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ICANN Seeks Comments on Requests for Exemption to the Registry Operator Code of Conduct

Today, ICANN posted requests for exemption to the Registry Operator Code of Conduct that it has received for review and comment by the community. The Registry Operator Code of Conduct is a set of guidelines for the Registry Operator relating to certain and limited operations of a registry. All Registry Operators are subjected to the Code of Conduct unless an exemption is granted to the Registry Operator by ICANN.

The intended purpose of the Registry Operator Code of Conduct is to protect a TLD's registrants. If a Registry Operator registers all domain names in the TLD exclusively for and to be used only by itself or its Affiliates, upon request of the Registry Operator ICANN may consider and grant the Registry Operator an exemption to the Code of Conduct, provided the TLD is not a "generic string" (as defined in Section 3(d) of Specification 11) and the Registry Operator satisfies all three (3) stated exemption criteria:

  1. All domain name registrations in the TLD are registered to, and maintained by, Registry Operator for the exclusive use of Registry Operator or its affiliates;
  2. Registry Operator does not sell, distribute or transfer control or use of any registrations in the TLD to any third party that is not an affiliate of Registry Operator; and
  3. Application of the Code of Conduct to the TLD is not necessary to protect the public interest.

The exemption requests posted are those that have been submitted to ICANN by Applicants or Registry Operators that believe they satisfy the criteria to receive an exemption to the Code of Conduct. Comments submitted within 30 days of the posting of the exemption requests will be reviewed and considered by ICANN in making a determination regarding the exemption request. ICANN encourages the community to participate in ICANN's processes and provide comments.

The exemption requests may be viewed at: http://newgtlds.icann.org/en/applicants/agb/base-agreement-contracting/ccer.

Comments may be submitted to exemption-request@icann.org, and viewed at http://mm.icann.org/pipermail/exemption-request.

To learn more about the Registry Operator Code of Conduct and the exemption process, please read the Code of Conduct FAQ [PDF, 455 KB].