In early December, members of the Competition, Consumer Trust & Consumer Choice Review Team (CCT-RT) completed a three-day drafting meeting in Washington D.C. On the back of a busy schedule of meetings at ICANN57 and weekly plenary meetings, the drafting meeting was extremely productive. We were able to refine our findings and recommendations as well as identify areas where additional data is needed to support our work.
Although we initially planned to release the draft report in December, we believe it is prudent to take additional time to obtain additional information that will allow us to support our analysis. Before the end of the year, we expect to receive a report on a survey of new gTLD applicants as well as a response from Analysis Group (the study authors) to the public comments on the Phase II Assessment of the Competitive Effects Associated with the New gTLD Program.
We intend to publish the draft report for public comment here in January 2017. Stay tuned!
The Competition, Consumer Trust and Consumer Choice Review Team is examining the extent to which the introduction or expansion of generic top-level domains (gTLDs) has promoted competition, consumer trust and consumer choice. It is also assessing the effectiveness of the application and evaluation processes, as well as the safeguards put in place by ICANN to mitigate issues involved in the introduction or expansion of new gTLDs.
IMPORTANT UPDATE: the Competition, Consumer Trust and Consumer Choice Review Team Report of Draft Recommendations for Public Comment is now scheduled for February 2017.