[alac] New TLDs / Question 1
Here are my thoughts on the first set (of five) of ICANN's new TLD questions. Rather than answer them point by point, I've drafted my comments in narrative form. ------ QUESTIONS (Set 1): How many new TLDs should ICANN designate, and with what frequency? What are the benefits and costs associated with delegating and operating new TLDs? With what frequency should new TLDs be introduced? Should applications be accepted at any time and measured against published criteria? Should strings to be allocated per round at either at fixed or indeterminate rate? What feedback mechanisms and criteria should be used to adjust the frequencies? What are the technical limits on the number of TLD strings that can safely be included in the root zone file? What are the practical, logistical and resource limits to the frequency of adding new TLDs? FAUSETT DRAFT (Set 1): New top-level domains enhance the ability of users to identify themselves and the content they create on the Internet. They allow natural communities to express their common interests under a common moniker. They allow persons, companies, and communities from a variety of backgrounds, cultures and languages to identify themselves and their content with an appropriate label that has meaning to them. ICANN should not “designate” new TLDs but instead should accept and evaluate applications submitted from members of the worldwide Internet community to create and operate new top-level domains. The questions “how many” and “with what frequency” do not and should not have precise answers. ICANN should accept all applications from qualified entities that either benefit the public interest or enhance competition in the registration of domain names. ICANN should accept and evaluate the applications on their merits, against objective criteria, as soon as practicable given the natural constraints of ICANN’s time, budget, and available personnel. Rather than accept applications at set times, the application process should be a standing part of ICANN’s work. Applicants should be free to submit applications whenever they believe they have completed an application that meets ICANN’s published, objective criteria. For the foreseeable future, the primary constraint on the introduction of new TLDs will not be technical limits on the number of entries in the root zone file but ICANN’s ability to review and approve applications with its available personnel. Even if ICANN charges an application fee designed to cover the costs of additional evaluation staff, a new evaluation process will move slowly at the beginning due to a lack of institutional experience with the process. Over time and with experience, ICANN should be able to move to a process that approves qualified applicants within a reasonable time, in a predictable manner, and at a reasonable cost to applicants that covers ICANN’s actual time and expense. |