Competition, Consumer Trust and Consumer Choice Review (CCT)

Objectives of the CCT Review

Under the Bylaws (Section 4.6(d)), ICANN is committed to ensuring that it will adequately address issues of competition, consumer protection, security, stability and resiliency, malicious abuse issues, sovereignty concerns, and rights protection prior to increasing in the number of new generic top-level domains under an application process initiated after 1 October 2016 (“New gTLD Round”).

The review team for the CCT Review (“CCT Review Team”) examines the extent to which the expansion of gTLDs has promoted competition, consumer trust and consumer choice.  It also assesses the effectiveness of the New gTLD Round’s application and evaluation process, as well as the safeguards put in place to mitigate issues arising from the New gTLD Round.

For each of its recommendations, the CCT Review Team should indicate whether the recommendation, if accepted by the Board, must be implemented before opening subsequent rounds of new generic top-level domain applications periods.

The CCT Review Team shall also assess the extent to which prior CCT Review recommendations have been implemented and the extent to which implementation of such recommendations has resulted in the intended effect. 

Timeline of Review

• The first CCT Review was launched in October 2015 and is conducted under the rules and procedures stated in the Affirmation of Commitments.
• The Board shall cause future reviews to be conducted after a new gTLD round has been in operation for one year.

The graphic below illustrates phases and status of each review - a  indicates that all activities within a given phase have been completed.  The chart that follows the graphic provides further details of key activities and milestones within each phase – you can view these details by clicking on each of the phases in the graphic.  The table also contains links to relevant documents.

Metrics to Support the CCT Review

ICANN conducted a series of activities to prepare for the first CCT review. These activities included developing metrics and collecting data for benchmarking purposes to be available to the review team.  A comprehensive set of metrics and data were adopted by the ICANN Board based on recommendations from the community.  These metrics have been collected by ICANN to assess various aspects of new gTLDs.  For further information related to the work of the community that proposed these metrics, please visit the IAG-CCT Wiki.

The metrics and data collected by ICANN to support the CCT Review are published here.  ICANN commissioned a global survey and economic study to gather data on some of the recommended metrics.  The baseline report on consumers and registrants has been published, in addition to a Phase 2 study for both surveys to compare changes in consumer and registrant attitudes in the year since the baseline report was published.  In addition, the baseline assessment of competition in the domain name marketplace has also been published.  A Phase 2 assessment was published and can be viewed here.

Global Consumer and Registrant Surveys

ICANN commissioned a global survey to measure aspects of consumer awareness, perceived consumer choice, experience and trust related to the current generic top-level domain (gTLD) landscape and the domain name system (DNS).  Nielsen was retained to conduct an initial survey to create a meaningful baseline of data on Internet users' and domain name registrants' attitudes and will perform a follow-on survey to generate a set of comparison data to inform the CCT Review.  This second survey was conducted one year after the first survey to determine how opinions changed over time and as more new gTLDs became available in the domain name marketplace.

ICANN has published the Phase One Results from Multiyear Consumer Study of the Domain Name Landscape.  The Phase One study surveyed 6,144 consumers aged 18+ representing Asia, Europe, Africa, North America and South America, and was administered in 18 languages and drawn from 24 countries. The research was conducted by Nielsen between February 2-19, 2015.  The full Phase One Report is available here.  The Phase Two study surveyed 5,452 consumers ages 18+ and representing all five regions previously mentioned, encompassing the same 18 languages and 24 countries as the Phase One study. The research was conducted between April 12-May 2, 2016. The full Phase Two Report is available here.

ICANN also commissioned Nielsen to conduct a global survey of domain name registrants and their perceived sense of trust and choice in the domain name space.  Results from the Phase One survey are available here.  Phase Two results can be found here.

Economic Study

ICANN retained the Analysis Group to conduct an economic study examining pricing trends and other competition indicators in the global DNS market. The Analysis Group designed and executed an initial study to create a meaningful baseline of data on multiple factors of competition and will perform a follow-on study one year later, to generate and analyze a set of comparison data.

Results from the Phase One study are available here.  Results from the Phase Two study are available here.

Additional Information

More information on the CCT Review is available on the CCT-Wiki.

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