Expression of Interest

["Mary Iqbal" <media@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I would like to submit my feedback that the expression of interest phase 
itself will only drag out the application process.  I believe that this 
phase should be omitted entirely.  By dragging this process, ICANN only 
will run into the problem that they will increase the number of applicants 
that are ready to participate in the first round.  Since ICANN's chief 
concern is that their staff will not be able to handle the number of 
applicants, then having this Expression of Interest phase only exacerbates 
this problem by giving more time for more companies to prepare to 
participate in this process.  

ICANN should skip the Expression of Interest phase entirely, and should 
open up the application process earlier.  By adding an extra step to this 
process, ICANN merely creates additional and unnecessary overhead.

However, if ICANN does move forward with an expression of interest phase, 
which it seems likely that they will, I believe that it is absolutely 
critical that the top level domain names that companies are planning on 
applying for be treated as confidential.  In fact, I think that ICANN 
should not ask for this information at all.  

However, if the top level domain strings are not treated as confidential, 
and this information is made public, then companies should be protected in 
that no other company should be able to come in after the fact and apply 
for the same top level domain.

Regards,

Mary