[kictanet] Fwd: ICANN Announces Important Milestones in Making the Internet More Accessible to All

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http://www.icann.org/en/announcements/announcement-04oct09-en.htm



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ICANN Announces Important Milestones in Making the Internet More
Accessible to All



4 October 2009

In the past several days, ICANN has announced recent milestones
regarding changes in how the Internet community will use the
Internet in the near future. These important developments include
the plan for deployment of Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs)
in the next few months and significant progress in developing the
model for delegating new generic top-level domains (gTLDs).



Proposed Final Implementation Plan: IDN ccTLD Fast Track Process

http://www.icann.org/en/topics/idn/fast-track/idn-cctld-implement
ation-plan-30sep09-en.pdf



ICANN is pleased to announce the public posting of the Proposed
Final Implementation Plan for the IDN ccTLD Fast Track Process.



The IDN ccTLD Fast Track Process is an important step at making
the Internet equally accessible for everyone. It will enable the
introduction of a limited number of internationalized
country-code top level domain names (IDN ccTLDs). As noted by
ICANN CEO Rod Beckstrom, once implemented, this will be the first
time that users can obtain a domain name with the entire string
in characters other than ASCII (or Latin) characters, "this is
one of the most exciting developments for the users of the
Internet globally in years. IDNs will enable the people the world
over to use domain name addresses in their own language." The
process will be available to all countries and territories where
the official language is based on scripts other than the Latin
(extended) script. IDNs, like the Affirmation of Commitments
announced last week (www.icann.org ) are another step towards
making the Internet more truly global to achieve our goal of "one
world, one Internet, everyone connected."



The proposed final plan is scheduled for ICANN Board
consideration at the ICANN meeting in Seoul, Korea, 26-30 October
2009.



The proposed launch date for the IDN ccTLD Fast Track Process is
16 November 2009.



ICANN is looking forward to feedback on the final plan in the
public comment forum designated for that purpose.



The proposed final plan has been developed based on responses to
community comments and discussions. See the latest status update
at:
http://www.icann.org/en/announcements/announcement-2-09sep09-en.h
tm.



Responding to Public Comment:

Version 3 of New gTLD Applicant Guidebook

A Work In Progress

http://www.icann.org/en/topics/new-gtlds/comments-3-en.htm



The latest draft of the Applicant Guidebook that describes the
process of applying for new generic top-level domains (gTLDs) was
released today. New gTLDs are expected to bring innovative
services and greater choice to Internet users through increased
competition and engender broad participation through the
introduction of IDNs and community-based TLDs into the Domain
Name System.



In the last three months, the community has joined in extensive
collaborative efforts on technical, intellectual property,
potential for malicious conduct, and other matters, with global
consultations in New York, Sydney, London, Hong Kong and Abu
Dhabi.



The Guidebook has been changed significantly. As indicated by
ICANN Chief Operating Officer, Doug Brent, "this third version of
draft guidebook represents months of outstanding effort by many
in the ICANN community - working to resolve the few, challenging
remaining issues. This version is being released with materials
that describe how public comment has influenced the changes
presented in it." In all, there are over 50 areas of change,
clearly indicated in the "redline" version of the Guidebook. In
addition to specific trademark protections (described below) the
new Guidebook includes:



•Measures to prevent or mitigate potential for malicious conduct
including a proposal to create high-security zones;

•Enhanced stability / security measures, requiring DNSSEC
deployment and prohibiting use of wildcards;

•Protecting registrants by taking step to ensure registry
viability: defining a financial instrument that will ensure
ongoing registry operations in the event of failure, and
specifying certain pre-delegation registry tests; and

•Enhanced contractual tools through the development of
post-delegation dispute procedures including one to ensure that
community-based TLDs adhere to their self-described purpose.

Like all previous versions, this draft is posted for public
comment. It has been released prior to the ICANN meeting to be
held in Seoul from October 25-30. During the Seoul meeting ICANN
will conduct several sessions to facilitate discussion of this
version of the Applicant Guidebook and finding solutions to the
outstanding issues. Information about additional events will be
available on the Seoul Meeting schedule at:
http://sel.icann.org/full-sched.



Trademark Protection Measures – Where to next?

http://www.icann.org/en/topics/new-gtlds/gnso-consultations-repor
ts-en.htm



Specific trademark protection mechanisms are still to be decided
upon by the Board.



After receiving trademark protection recommendations from the
Implementation Recommendation Team and others, taking extensive
comment and conducting consultation with the broad community,
ICANN has drafted a set of implementation recommendations related
to intellectual property protections for the new gTLD program.
Additional rights protection included in the Guidebook are the:



•requirement to maintain a "thick" Whois database, and

•specification of a post-delegation dispute procedure so that
trademark holders can lodge complaints of abusive behavior
against registries when merited.

For other proposed rights protection mechanisms, the Board is
providing the Generic Names Supporting Organization (the policy
organization that developed the new gTLDs policy) with the
opportunity to offer focused input on this specific area of the
proposed implementation plan that is being published now. Those
proposed rights protection mechanisms are:



•The creation of an IP Clearinghouse, which is a database of
validated trademarks to be utilized by new gTLD registry
operators in implementing either an IP Claims service or Sunrise
process during TLD launch; and

•The creation of a Uniform Rapid Suspension process for use in
clear-cut, blatant cases of trademark infringement.

The community at-large may also comment on these specific issues,
and of course, any other new gTLD issues through comment fora
found on the new gTLD pages.



The public comment period on these trademark protection solutions
will be open until 22 November 2009.



Please continue checking the New gTLD program webpage for
updates.



Prior to implementation, ICANN will work with the community to
address remaining issues including: competition, consumer
protection, security, stability and resiliency, malicious abuse
issues, sovereignty concerns, and rights protection.



Related links



New gTLD program webpage:

http://www.icann.org/en/topics/new-gtld-program.htm



Seoul meeting: http://sel.icann.org/



Media Contact:



Michele Jourdan

Corporate Affairs

ICANN

Ph: +1-310-301-5831

E: michele.jourdan at icann.org
 

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