Re: [soac-newgtldapsup-wg] This should help needy applicants

[Carlton Samuels <carlton.samuels@xxxxxxxxx>]

Thanks for posting this Elaine.

Carlton

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Carlton A Samuels
Mobile: 876-818-1799
*Strategy, Planning, Governance, Assessment & Turnaround*
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On Fri, Jul 8, 2011 at 1:34 PM, Elaine Pruis <elaine@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>wrote:

> *Date: *July 7, 2011 2:03:35 PM PDT
> *Subject: **Wiki to shake up the new gTLD market*
> *Source: *DomainIncite - Domain Name News & Opinion
> *Author: *Kevin Murphy
>
> *Tens of thousands of dollars worth of registry secret sauce is set to be
> released under a Creative Commons license on a new wiki, courtesy of the
> International Telecommunications Union.*
>
> Applying for a new generic top-level domain could be about to get a whole
> lot cheaper.
>
> Before October, the ITU plans to publish template answers to all 22 of the
> questions about registry technical operations demanded by ICANN’s Applicant
> Guidebook.
>
> Because it will be published under a Creative Commons license, new gTLD
> applicants will be free to copy and paste the whole lot into their
> applications for free.
>
> And because it will be on a wiki, approved contributors will be able to
> fine-tune the templates to increase their chances of passing ICANN’s
> technical evaluation.
>
> Currently, gTLD applicants are generally paying registry back-end providers
> to take care of this part of their applications, paying $10,000 and up for
> the privilege.
>
> I think the word that applies here is “disruptive”.
>
> Consultant and former ICANN board member Michael Palage, who has worked on
> a number of previous TLD launches, is coordinating the creation of the
> templates with input from registries and engineers.
>
> The resulting “best in class” material will also be used by the ITU and the
> League of Arab States in their bid for .arab and its Arabic equivalent,
> .عرب.
>
> According to the Guidebook, applicants do not need hands-on experience
> running a registry in order to have their application approved. ICANN is
> trying to enable competition, after all.
>
> But there is a period of pre-delegation testing that each successful
> applicant must endure before their new gTLD is added to the root, so a
> simple copy-paste of the ITU’s templates will not suffice.
>
> I doubt this project will take a great deal of money out of the pockets of
> the incumbent registries – well-funded applicants will presumably be happy
> to pay the extra money for certainty – but it will provide a bit of
> flexibility for applicants not already in bed with a back-end.
>
> It could also help open up the new gTLD market to companies that may not
> have otherwise considered it, such as those in the developing world.
>
> Indeed, part of the rationale for the Creative Commons publication is to
> aid with “capacity building” in these nations, according to an ITU
> presentation delivered in Cairo this week.
>
> We’ve already seen pricing 
> competition<http://domainincite.com/neustar-prices-brands-at-10k/> hit
> the registry services market in the wake of the approval of the new gTLD
> program, now it appears we’re seeing the dawn of “free”.
>
>
> Elaine
>
>