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Release of Country and Territory Names within the .SOFTBANK, .ART and .CARAVAN TLDs

19 July 2016

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Open Date: 19 July 2016 Close Date: 31 August 2016
Originating Organization: Global Domains Division
Categories/Tags:
  • Top-Level Domains
  • Second-Level Domains
  • Contracted Party Agreements
  • Security/Stability
Brief Overview:

Three (3) Registry Services Evaluation Policy (RSEP) requests were submitted by the registry operators listed below to allow the release of country and territory names for the below TLDs. In total, the requests concern 3 New gTLDs.

Proposal TLD Registry Name Documents
2016031 caravan Caravan International, Inc. Caravan International, Inc. Request 2 June 2016 [PDF, 17 KB]
2016028 art UK Creative Ideas Limited UK Creative Ideas Limited Request 18 May 2016 [PDF, 16 KB]
2016023 softbank Softbank Corp. Softbank Corp. Request 29 April 2016 [PDF, 18 KB]

Currently, .SOFTBANK, .ART and .CARAVAN Registry Agreements require country and territory names contained in specific internationally recognized lists to be withheld from registration or allocated to the registry operator at all levels.

As required by the RSEP, ICANN has undertaken a preliminary determination on whether these RSEP proposals might raise significant competition, security or stability issues. ICANN's preliminary review (based on the information provided) did not identify any such issues.

Following ICANN's preliminary determination that the proposals do not raise significant competition, security or stability issues, it was further determined that the change would require a material change to the respective Registry Agreements and that an amendment is needed in order to effect the change.

The proposed amendments, which are being posted for comment, would allow the registration of country and territory names at all levels in .SOFTBANK, .ART and .CARAVAN TLDs. It should be noted that Specification 13 has been granted for .SOFTBANK on 2 July 2015 and Specification 13 has been granted for .CARAVAN on 4 September 2015, whereas Registry Agreement for .ART does not include Specification 13 provisions in place.

Link: https://www.icann.org/public-comments/ctn-release-tlds-2016-07-19-en