ICANN Review Team Finds Some Support for Collecting Additional Data on New gTLD Program
ICANN stakeholders told the organization’s Competition, Consumer Trust and Consumer Choice Review Team they agree with CCT-RT’s initial finding (see 1704120066) that it needs to collect additional data on the new generic top-level domains program before it can decide whether the program’s procedures are effective. CCT-RT said in its draft report that, although the new gTLD program is “quite new and the data are incomplete, on balance, the expansion of the [domain name system] DNS marketplace has demonstrated increased competition and consumer choice and has been somewhat successful in mitigating its impact on consumer trust and rights (particularly trademark) protection.”
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CCT-RT found “critical data were in short supply for the analysis of competition and the effectiveness of safeguards and for the promotion of consumer trust and geographic representation of applicants. Even the definition of the DNS market itself is problematic without additional data about whether consumers view new gTLDs as substitutes for other domain names … or the degree to which alternative online identities such as Facebook and Yelp pages and third-level domains are substitutes.” The team found a need to resolve outstanding policy issues and conduct additional research before a second gTLD round.
The At-Large Advisory Committee (ALAC) said it preliminarily “does not support any new round of new gTLDs” without “more and better data” about the program. “Such research can be expensive, but the ALAC believes that it is absolutely mandatory that we carry it out, and notes that there are significant unspent funds in the New gTLD Program that can reasonably be used to gather this crucial information,” ALAC said. The committee noted concern about the “lack of data” on end-users’ reactions to gTLDs, including the “extent to which end users use domain names at all.”
The Governmental Advisory Committee supports gathering data on a wide range of issues the report identified, including WHOIS accuracy and abuse rate among new gTLDs. GAC said ICANN to establish “measurable goals and indicators” on encouraging diversity in applications for gTLDs, including increasing applications by registries in the “Global South.” Diversity “has many dimensions and ensuring that there is an increase” in the “number of delegated strings from under-served regions should be critical,” GAC said.
The Generic Names Supporting Organization’s New gTLD Subsequent Procedures Policy Development Process Working Group urged CCT-RT to more clearly define how the working group and other entities that are reviewing aspects of the new gTLD program must adhere to recommendations. The New gTLD Subsequent Procedures PDP working group is reviewing possible revisions to procedures before any future rounds of gTLD rollouts.
GNSO’s Business Constituency (BC) “agrees with the review team that there is still not enough data to justify firm conclusions about competition and choice in gTLDs.” Timely, “pertinent, and accurate data is indispensable for policy and other decision-making processes within ICANN," the BC said. It encouraged ICANN to pursue data collection on trust in new gTLDs, including “data on how often a specific TLD is used in phishing, malware, or other scams or unlawful activity.”
The Registries Stakeholder Group (RySG) has concerns about potential costs of collecting data on a wide range of program-related issues. “Were these recommendations to go forward, they should be carried out with exceptional care and diligence -- particularly ICANN’s gathering, protection, and use/provisioning of data,” RySG said. “Such an enterprise would place, in some instances, critical and extremely sensitive data in ICANN’s hands.”
The Non-Commercial Stakeholders Group raised concerns about CCT-RT proposed data collection recommendations, which the group said are “enormous and largely unwarranted. Many of the report’s proposals will delay the opening up of New gTLDs.” Many recommendations “push ICANN far beyond its limited scope and into the content-regulation arena that the new Bylaws expressly bar,” NCSG said.
The International Trademark Association (INTA) said the proposed recommendations “will allow ICANN to identify and take appropriate steps or develop new policies or proposals to address issues” with the new gTLD program “before embarking on any further expansion.” The program “has had some positive effect in creating new opportunities for commercializing domain names,” INTA said.