RE: [bc-gnso] ICANN Now Projects April 14 Release of New Version of Applicant Guidebook.

["Berry Cobb" <berrycobb@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Phil,

 

Thank you for the link and summary.  I concur with your thoughts about the
AGB and a public comment period.  I do not see how the ICANN Board can vote
on a "final" until completion of such comment period.  There is blogger
speculation that the Board will try to approve the AGB at a special session
in April, but I believe the probability to be very low.

 

My personal speculation is that the AGB will be voted by the Board at the
June meeting.  I've created a detailed time line based on this speculation
and the milestones provided by ICANN and the AGB.  Check it out at
http://tlwatch.com.  If you have suggestions to enhance it, please let me
know.  As milestone dates change, I intend to update the time line
accordingly.

 

Thank you.

 

 

Berry Cobb

Infinity Portals LLC

berrycobb@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

http://infinityportals.com

720.839.5735

 

From: owner-bc-gnso@xxxxxxxxx [mailto:owner-bc-gnso@xxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of
Phil Corwin
Sent: Tuesday, February 22, 2011 8:24 AM
To: bc-gnso@xxxxxxxxx
Subject: [bc-gnso] ICANN Now Projects April 14 Release of New Version of
Applicant Guidebook.
Importance: High

 

ICANN has just put out a new announcement on the gTLD program at
http://icann.org/en/announcements/announcement-22feb11-en.htm .

 

In addition to containing summaries and analyses of the latest comments on
the Guidebook, it has this to say about the process going forward --

 

The ICANN Board and Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC)
<http://meetings.icann.org/board-gac-spring11> will meet in Brussels from 28
Feb - 1 Mar and during the ICANN meeting in San Francisco (13 - 18 March) in
the interest of resolving the outstanding issues the GAC has identified with
the new gTLD process.

A new version of the Applicant Guidebook is not being published at this
time. This decision was made with the intent to avoid presuming the outcomes
of the discussions among the Board, GAC, and community. Given the short time
period between these consultations and the ICANN meeting in San Francisco,
there is little utility to publishing a version with new changes, which
would also be subject to additional changes based on the outcomes of these
meetings, and without time for comment between versions.

Work on the Applicant Guidebook is continuing in parallel with these
activities. ICANN is continuing to work with stakeholder groups in order to
fully understand comments made on the Guidebook and make changes based upon
them. It is expected that the next version of the Guidebook to be released
will incorporate updates based on: public comment, ongoing consultations,
and changes resulting from the Board-GAC consultations and from community
discussions in San Francisco.


Expected Path Forward


*       Board-GAC Consultations: 28 Feb - 1 Mar 2011 
*       ICANN meeting: 14 - 18 Mar 2011 
*       Release of Applicant Guidebook: 14 Apr 2011 (emphasis added)

 

Based upon the language of the statement, it appears likely that the version
of the Guidebook released in April will likely be subject to an additional
round of public comment. As to what that means for the actual opening date
of the application window, the answer is unclear but one would expect
additional delay until at least June 2011 in my personal opinion.

 

Philip S. Corwin 
Partner 
Butera & Andrews 
1301 Pennsylvania Ave., NW 
Suite 500 
Washington, DC 20004

202-347-6875 (office) 

202-347-6876 (fax)

202-255-6172 (cell)

"Luck is the residue of design." -- Branch Rickey