24 September 2013
During the New gTLD Program Applicant Update webinar held on 19 September 2013, a participant asked whether ICANN would publish redline versions of executed Registry Agreements. ICANN responded, stating that it did not intend to publish such redlines.
Upon further consideration, ICANN has concluded that publishing redlined versions of Registry Agreements would be helpful to the entire ICANN community, and would also support ICANN's efforts to provide operational transparency.
Published redlined versions will highlight changes between an executed agreement and the current standard 2013 Registry Agreement. Redlined versions will be available starting October 2013.
As of Friday 20 September, ICANN has signed 44 new gTLD registry agreements, none of which have substantial changes from the approved base agreement (other than any registry-specific Public Interest Commitments or approved registry services described in Exhibit A).
Additionally, ICANN intends to seek public comment before agreeing to any material changes to the Registry Agreement that could have a substantial effect on third parties.
Below are key Contracting statistics as of 20 September 2013:
- ICANN has sent Contracting Information Request notifications to applicants holding priority numbers 1 – 900
- 460 applicants have been invited to Contracting
- 121 applicants have responded to their Contracting Information Request invitation
- 52 contracts have been sent out for signature
- 44 applicants have signed Registry Agreements
- All signed Registry Agreements can be viewed here: http://www.icann.org/en/about/agreements/registries
- Continuing Operations Instrument outreach has been offered to applicants holding priority numbers 1 – 1400