Dear All, Please see a message below and attached from Craig Schwartz, Chief gTLD Registry Liaison at ICANN, regarding an open consultation on the proposed registry agreement for new gTLDs. ** Dear Community Members, ICANN invites community participation in an open consultation regarding the proposed registry agreement for new gTLDs. This meeting is being organized in response to a commitment made by ICANN at its meetings in Seoul to continue discussions with the community about open issues in the agreement, including the process for amending the agreement, aspects of registry services reviews, and restrictions on registry operators' ability to distribute names through affiliated registrars (e.g., vertical separation). The consultation will be held on Thursday, 7 January 2010, from 14:00 to 20:00 UTC <http://timeanddate.com/s/1gwx>. A conference call bridge and Adobe Connect access will be available for this discussion and all interested parties are encouraged to participate. ICANN will facilitate this discussion from Washington, DC and space will be available to accommodate some in-person participation. The reference materials for the consultation include the Registry Agreement published in Draft Applicant Guidebook v3 viewable at http://icann.org/en/topics/new-gtlds/draft-agreement-specs-clean-04oct09-en. pdf, the redline version of the Draft Applicant Guidebook from v2 to v3 viewable at http://icann.org/en/topics/new-gtlds/draft-agreement-specs-redline-04oct09-e n.pdf. If you are interested in participating, please confirm at registry-liaison@icann.org by 28 December 2009. Please indicate whether you will attend in-person or remotely. Additional details regarding remote participation will be provided in advance of the consultation. We look forward to your participation in this work. Thank you. Craig Schwartz Chief gTLD Registry Liaison ICANN ** Regards, Heidi Ullrich, Matthias Langenegger, Gisella Gruber-White, Marilyn Vernon, Kristina Nordström ICANN At-Large Staff email: staff[at]atlarge.icann.org website: www.atlarge.icann.org