.WIEN comment - Prioritizing Geo TLDs and Community TLDs

[Ronald Schwärzler <Ronald.Schwaerzler@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

This is a comment by punkt.wien GmbH (.WIEN application) to ICANN’s request for 
comments on the "Use of a Drawing for Prioritizing New gTLD Applications”.


Prioritization of Applicants
We appreciate ICANN’s proposal to prioritize IDNs as they are believed to serve 
the global public interest. We acknowledge the 17 October 2012 GAC Communiqué 
that includes “Some [GAC-]members consider that geographic name gTLDs approved 
by the relevant government authority, community names and applications from 
developing countries should likewise be prioritized.” 
We concur with the members of the GAC that suggested community and geographic 
names be prioritized.  


COMMUNITY  APPLICATIONS
They receive preferential status in the new gTLD program because of the 
commitments that have been made to serve the public interest of those 
respective communities. As self-identified community applicants, all were 
required to respond to Applicant Guidebook question 20 that necessitated they 
define their registration restrictions (i.e., eligibility, name selection, 
content/use, and enforcement), accountability mechanisms and to provide 
endorsement letters from their respective communities. The commitments these 
applicants made and the endorsements they received demonstrate and substantiate 
their role in serving the public interest. Additionally, these applicants will 
be contractually bound by ICANN to their commitments and be subject to enhanced 
compliance mechanisms such as the Registration Restrictions Dispute Resolution 
Procedure (RRDRP). 


GeoTLD APPLICATIONS
Each of the GeoTLD APPLICATIONS has to have the support or non-objection of the 
respective governments or public authorities before approval by ICANN; some 
GeoTLDs have even been filed by public authorities themselves. This requirement 
for government support or non-objection is a core element of the GAC Principles 
Regarding New gTLDs issued in March, 2007. These public policy principles were 
introduced to safeguard the global public interest! 

Principle 2.2 says: "ICANN should avoid country, territory or place names, and 
country, territory or regional language or people descriptions, unless in 
agreement with relevant governments or public authorities.

In this way GeoTLDs complement the provisioning of ccTLDs, GeoTLDs are in the 
interest of the relevant national and global Internet community on a focused 
local basis. 


We believe that ICANN should prioritize community and geographic applications 
as it would be consistent with the preferential position they are afforded in 
the new gTLD program. 



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Ronald Schwaerzler
CEO
punkt.wien GmbH
Matznergasse 17
1140 Wien
AUSTRIA