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ICANN Opens Public Comment on Draft Applicant Guidebook

30 May 2025
By
Lars Hoffmann

Lars Hoffmann

VP, Policy Development & GAC Relations

Lars joined ICANN in January 2013 as a Policy Specialist, supporting the GNSO in its policy development processes, after which he worked for ICANN’s Strategic Initiative function, where he oversaw ICANN’s organizational reviews. In August 2020, Lars took on the role of Senior Director for Policy Research within the Global Domains and Strategy function where his responsibilities included the policy and implementation lifecycle of community-developed consensus policies. On 1 November 2023 Lars was promoted to Vice President, New gTLD Program Management, acting also as the deputy program lead.

Prior to joining ICANN, Lars was an Assistant Professor of European Constitutional Law at the University of Maastricht. He holds a doctorate in International Relations from the University of Oxford and an MSc in Political Economy from the London School of Economics. He was born in Germany and speaks German, English, French, and Dutch, and he can sometimes solve a Rubix cube.

I am pleased to announce that the complete draft Applicant Guidebook (AGB) for the New Generic Top-Level Domains (gTLD) Program: Next Round is now open for Public Comment. This marks the last in a series of Public Comment proceedings on proposed language for the guidebook, which describes the requirements of the application and evaluation processes for new gTLDs. The AGB has been developed in consultation with the Subsequent Procedures Implementation Review Team (IRT).

As this is the last in the series, the ICANN organization (org) is requesting that community input focus on issues not previously addressed via Public Comment or discussion with the IRT.

This is a major milestone in the effort to implement the New gTLD Program and open the new gTLD application submission period by April 2026. Having reached this point is a testament to the years of work undertaken by the ICANN community to develop the outputs of the New gTLD Subsequent Procedures Policy Development Process and now, via the IRT, to implement the outputs. The ICANN org greatly appreciates the work of the IRT in reaching this milestone and looks forward to continued collaboration with the team as it moves closer to adoption of the guidebook and the opening of the Next Round.

This Public Comment proceeding on the AGB will last for 54 days, opening on 30 May 2025 and closing on 23 July 2025, thereby accounting for ICANN83. Please note that, in line with guidance issued by the IRT, additional extensions will not be provided in order to support the overall timeline to finalize the AGB.

ICANN will host a webinar on 3 June 2025 to provide a high-level overview of the AGB. The ICANN org also will brief community groups who requested sessions at ICANN83.

Following the close of the Public Comment period, the ICANN org will work with the IRT to make any necessary updates to the AGB, after which the ICANN Board will review the AGB and consider it for adoption by the fourth quarter of 2025. As detailed in the implementation plan, the application submission period for the Next Round is scheduled to open in April 2026.

Authors

Lars Hoffmann

Lars Hoffmann

VP, Policy Development & GAC Relations
Lars Hoffmann

Lars Hoffmann

VP, Policy Development & GAC Relations

Lars joined ICANN in January 2013 as a Policy Specialist, supporting the GNSO in its policy development processes, after which he worked for ICANN’s Strategic Initiative function, where he oversaw ICANN’s organizational reviews. In August 2020, Lars took on the role of Senior Director for Policy Research within the Global Domains and Strategy function where his responsibilities included the policy and implementation lifecycle of community-developed consensus policies. On 1 November 2023 Lars was promoted to Vice President, New gTLD Program Management, acting also as the deputy program lead.

Prior to joining ICANN, Lars was an Assistant Professor of European Constitutional Law at the University of Maastricht. He holds a doctorate in International Relations from the University of Oxford and an MSc in Political Economy from the London School of Economics. He was born in Germany and speaks German, English, French, and Dutch, and he can sometimes solve a Rubix cube.

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