ICANN Sets the Rules for Who Gets a Top-Level Domain
ICANN — the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers — is a multinational, multi-stakeholders, semi-regulatory organization that has no real parallel. It is not run by governments, though they have a strong role. It is not run by the domain name industry, or by the Internet technical community. Rather, it’s a place where all these groups, and many others, join to formulate policy for the Internet’s addressing systems.
Five Things You Need To Know About ICANN
- ICANN decides who gets TLDs and what the rules are for operating them.
- ICANN will, sometime in 2010, begin the process for allocating new TLDs to all those who qualify.
- There are special rules for “geographical” TLDs, for instance City TLDs. One of those is that the relevant government authorities need to either approve or not object to the applicant.
- The consensus to date on the new TLD application process is embodied in the Draft Applicant Guidebook (DAG).
- There may not be another round for applying for new TLDs for several years.
The ICANN Community
One of ICANN’s biggest responsibilities is deciding when, how, and to whom new TLDs should be allocated, and deciding the rules for how they will be run. Because ICANN is a multi-stakeholder organization, however, these rules are not handed down from on high. Instead, what’s known as the “ICANN community” (all those people and organizations that participate in ICANN) need to reach a rough consensus before any plans move forward.
In 2007, the Generic Name Supporting Organization (GNSO), the body within ICANN that develops domain name policies, recommended that ICANN should allocate new TLDs to any qualified applicant. This is in keeping with ICANN’s founding mandate (it was founded in 2000) to introduce choice and competition into the domain name space. ICANN did this first by introducing registrars, which quickly brought the average retail price for domain names to about $10 per year (down from $35). Introducing new TLDs is the next step.
The Draft Applicant Guidebook — ICANN’s Application Form
The collective consensus to date is found in ICANN’s Draft Applicant Guidebook (DAG), now in its third revision. The Applicant Guidebook is essentially ICANN’s application form, containing the distillation of community policy recommendations, and still a subject of contention in a few areas. A fourth revision (DAG 4) is expected early in 2010, prior to a final Guidebook later in the year. The Guidebook is itself a huge and complicated document with many parts. The latest version can be found on the new gTLD page on ICANN’s site.
ICANN Contract
Any new TLD registry will have to sign a contract with ICANN. Provisions include fees paid to ICANN, data escrow provisions, and the obligation of TLD registries to follow ICANN’s policies, including future ones.
If your application is accepted and approved by ICANN, you will be given a 10-year contract with a presumptive renewal, which means that if you operate the TLD registry without major mishap, you will be given a contract extension.
Our resources page includes other relevant documentation from ICANN.
