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Classes and timelines, the new gTLD debate
Thursday, March 5. 2009
The ICANN Board in session during the Mexico meeting Public Forum (Photo SVG).
Two of the most talked about points at this week's 34th ICANN meeting in Mexico are the new gTLD program's timeline and the possibility of having different classes for different types of new gTLD applicants.
From Monday's joint AC/SO meeting, in which I was involved as a GNSO Council member and where ICANN's different advisory committee and supporting organisations came together for informal discussions, to today's (Thursday) Public Forum, the two topics have been at the fore.
The class idea is to have ICANN differentiate between types of applicants so that, basically, the "easy" ones aren't delayed by the "difficult" TLD applications. Proponents include the so-called GeoTLD applicants, such as cities and regions, which have the backing of their local authority or government and therefore should probably generate less validation issues.
From the various discussions I've had this week, it is clear that ICANN staff are not very open to this class idea for the moment. The fear seems to be that correctly identifying TLD applicants might prove difficult, with the risk that certain applicants would be able to "slip through" by claiming to be in an easy class, even though they are not.
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