Wolf-Ulrich,
1. Both the letter from the Board and the letter from the GNSO Council seem to start with the assumption that there will necessarily be a subsequent round of the new gTLD program. The ISPCP constituency hopes that a full discussion about whether or not to have a further round is had by the community long before work is done on building a new application process. It seems essential that the marketplace and technical reviews are complete and considered by the community. These need to be part of the foundation of any discussion of whether or not to proceed with subsequent rounds of new gTLD applications.
Indeed. I am concerned about the way a lot of people seem to assume a subsequent round will happen. I feel we have to wait for the results of the reviews before making up our minds.
2. In the event that a new gTLD application window is opened, no particular type of gTLD should be allowed to determine the timing of the window. In particular, all strings should have equal status as far as the timing of a subsequent window. For example, a set of strings for a particular use or function, should not be allowed to proceed early.
I agree.
3. In the event that a new gTLD application window is opened, the policy work in support of the new round should be complete prior to the application process being developed. The ISPCP constituency finds the idea of iterative development of application process to be impossible in the context of such a complex procedure. An iterative approach fails to take into account the interconnectedness of the application process – the development of a policy on geographic names, for example, might have implications on what strings are available and even the prohibition of certain names. The possibility of policy development in one area having a knock-on effect in another area is something we witnessed in the 2012 round. It would likely be a feature of subsequent rounds and makes the iterative development of an application process unlikely to succeed.
Again, I really have to agree. Strongly.
5. Another technical aspect that must be addressed prior to a new round beginning is the relationship between the Internet’s underlying architecture and the new gTLD program. Specifically, ICANN must improve its relationship with the IETF to identify meaningful ways to cooperate in the reservation of certain strings in the root. This relationship must also provide some reliable, predictable, scalable and usable mechanism for reserving strings for special use or because those strings, if allowed in the root, would affect the security and stability of the DNS and tools built upon the DNS.
Hear, hear! Julf