Starting Dot: Prioritizing Community TLDs and CPE -

[Godefroy Jordan <godefroy@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

STARTING DOT submits this public comment in response to ICANN’s request for
comments on the Use of a Drawing for Prioritizing New gTLD Applications.



STARTING DOT is a new gTLD registry focusing on regulated business sectors
and professions.  Three of our five applications are restricted community
gTLD applications and carry significant consumer protection issues, all
being regulation-abiding and developed in partnership with the relevant
organizations in charge of the regulation and every day life of the related
communities.



STARTING DOT is a member of the informal CTAG group – Community TLD
Applicant Group. It endorses all recommendations posted earlier today by
the CTAG within its public comment, with two areas of specific focus and
one additional related recommendation, detailed below.



STARTING DOT acknowledges the 17 October 2012 GAC Communiqué that includes:
“Some members consider that geographic name gTLDs approved by the relevant
government authority, community names and applications from developing
countries should likewise be prioritized.”



STARTING DOT specifically endorses the CTAG public comment recommending
that ICANN prioritize community applications, as it would be consistent
with the preferential position they are afforded in the new gTLD program,
and is based on the strong community rooting, regulation-abiding and
consumer protection nature of the majority of the 84 community-based
applications.



STARTING DOT also supports the CTAG public comment recommending that
community applicants be permitted to elect ‘Community Priority Evaluation’
(CPE) and be scored as soon as their initial evaluation is complete
regardless of the status of any contending applications or whether the
applicant is subject to a dispute resolution procedure.



We look forward to working, via the CTAG, with ICANN staff on the CTAG and
our proposed recommendations.



Sincerely,



Godefroy Jordan



Founder and Chairman

Starting Dot s.a.s.