Competition, Consumer Trust and Consumer Choice Review (CCT)
Under the Bylaws (Section 4.6(d)), ICANN is committed to a review of the extent to which the expansion of generic top-level domains (gTLDs) has promoted competition, consumer trust, and consumer choice. The Competition, Consumer Trust, Consumer Choice (CCT) Review also serves to assess the effectiveness of the New gTLD Round’s application and evaluation process, as well as the safeguards put in place to mitigate possible issues arising from the New gTLD Round.
To date, ICANN org has conducted one iteration of the CCT Review and is in the process of implementing CCT recommendations approved by the Board in March 2019 and October 2020. For more information on CCT Review work, see here.
Click here to learn more about ICANN Reviews.
Implementation of CCT Recommendations
On 1 March 2019, the Board took action on the 35 CCT Final recommendations as documented in the Final CCT Recommendations: Board Action (1 March 2019) scorecard:
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The Board accepted a total of 6 (Recommendations 1, 17, 21, 22, 30, and 31), in whole or in part, out of the 35 CCT Recommendations, subject to costing and implementation considerations.
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17 recommendations (Recommendations 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18, 20, 23, 24, and 26) were placed in pending status, in whole or in part, with a Board commitment to take further action on these recommendations subsequent to the completion of intermediate steps as identified in the Scorecard
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14 recommendations were passed through to the community, in whole or in part, for consideration (Recommendations 9, 10, 12, 16, 19, 20, 25, 27, 28, 29, 32, 33, 34, and 35).
On 26 January 2020, the Board approved the plan for implementation of recommendations accepted on 1 March 2019 with a note that implementation is subject to prioritization.
On 22 October 2020, the Board took action on 11 of the 17 pending recommendations ( Recommendations 6, 7, 8, 11, 13, 16, 18, 20, 23, 24, and 26) to approve them subject to prioritization, as documented in the Competition, Consumer Trust, Consumer Choice Review Team (CCT-RT) Pending Recommendations: Board Action on Eleven Pending Recommendations scorecard.
Prioritization of Board approved recommendations considered eligible for prioritization was completed in May 2022.
On 10 September 2023, the Board took action on two CCT pending recommendations (14-15), as specified with the Board Action/Rationale on & ICANN org Assessment of Competition, Consumer Trust, Consumer Choice Review (CCT) Pending Recommendations 14 and 15, and Second Security, Stability and Resiliency of DNS Review (SSR2) Recommendations 9.2, 9.3, 12.1, 12.2, 12.3, 12.4, 13.1, 13.2 and 14.2 scorecard. The Board resolved to reject recommendations 14 and 15.
Currently, a total of four recommendations (Recommendations 2, 3, 4, 5) remain pending further Board action.
The table below provides information relating to the implementation of Board approved recommendations. Implementation status of recommendations should be understood as follows:
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Complete: a recommendation's intent which is considered implemented or addressed and for which implementation documentation is available.
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In progress: a recommendation for which work has started to address deliverables identified during the implementation design. Implementation design is the preparatory phase for implementation during which a cross-functional project team develops guidelines that include deliverables for implementation, costing out resources, risk assessment, as well as an inventory of existing work etc.
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Not started: Work has not started due to, for instance, a dependency on another recommendation and/or process.
Where available, the priority level assigned by the community during the prioritization process (where P1 corresponds to the highest priority and P4 to the lowest) is inserted in the table below. For more information on prioritization, see here.
Rec # |
Implementation Status |
Priority Level Assigned by the Community |
Description |
Notes |
1 |
In progress |
P1 |
Formalize and promote ongoing data collection. |
N/A |
6 |
In progress |
P2 |
Partner with mechanisms and entities involved with the collection of TLD data. As feasible, collect TLD registration number data per TLD and registrar at a country-by-country level in order to perform analysis based on the same methods used in the Latin American and Caribbean DNS Marketplace (LAC) Study. |
N/A |
7 |
In progress |
P4 |
Collect domain usage data to better understand the implications of parked domains. |
N/A |
8 |
In progress |
P1 |
Conduct periodic surveys of registrants that gathers both objective and subjective information with a goal of creating more concrete and actionable information. |
N/A |
11 |
In progress |
P1 |
Conduct periodic end-user consumer surveys. Future review teams should work with survey experts to conceive more behavioral measures of consumer trust that gather both objective and subjective data with a goal toward generating more concrete and actionable information. |
N/A |
13 |
In progress |
Items 1, 2, 4 (in part) prioritized as P1 Items 3, 4 (in part), 5 prioritized as P2 |
ICANN should collect data in conjunction with its related data collection activities on the impact of restrictions on who can buy domains within certain new gTLDs (registration restrictions) to help regularly determine and report: 1. Whether consumers and registrants are aware that certain new gTLDs have registration restrictions; 2. Compare consumer trust levels between new gTLDs with varying degrees of registration restrictions; [...] |
N/A |
16 |
Complete |
N/A |
Further study the relationship between specific registry operators, registrars, and DNS Security Abuse by commissioning ongoing data collection, including but not limited to, ICANN DAAR initiatives. [...] |
|
17 |
Complete |
N/A |
