[bc-gnso] CircleID Post: ICANN approves expansion plan for top-level domains (TLDs)

[Steve DelBianco <sdelbianco@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Here's my post regarding ICANN Board approval of expansion plan for top-level 
domains (TLDs).

See below or 
link<http://www.circleid.com/posts/20110620_now_begins_the_third_stage_of_icanns_tld_triathlon/>

Now Begins the Third Stage of ICANN's TLD 
Triathlon<http://www.circleid.com/posts/20110620_now_begins_the_third_stage_of_icanns_tld_triathlon/>


The ICANN community here in Singapore is celebrating after the historic vote to 
expand top-level domains (TLDs). And while I wouldn't begrudge anyone a few 
Singapore Slings, I think it's a little early to start celebrating. The 
marathon effort ICANN began 5 years ago isn't even close to reaching the finish 
line.

Actually, marathon is probably the wrong analogy. Try this:

A month from now, our host city of Singapore will welcome competitors to the 
10th International Triathlon. What makes a triathlon so uniquely challenging is 
that after you complete a grueling swim and punishing bike race, you still have 
the hardest stage ahead of you: a long-distance run.

That's where the ICANN community is now — just off the starting line for the 
longest and hardest stage of the race. How we run this stage will determine 
whether or not new TLDs succeed from the standpoint of the stakeholder groups 
that really matter: domain registrants and Internet users.

The first stage of the TLD triathlon — the open-water swim — was a painstaking, 
community-driven policy development process that took the better part of five 
years. It had all the feeling of a swim in the open sea, requiring constant 
movement without much forward progress. But we eventually stumbled onto the 
beach only to begin an unexpectedly contentious stage two.

The second stage of the TLD triathlon — the bike race — was the ICANN Board's 
six-month saga of high-pressure, high-stakes negotiations with the Government 
Advisory Committee. Like a bike race, it was fast and dangerous, putting at 
risk everything that was accomplished in the prior stage. Monday's 13-1 vote in 
favor of TLD expansion was like the race stage, where you feel grateful just 
for having survived.

That brought us to what I and several board members called "the end of the 
beginning<http://www.circleid.com/posts/decision_day_for_icann_the_end_of_the_beginning_or_the_beginning_of_the_end/>”.
 Now ICANN faces stage three: the long-haul work of implementing the most 
ambitious undertaking yet.

This next stage is no victory lap. The global Internet community — including 
many stakeholders who weren't satisfied with the outcome of the policy 
development process — will be watching ICANN's every move to find an excuse to 
supplant its multi-stakeholder model with traditional multi-government models 
like the UN.

ICANN board resolution leaves enough unfinished business for stakeholders to 
spend the next year tweaking the "final" guidebook, even as ICANN's foot-weary 
staff does the difficult work of putting it into effect.

During this stage of the race, ICANN must uphold its signature commitments to 
accountability and transparency. As the process evolves in keeping with today's 
resolution, ICANN must also uphold the multistakeholder model and avoid any 
closed-door, staff-driven shortcuts that might seem expedient as the running 
gets harder.

Given the timeline approved this week, we're likely to see our first new gTLDs 
sometime in 2013. If we all start running now, we can finish the TLD Triathlon 
and throw a real party — in about two years.

--
Steve DelBianco
Executive Director
NetChoice
http://www.NetChoice.org and http://blog.netchoice.org
+1.202.420.7482