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Potential Name Space Collision Report's Impact on Contracting

As ICANN previously announced, we commissioned a study to consider the likelihood and impact of name space collisions between applied-for new gTLD strings and non-delegated TLDs. In light of that study, ICANN proposed to the community several possible mitigation measures, including:

  • Proceeding with contracting and delegation of those strings categorized as "low risk" (80%) but recommending additional mitigation measures which should not materially impact their timeline for delegation.
  • Conducting further study on those strings categorized as "uncalculated risk" (20%) anticipated to take 3-6 months to complete.
  • Delaying contracting and delegation of the two "high risk" strings until mitigation efforts can place them in the "low risk" category.

See http://www.icann.org/en/news/announcements/announcement-3-05aug13-en.htm.

ICANN has solicited community comment on the mitigation steps outlined in the staff recommendation paper, with a comment close date of 27 August 2013 23:59 UTC. Pending receipt of community feedback on the staff mitigation proposals, ICANN intends to proceed with New gTLD applications as follows:

  • Low Risk – Eligible applicants will be invited to begin contracting and may proceed through contract execution of a Registry Agreement. Delegation of Low Risk strings will be held until we have evaluated community comments and settled on appropriate mitigation measures.
  • Uncalculated Risk – Eligible applicants will be invited to begin contracting. Execution of registry Agreements will be held until we have evaluated community comments and settled on appropriate mitigation measures.
  • High Risk – Applicants will not be invited to begin contracting until we have evaluated community comments and settled on appropriate mitigation measures.

We encourage the community to submit comments on name space collision and appropriate mitigation measures to assist ICANN in considering these matters.

See http://www.icann.org/en/news/public-comment/name-collision-05aug13-en.htm.