[bc-gnso] ALERTS From the Secretariat: Revised New gTLD Registry Agreement Including Additional Public Interest Commitments Specification

[Benedetta Rossi <bc-secretariat@xxxxxxxxx>]

Dear BC Members,

Please find below an ICANN announcement about a new topic open for 
comment: Revised New gTLD Registry Agreement Including Additional Public 
Interest Commitments Specification.
Thank you,

Kind Regards,

Benedetta Rossi
BC Secretariat
https://community.icann.org/display/gnsobc/Home
www.bizconst.org
bc-secretariat@xxxxxxxxx


 Revised New gTLD Registry Agreement Including Additional Public
 Interest Commitments Specification

Comment/Reply Periods ^(*)

        

Important Information Links

*Comment Open:*

        

5 February 2013

*Comment Close:*

        

26 February 2013

*Close Time (UTC):*

        

23:59

        

Public Comment Announcement 
<https://www.icann.org/en/news/announcements/announcement-3-05feb13-en.htm>
*Reply Open:*

        

27 February 2013

        

To Submit Your Comments (Forum) 
<mailto:comments-base-agreement-05feb13@xxxxxxxxx>
*Reply Close:*

        

20 March 2013

        

View Comments Submitted 
<http://forum.icann.org/lists/comments-base-agreement-05feb13>
*Close Time (UTC):*

        

23:59

        

Report of Public Comments

Brief Overview

*Originating Organization:*

        

ICANN

*Categories/Tags:*

        

Top-Level Domains

*Purpose (Brief):*

        

To receive community feedback on the revised New gTLD Registry Agreement 
that includes certain updates and changes, including a Public Interest 
Commitments Specification
*Current Status:*

        

The current draft of the New gTLD Registry Agreement was published in 
June 2012 as part of the New gTLD Applicant Guidebook: Base Agreement & 
Specifications 
<http://newgtlds.icann.org/en/applicants/agb/base-agreement-specs-04jun12-en.pdf>[PDF, 
917 KB]. The New gTLD Registry Agreement requires various updates and 
changes, including the addition of the Public Interest Commitments 
Specification.
*Next Steps:*

        

ICANN staff will consider public comments on the revised New gTLD 
Registry Agreement and recommend any additional necessary changes to the 
Board for approval.
*Staff Contact:*

        

Daniel Halloran

        

*Email:*

        

daniel.halloran@xxxxxxxxx 
<mailto:daniel.halloran@xxxxxxxxx?subject=More%20information%20on%20the%20Revised%20New%20gTLD%20Registry%20Agreement%20Including%20Additional%20Public%20Interest%20Commitments%20Specification%20public%20comment%20period>
Detailed Information

*Section I: Description, Explanation, and Purpose*

The New gTLD Registry Agreement is the contractual document between 
successful New gTLD Applicants and ICANN, and will govern the rights and 
obligations of new gTLD registry operators.
ICANN proposes to revise the New gTLD Registry Agreement in connection 
with developments since the last posting of the Applicant Guidebook in 
June 2012 and a general review of the contractual needs of the new gTLD 
program. Among the proposed changes, ICANN has added the Public Interest 
Commitments Specification.
The Public Interest Commitments Specification will require operators of 
new gTLDs to use only registrars that are party to the 2013 Registrar 
Accreditation Agreement (which is under negotiation). The Public 
Interest Commitments Specification is also a mechanism to allow registry 
operators to commit to certain statements made by the registry operator 
in its application for the gTLD, as well as to specify additional public 
interest commitments, in either case transforming such commitments into 
binding contractual obligations that may be enforced by ICANN through a 
new dispute resolution mechanism that will be available to any party 
harmed by a registry operator's failure to comply with such public 
interest commitments.
Concurrent with this public comment period on the proposed revisions to 
the agreement, ICANN will also ask each applicant to submit a 
TLD-specific Public Interest Commitments Specification. ICANN will 
communicate directly with applicants regarding the details of submitting 
Public Interest Commitments Specification. ICANN expects to request 
applicants to submit their Public Interest Commitments Specifications by 
5 March 2013, and ICANN plans to have them all posted for public review 
by 6 March 2013.
The proposed revised New gTLD Registry Agreement is now open for public 
comment.
*Section II: Background*

The new generic Top-Level Domain (New gTLD) Program was developed to 
increase competition and choice by introducing new gTLDs into the 
Internet's addressing system. The Applicant Guidebook (AGB) was produced 
to define the program and provide instructions on the application 
process. Within the AGB, Module 5 contains the draft New gTLD Registry 
Agreement. This is the document that will be entered into by successful 
applicants and ICANN before proceeding to the next phase of delegation 
and will contain the rights and obligations of each New gTLD registry 
operator. The current version of the New gTLD Registry Agreement, 
published as part of the AGB in June 2012, requires certain updates and 
changes before it can be finalized for use by successful applicants.
Each new gTLD application includes business plans and statements of 
intent regarding applicant plans for operation of the proposed new gTLD 
registry. For example, some applicants stated in their applications that 
they intend to implement registration restrictions or heightened rights 
protection mechanisms above those required in the current draft of the 
New gTLD Registry Agreement. Outside of community-based applications, 
there are no mechanisms for requiring these plans and objectives to be 
incorporated into the New gTLD Registry Agreement. The GAC's Toronto 
Communiqué provided advice to the Board of Directors of ICANN that "it 
is necessary for all of these statements of commitment and objectives to 
be transformed into binding contractual commitments, subject to 
compliance oversight by ICANN." In response to the GAC, the New gTLD 
Program Committee of the Board has approved a public comment period on a 
proposed Public Interest Commitments Specification as a mechanism to 
transform application statements into binding contractual commitments, 
as well as to give applicants the opportunity to voluntarily submit to 
heightened public interest commitments. The Public Interest Commitments 
Specification has been incorporated into the revised New gTLD Registry 
Agreement as Specification 11 and is being submitted for public comments 
along with various other updates and changes to the New gTLD Registry 
Agreement more specifically described in the Summary of Changes, 
available below.
*Section III: Document and Resource Links*

 * Revised gTLD Registry Agreement with Public Interest Commitments
   Specification 2013-02-05 - clean
   
<http://newgtlds.icann.org/en/applicants/agb/base-agreement-specs-05feb13-en.pdf>[PDF,
   886 KB]
 * Revised gTLD Registry Agreement with Public Interest Commitments
   Specification 2013-02-05 - red-lined
   
<http://newgtlds.icann.org/en/applicants/agb/base-agreement-specs-redline-05feb13-en.pdf>[PDF,
   787 KB]
 * Summary of Changes 2013-02-05
   
<http://newgtlds.icann.org/en/applicants/agb/base-agreement-specs-summary-changes-05feb13-en.pdf>[PDF,
   445 KB]
 * Draft gTLD Registry Agreement 2012-06-04 version: Base Agreement &
   Specifications
   
<http://newgtlds.icann.org/en/applicants/agb/base-agreement-specs-04jun12-en.pdf>[PDF,
   917 KB]
 * ICANN Website for New Generic Top-Level Domains Applicant Guidebook:
   http://newgtlds.icann.org/en/applicants/agb

*Section IV: Additional Information*

None


        
        
        
        

/(*) Comments submitted after the posted Close Date/Time are not 
guaranteed to be considered in any final summary, analysis, reporting, 
or decision-making that takes place once this period lapses/
Glen de Saint Géry

GNSO Secretariat

gnso.secretariat@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:gnso.secretariat@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>

http://gnso.icann.org