Public Comment

Public Comment is a vital part of our multistakeholder model. It provides a mechanism for stakeholders to have their opinions and recommendations formally and publicly documented. It is an opportunity for the ICANN community to effect change and improve policies and operations.

New gTLDs — DNS Stability

Open: 06 Feb 08
Closed: 07 March 08

Explanation:The ICANN community has recently completed a policy development process regarding the introduction of new generic top-level domains (gTLDs) which resulted in a set of GNSO recommendations to guide ICANN in introducing new gTLDs to the namespace.

The recommendations concluded that “ICANN must implement a process that allows the introduction of new top-level domains,” and called for a procedure respecting the principles of fairness, transparency and non-discrimination. In preparing for the expected implementation of the gTLD policy recommendations, staff is conducting some review and analysis of the technical issues involved in this development. The addition of gTLDs to the namespace is an expansion of the DNS on a potentially large scale, to include many more names at the top level. One of the policy recommendations developed in relation to the introduction of new gTLDs included the requirement that “strings must not cause any technical instability."

ICANN is publishing this paper [pdf] to solicit informed input on the technical issues relevant to the addition of new gTLDs, and to provide transparency toward how it will interpret and implement this recommendation. The goal is a clear set of rules that will be available to potential new gTLD applicants, so that it is known from the outset what tests will be applied to each application.

ICANN is seeking feedback on the proposed approach to these areas as a step in its implementation planning for the introduction of new gTLDs.

Staff member responsible: John Crain

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