[bc-gnso] ALERTS from the Secretariat New Top-Level Domain Name Applications Revealed

[Benedetta Rossi <bc-secretariat@xxxxxxxxx>]

/*June 13, 2012*/

/*For Immediate Release*/

*New Top-Level Domain Name Applications Revealed *

*Historic Milestone for the Internet's Domain Name System *

/*London, U.K.... */The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and 
Numbers (ICANN) today revealed who has applied for which generic 
Top-Level Domain (gTLD) names in what is expected to become the largest 
expansion in the history of the Internet's Domain Name System.
A total of 1,930 new gTLD applications were received during the 
application period of the new generic Top-Level Domain program.
"We are standing at the cusp of a new era of online innovation," said 
Rod Beckstrom, President and Chief Executive Officer. "That means new 
businesses, new marketing tools, new jobs, and new ways to link 
communities and share information."
Beckstrom made the comments during a London news conference, where it 
was revealed which organizations have applied for which specific domain 
names.
Senior Vice President Kurt Pritz noted that the applications will now be 
subject to a public comment and objection period, and a rigorous, 
objective and independent evaluation system.
"A 60-day comment period begins today, allowing anyone in the world to 
submit comments on any application, and the evaluation panels will 
consider them," said Pritz. "If anyone objects to an application and 
believes they have the grounds to do so, they can file a formal 
objection to the application. And they will have seven months to do that."
Of the 1,930 applications received:

 * 66 are geographic name applications.
 * 116 applications are for Internationalized Domain Names, or IDNs,
   for strings in scripts such as Arabic, Chinese, and Cyrillic.

Applications were received from 60 countries and territories, broken 
down by ICANN's geographic regions;
 * 911 from North America.
 * 675 from Europe.
 * 303 are from Asia-Pacific.
 * 24 from Latin America and the Caribbean.
 * 17 from Africa.

Beckstrom noted that the applications from Latin America/Caribbean and 
Africa would be the first gTLDs ever from those regions.
He also pointed out that the new gTLD program is the result of seven 
years of international consultation and debate among a wide variety of 
Internet stakeholders.
###

To see who has applied for which generic Top-Level Domain, go here: 
http://newgtlds.icann.org/en/program-status/application-results
To post comments on applications, go here:

http://newgtlds.icann.org/en/program-status/application-comments

To file an objection, go here:

http://newgtlds.icann.org/en/program-status/objection-dispute-resolution

To obtain background information on the new generic Top-Level Domain 
program, go here:
http://www.icann.org/en/news/press/kits/reveal-day-13jun12-en.htm

For information on ICANN's geographic regions, go here:

http://archive.icann.org/en/meetings/montreal/geo-regions-topic.htm 
<http://www.icann.org/en/resources/policy/background/geo-regions>
*MEDIA CONTACTS: *Brad White

Director of Global Media Affairs

                                           Tel. +1 202.570.7118

brad.white@xxxxxxxxx <mailto:brad.white@xxxxxxxxx>

Andrew Robertson

Edelman Public Relations

London, U.K.

Tel. + 44 (7811) 341 945

andrew.Robertson@xxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:andrew.Robertson@xxxxxxxxxxx>

James Cole

ICANN

Washington, D.C.

Tel. +1 202.570.7240

James.cole@xxxxxxxxx <mailto:James.cole@xxxxxxxxx>

*About ICANN: */ICANN's mission is to ensure a stable, secure and 
unified global Internet. To reach another person on the Internet you 
have to type an address into your computer - a name or a number. That 
address has to be unique so computers know where to find each other. 
ICANN coordinates these unique identifiers across the world. Without 
that coordination we wouldn't have one global Internet. ICANN was formed 
in 1998. It is a not-for-profit public-benefit corporation with 
participants from all over the world dedicated to keeping the Internet 
secure, stable and interoperable. It promotes competition and develops 
policy on the Internet's unique identifiers. ICANN doesn't control 
content on the Internet. It cannot stop spam and it doesn't deal with 
access to the Internet. But through its coordination role of the 
Internet's naming system, it does have an important impact on the 
expansion and evolution of the Internet./*/For more information please 
visit: /*/*www.icann.org*/ <http://www.icann.org/>/*.*/
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