151] that the Board requests the GNSO to provide a recommendation by such time as shall be mutually agreed by the President and the Chair of the GNSO Names Council on whether to structure the evolution of the generic top level namespace and, if so, how to do so." 1. The Registry Constituency believes that the Board should not structure the evolution of the generic top level name space in a manner that limits the development of a market-based evolution of additional generic top level domains. The Constituency urges the Board to foster this continuing evolution without imposing on it a structure (e.g. sponsored or unsponsored, chartered or unchartered) that is predetermined by the Board. 2. The Board should solicit technical assistance from the IETF on the question of how many new TLDs can reasonably be added each year, consistent with (a) the requirements of RFC 2628 "IAB Technical Comment on the Unique DNS Root" and (b) the technical stability of the Internet. 3. The Board should promptly establish minimum measurable technical and financial qualifications that all new registry operators should meet. 4. The Board should promptly post for community review a proposed agreement with new registry operators that contains only those provisions reasonably necessary to assure interoperability and stability. It is reasonable to require that new registry operators: a.) choose new TLD names that are not identical or confusingly similar to other tope-level domain names in the root zone file, and that the operators are subject to a procedure comparable to the UDRP to resolve any disputes that may arise; b.) adopt the UDRP for the resolution of abusive domain name disputes within the domain; c.) operate in accordance with established technical standards, including provision for a "disaster recovery" plan in the event the registry operator goes out of business; and d.) comply with consensus policies adopted by ICANN consistent with the goal of market-based evolution of the name space. The Board should offer to existing registries similar applicable terms and conditions that are offered to the new registries. 5. The Board should open a process for prospective registry operators that meet the minimum technical and financial qualifications. Each applicant should be free to decide how and whether to restrict or otherwise define its registrants and to propose how to market its name. 6. The Board should establish, after input from the constituencies, a procedure to select from among multiple applicants, either for the same names or for different names, if, because of technical considerations, there are more applicants for names than are then feasible to be added to the name space. gTLD Registries Statement on New TLDs.doc |