Thursday, 23 December 2010
At the ICANN meeting held in Cartagena, Colombia, from 5 to 10 December, it was agreed there would be an intersessional meeting to be held between ICANN and the Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) before the San Francisco meeting, to be held from 13 to 18 March, in the interest of resolving outstanding issues with the new gTLD process. The GAC Communiqué that came out as a result of the meeting notes "that the GAC will provide the Board at the earliest opportunity with a list or "scorecard" of the issues which the GAC feels are still outstanding and require additional discussion between the Board and the GAC. These include:
The objection procedures including the requirements for governments to pay fees
Procedures for the review of sensitive strings
Root Zone Scaling
Market and Economic Impacts
Registry – Registrar Separation
Protection of Rights Owners and consumer protection issues
Post-delegation disputes with governments
Use and protection of geographical names
Legal recourse for applicants
Providing opportunities for all stakeholders including those from developing countries
Law enforcement due diligence recommendations to amend the Registrar Accreditation Agreement as noted in the Brussels Communiqué
The need for an early warning to applicants whether a proposed string would be considered controversial or to raise sensitivities (including geographical names).
Kieren McCarthy has also written on the issue on the Global Internet Business Coalition website at:
gibc.biz/2010/12/governments-outline-12-points-of-gtld-contention-with-icann/
The GAC communiqué is available at:
gac.icann.org/system/files/Cartagena_Communique_0.pdf
David Goldstein