ICANN should collect data about and publicize the chain of parties responsible for gTLD domain name registrations. |
|
18 |
Complete |
N/A |
In order for the upcoming WHOIS Review Team to determine whether additional steps are needed to improve WHOIS accuracy, and whether to proceed with the identity phase of the Accuracy Reporting System (ARS) project, ICANN should gather data to assess whether a [...] |
|
20 |
In progress |
P2 |
Assess whether mechanisms to report and handle complaints have led to more focused efforts to combat abuse by determining: (1) the volume of reports of illegal conduct in connection with the use of the TLD that registries receive from governmental and quasi-governmental agencies; (2) the volume of inquires that registries receive from the public related to malicious conduct in the TLD; (3) whether more efforts are needed to publicize contact points to report complaints [...] |
N/A |
21 |
In progress |
Item 2 prioritized as P2 |
Include more detailed information on the subject matter of complaints in ICANN publicly available compliance reports. Specifically, more precise data on the subject matter of complaints, particularly: (1) the class/type of abuse; (2) the gTLD that is target of the abuse; (3) the safeguard that is at risk; (4) an indication of whether complaints relate to the protection of sensitive health or financial information; (5) what type of contractual breach is being complained of; and (6) resolution status of the complaints, including action details. These details would assist future review teams in their assessment of these safeguards. |
N/A |
22 |
In progress |
P2 |
Initiate engagement with relevant stakeholders to determine what best practices are being implemented to offer reasonable and appropriate security measures commensurate with the offering of services that involve the gathering of sensitive health and financial information. Such a discussion could include identifying what falls within the categories of "sensitive health and financial information" and what metrics could be used to measure compliance with this safeguard. |
N/A |
23 |
In progress |
P2 |
ICANN should gather data on new gTLDs operating in highly-regulated sectors to include the following elements: A survey to determine: 1) the steps registry operators are taking to establish working relationships with relevant government or industry bodies; and 2) the volume of complaints received by registrants from government and regulatory bodies and their standard practices to respond to complaints. [...] |
N/A |
24 |
In progress |
Item B prioritized as P2 |
a. Determine whether ICANN Contractual Compliance should report on a quarterly basis whether it has received complaints for a registry operator's failure to comply with either the safeguard related to gTLDs with inherent governmental functions or the safeguard related to cyberbullying. b. Survey registries to determine: 1) whether they receive complaints related to cyberbullying and misrepresenting [...] |
N/A |
26 |
In progress |
P2 |
A study to ascertain the impact of the New gTLD Program on the costs required to protect trademarks in the expanded DNS space should be repeated at regular intervals to see the evolution over time of those costs. The CCT Review Team recommends that the next study be completed within 18 months after issuance of the CCT Final Report, and that subsequent studies be repeated every 18 to 24 months. The CCT Review Team acknowledges [...] |
N/A |
30 |
Complete |
N/A |
Expand and improve outreach into the Global South. |
|
31 |
Complete |
N/A |
The ICANN organization to coordinate the pro bono assistance program. |
*This updated table reflects current and reclassified implementation status categories of "Complete", "In Progress", and "Not started". Previously, it showed implementation design status. Because of this update, the status of some recommendations may have changed from prior reporting to now represent their implementation status.
Quarterly Updates on Specific Reviews
- ICANN Specific Reviews Q2 2023 Quarterly Report (30 June 2023)
- ICANN Specific Reviews Q1 2023 Quarterly Report (31 March 2023)
- ICANN Specific Reviews Q4 2022 Quarterly Report (31 December 2022)
Review Progress and Milestones
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.
Phase | Activity | Description | Start Date | Documents |
---|---|---|---|---|
Conduct Review | Call for Volunteers Extension | Extension of call for volunteers to submit application | 2 Nov 2015 | |
Applications | Applications Received for CCT | 16 Nov 2015 | ||
Appointment of review team members | Appointment of review team members based on AoC requirements | 23 Dec 2015 | ||
Terms of Reference | Document outlining the scope of work adopted by the review team | 23 Mar 2016 | ||
Call for Volunteers | Call for Volunteers | 1 Oct 2015 | ||
CCT Draft Report | Draft report published for public comment | 7 Mar 2017 | ||
CCT Issues New Sections to Draft Report Recommendations | Call for input on new sections to the draft report. | 27 Nov 2017 | ||
CCT Final Report | Competition, Consumer Trust, and Consumer Choice Review Final Report | 8 Sep 2018 | ||
CCT Final Report Executive Summary | Executive summary of the CCT Final Report | 8 Sep 2018 | ||
Board Action* | Board receipt of the Final Report | Board receipt of the Final Report | 5 Oct 2018 | |
Public comment on Final Report | Final Report & Recommendations posted for public comment | 8 Oct 2018 | ||
Extension of Public Comment | Announcement of extension of public comment on CCT Final Report | 29 Nov 2018 | ||
Board Action on Recommendations | Board resolution taking action on 35 recommendations | 1 Mar 2019 | ||
Board Action on Recommendations | Board resolution approving 11 recommendations | 22 Oct 2020 | ||
Board Action on Recommendations | Board resolution taking action on two pending recommendations | 10 Sep 2023 | ||
Planning | Plan for Implementation and Next Steps | Accepted Recommendations - Plan for Implementation and Next Steps | 11 Sep 2019 | |
Board Action on Plan for Implementation | Board resolution on implementation of six accepted recommendations | 26 Jan 2020 |
*Some recommendations are pending Board consideration and/or prioritization. See above for more information.