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At-Large Advisory Committee (ALAC) Objection Funding Instructions

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Objection Funding Request Form for ALAC [DOCX, 170 KB]

Under Section 3.3.2 of the gTLD Applicant Guidebook, the At-Large Advisory Committee (ALAC) may request that ICANN fund an objection to a new gTLD application. The following provides information on the eligibility criteria, request for funding instructions, and fund disbursement process.

Eligibility Criteria:

For purposes of determining whether the ALAC is eligible for objection funding, ICANN will rely on the ALAC to follow the procedures outlined in the Applicant Guidebook and the Procedure for the ALAC to submit public comments on, and file objections to the new gTLD applications [PDF, 1.1 MB].

Consistent with the Applicant Guidebook, funding from ICANN for objection filling fees, as well as for advance payment of costs, is available to the ALAC and is contingent on publication by ALAC of its approved process for considering and making objections. At a minimum, the process for objecting to a gTLD application will require: bottom-up development of potential objections, discussion and approval of objections at the Regional At-Large Organization (RALO) level, and a process for consideration and approval of the objection by the ALAC. When completing the objection funding request form, the ALAC may only select one ground for objection per form submitted. The ALAC has standing to object to a gTLD application on Limited Public Interest Objection and Community grounds. If the ALAC submits an objection funding request for the String Confusion Objection or Legal Rights Objection grounds, ICANN will automatically reject that request.

Funding available from ICANN will cover the objector filing fees and advance payment costs payable to the Dispute Resolution Service Provider (DRSP), which ICANN will pay directly to the DRSP. This funding does not cover other costs, such as fees for legal advice. In the event that the ALAC is determined to be the prevailing party by the DRSP, ICANN will receive the refund from the DRSP for all funds advanced to the DRSP by ICANN.

ICANN reserves the right to contact the Objector Contact listed in the funding request form and/or other ALAC members.

The Objections Procedures are outlined in Module 3 of the Applicant Guidebook (http://newgtlds.icann.org/applicants/agb).

Request for Funding Instructions:

For the purpose of describing the funding request process, the objector is defined as the ALAC point of contact responsible for the Objection Funding Request Form for At-Large Advisory Committee.

To submit a request, the objector must complete the Objection Funding Request Form for At-Large Advisory Committee (ALAC).

Below is an example of the form and instructions as to what needs to be provided in each field. Forms should be completed in English and returned to ICANN in the original document format (e.g., no PDF). No handwritten and scanned request forms will be accepted.

ALAC Information (English Only):

Objector Contact Name: Individual responsible for filing the objection. This person will be contacted if ICANN has any questions regarding this funding request.
Contact Position/Title: This is the position/title name of the above-named contact.
Contact Phone: Phone number of the above-named contact. Contact Email: Email address of the above-named contact.

Application Information Subject to this Objection:

Application ID: The unique application ID in the form:
1-111-11111
String: The applied for TLD against which the objection is being filed. IDN strings should be in the UTF-16 format.
Applicant Name: Full name of the applicant responsible for the applied-for TLD
Grounds (check ONLY one): ▢ Limited Public Interest ▢ Community
Check the objection ground for which you intend to file an objection. You may only check one. Forms with more than one grounds checked will be rejected.

Once the form is complete and ready for submittal to ICANN, the objector must send an email to newgtld@icann.org with the subject title header, "Objection Funding Request for ALAC: <insert application id number and string for the application subject to the objection>" and with the request form attached to the email.

The deadline for ICANN to receive the objection funding request is UTC 23:59:59 11-March-2013. Requests received after this date and time will not be eligible for funding.

The new gTLD Customer Service Center will create a case number for each request received and send an acknowledgement email with the case number to the objector. ICANN will verify the objector point of contact and confirm the active status of the application subject to the objection funding request. The objector will be informed of whether its funding request was accepted or declined no later than 12-March-2013.

Fund Disbursement Process:

As the objection filing and dispute resolution proceedings will be administered by independent DRSPs, ICANN encourages the objector to prepare the DRSP objection in advance of 12-March-2013.

If the funding request is accepted, ICANN will inform the objector and the applicable DRSP. The objector should promptly process its objection through The International Center of Expertise of the International Chamber of Commerce.

If the funding request is declined, the ALAC may determine that it wishes to continue with the objection process without ICANN funding. If so, the objector will need to file its objection with the DRSP as listed above, and be prepared to pay for its own objection filing fee and other DRSP fees and costs.

If there are any additional questions regarding this process, please contact the new gTLD Customer Service Center at newgtld@icann.org.