All, See below re our submission on geographic names. Cheers and Happy New Year!! Chris Disspain CEO - auDA Australia's Domain Name Administrator <mailto:ceo@auda.org.au> ceo@auda.org.au <http://www.auda.org.au/> www.auda.org.au Important Notice - This email may contain information which is confidential and/or subject to legal privilege, and is intended for the use of the named addressee only. If you are not the intended recipient, you must not use, disclose or copy any part of this email. If you have received this email by mistake, please notify the sender and delete this message immediately. Please consider the environment before printing this email. From: Paul Twomey [mailto:paul_twomey@icann.org] Sent: Thursday, 25 December 2008 06:28 To: ceo@auda.org.au Subject: New gTLD Public Comments Acknowledgement Dear Chris, Thank you for your recent submission(s) to the ICANN New gTLD Draft Applicant Guidebook public comments forum. Public comments are integral to the development of the New gTLD process and we appreciate your taking the time to submit feedback. Over the course of this first public comment period to date, ICANN has received 317 comments through its dedicated online fora. Respondents are from 24 different countries and each of the five global regions. It is acknowledge that in addition to comments received about the Draft Applicant Guidebook, we received a considerable number of comments that relate more broadly to issues surrounding the introduction of new gTLDs. The many responses will be carefully considered, summarized and published on the ICANN website in two phases. Before the end of the year, ICANN will publish an initial summary of comments received to date including statistics describing the depth and breadth of comments received and a thematic summary of topics raised. The second document, to be published in January after the closure of all Guidebook comment fora, will attribute comments by source and provide a discussion and balancing of each of the major issues raised. Thank you again for your participation and for your interest in the New gTLD program. Regular progress updates will be provided on the ICANN website. Should you wish to contact me regarding any other matter, please send me an email at twomey@icann.org. Yours sincerely, Paul Paul Twomey President & CEO ICANN