ICANN Acronyms and Terms

ICANN has hundreds of acronyms and terms, which can be confusing. We created this multilingual tool to help explain what these terms mean and facilitate your work within the ICANN community.

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ICANN Acronyms and Terms

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B

1-7 of 7 results

bidder

Within the context of new generic top-level domains (gTLDs), a bidder is an applicant participating in an auction.

Board Committee

A committee established by the ICANN Board of Directors to handle a particular topic area. A Board Committee consists of two or more Directors and optional Liaisons. Directors are the only voting members on a Board Committee. Liaisons serve as non-voting, advisors.

Established Board Committees include:

  • Audit Committee
  • Compensation Committee
  • Executive Committee
  • Finance Committee
  • Governance Committee
  • Organizational Effectiveness Committee
  • Risk Committee
  • Technical Committee
  • Accountability Mechanisms Committee
  • botnet command and control(botnet C&C)

    A computer operated by cyberattackers that issues commands to devices that comprise a botnet. A botnet is a collection of malware-infected devices (bots) that act in response to commands from a botnet C&C. Typically, a botnet C&C instructs elements of its botnet to extract information from their host systems or engage in malicious action such as a distributed denial-of-service attack.

    bottom-up process

    A consultative style of decision-making that provides an opportunity for open and equal participation at all levels. At ICANN, policy recommendations flow up from the stakeholder level, which includes directly affected parties, Internet users, businesses, and anyone else who would like to participate, to the ICANN Board.

    brand top-level domain(brand TLD)

    In the New Generic Top-Level Domain Program (New gTLD Program), a designation for a TLD that is operated by and for an entity under its trademarked name as outlined in the entity’s Registry Agreement with ICANN. To qualify as a brand TLD, a registry operator must apply for the brand TLD designation and the brand’s trademark must be recorded in the Trademark Clearinghouse.

    bulk transfer

    The transfer of some or all domain name registrations from one registrar to another. Bulk transfers are used when a registrar is purchased by another company. They are also used to transfer registrations to an accredited registrar when a registrar loses its accreditation. ICANN must approve bulk transfers.

    Business Constituency(BC)

    A constituency within the Commercial Stakeholder Group of the Generic Names Supporting Organization. The BC represents the interests and concerns of large and small commercial and business users of the internet.