January 2026 - CPWG - lists.icann.org

The local gTLD markets for some ICANN regions and the 2026 round of new gTLDs
by John McCormac Jan. 13, 2026

Jan. 13, 2026

One of the problems with the gTLDs compared to ccTLDs is the lack of registrars. This means that much of the registration activity in gTLDs will be done via non-local registrars. That's the more well-known side of the problem. The less well known side is the sizes of the local gTLD web hosting industries. Every month, I run a website IP/country/usage tracking survey of all gTLD domain names and websites for the HosterStats Web Hosting Providers report. Along with the country of the gTLD website, it identifies the web hosting provider of each website and the general usage category (active/hold/parking/sales/redirect) of the gTLDs. It also tracks over 30 million ccTLD domain names in the same survey. The numbers of web hosting providers active in each country are in the report. These are the gTLD website figures for the gTLD markets in the ICANN AF region from the December 2025 report. They are the numbers of locally hosted gTLD websites. Most countries in the region host more of their gTLDs outside their country's Internet infrastructure. Cote d'Ivoire has a major South African provider using its IP space. Large numbers of IP addresses that were allocated to the Seychelles and Mauritius were acquired and repurposed for use outside the AF region. In the lists published by the RIRs, these IPs appear as SC or MU IPs despite being used in other countries. The survey methodology accoounts for that as it identifies the web hosting provider and its country. Local gTLD Website markets December 2025 - AF Region Region - Country - cc -gTLD websites AF South Africa ZA 568,129 AF Cote d'Ivoire CI 16,496 AF Kenya KE 15,700 AF Seychelles SC 7,952 AF Tunisia TN 5,474 AF Egypt EG 5,005 AF Morocco MA 4,336 AF Algeria DZ 1,716 AF Nigeria NG 1,598 AF Libya LY 1,444 AF Mauritius MU 780 AF Namibia NA 692 AF Ghana GH 425 AF Mali ML 384 AF Tanzania TZ 347 AF Senegal SN 321 AF Ethiopia ET 293 AF Uganda UG 265 AF Angola AO 229 AF Rwanda RW 216 AF Zimbabwe ZW 199 AF Mozambique MZ 195 AF Congo (Dem. Rep.) CD 182 AF Malawi MW 174 AF Cameroon CM 157 AF Botswana BW 91 AF Madagascar MG 79 AF Togo TG 81 AF Zambia ZM 73 AF Somalia SO 73 AF Benin BJ 40 AF Sudan SD 40 AF Guinea GN 34 AF Swaziland SZ 38 AF Equatorial Guinea GQ 34 AF Burkina Faso BF 31 AF Cape Verde CV 28 AF Congo (Rep.) CG 25 AF Gabon GA 16 AF Liberia LR 18 AF Niger NE 15 AF Lesotho LS 14 AF Burundi BI 12 AF South Sudan SS 9 AF Djibouti DJ 7 AF Mauritania MR 6 AF Gambia GM 5 AF Sierra Leone SL 5 AF Chad TD 5 AF Guinea-Bissau GW 4 AF Central African Republic CF 1 AF Eritrea ER 1 AF Comoros KM 1 AF Sao Tome and Principe ST 1 Some of these countries have more gTLD websites hosted outside their country's Internet infrastructure and South Africa hosts a lot of websites from other AF region countries. Large transnational registrars and web hosting providers are active in some of these markets. The focus in some is on the local ccTLD. The normal web hosting market in a developed market is Registries - Registrars - Reseller. (3R model) A lot of the operators at each level are local in a developed market. Due to the complexities and costs of acquiring ICANN registrar accreditation, the ccTLD registrar accreditation is often easier and cheaper to acquire. Thus more resellers become accredited ccTLD registrars while outsourcing their gTLD registrations to large registrars who provide registrations as a service (reseller accounts). There is a missing tier (ICANN registrars) in some of the countries which may be interested in the 2026 round of new gTLDs. With the mess created by the European Commission with GDPR and the destruction of WHOIS, it is more difficult (though not impossible) to measure country level markets at a hosting service provider (domain name registrations) level because the country of the registrant is often obscured or wrong (WHOIS Privacy). This means that commonly quoted figures simply relying on WHOIS/RDAP country fields are often badly skewed in favour of the country of WHOIS privacy providers. Providing support for potential applicants for the 2026 round is a good idea. It is important that these applicants understand their markets and the domain name business. The key part of that is selling domain names. Regards...jmcc -- ********************************************************** John McCormac * e-mail: jmcc(a)hosterstats.com MC2 * web: http://www.hosterstats.com/ 22 Viewmount * Domain Registrations Statistics Waterford * Domnomics - the business of domain names Ireland * https://amzn.to/2OPtEIO IE * Skype: hosterstats.com ********************************************************** -- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. www.avast.com

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Call for Volunteers - Proposed Updates to the Trademark Clearinghouse Requirements
by Ozan Sahin Jan. 9, 2026

Jan. 9, 2026

Dear CPWG Members, On behalf of the CPWG co-chairs, we are seeking At-Large Community volunteers to consider the Proposed Updates to the Trademark Clearinghouse Requirements<https://www.icann.org/en/public-comment/proceeding/proposed-updates-to-the-…>. Your insights and/or expertise on the subject matter for public comment would be helpful for: * Firstly, reviewing and identifying any need for the ALAC to submit a comment, and secondly, where such need arises, presenting issues - in the form of bullet points - for discussion at one or more Working Group calls. * If the Working Group subsequently reaches consensus on the need for an ALAC comment, volunteering as a penholder to craft a concise thoughtful response (i.e. an ALAC statement) to this public comment proceeding. As this public comment proceeding will close on 27 January 2026, the proposed schedule for the above-mentioned tasks is as follows: * Reviewer(s): Establish if an ALAC comment is needed. * Reviewer(s): Initial Bullet Point(s) presentation and rationale for discussion in order to establish working group consensus And if needed, * Penholder(s): First Draft Statement shared with the CPWG on 19 January 2026 * Community: Comment on Draft Statement – 19 January 2026 – 21 January 2026 * Penholder(s): Final Draft Statement presentation – CPWG call on 21 January 2026 * ALAC: Vote on Final Statement – 22 January 2026 – 26 January 2026 * Staff: Submission of ALAC Statement – 27 January 2026 If you are interested in volunteering to be a reviewer and/or penholder, please reach out to the CPWG co-chairs Avri Doria (avri(a)doria.org<mailto:avri@doria.org>) and Olivier Crepin-Leblond (ocl(a)gih.com<mailto:ocl@gih.com>), copying At-Large Staff (staff(a)atlarge.icann.org<mailto:staff@atlarge.icann.org>), by Tuesday, 13 January 2026 at 13:00 UTC. Your participation is greatly appreciated, and we look forward to your contributions! Thank you. Kind regards, At-Large Staff ICANN Policy Staff in support of the At-Large Community www.icann.org<http://www.icann.org>

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Call for Comments: Proposed GNSO Process for ICANN Board to Reverse Adoption of GNSO Policy Recs
by Ozan Sahin Jan. 9, 2026

Jan. 9, 2026

Dear CPWG Members, Draft statement on the Proposed GNSO Process for ICANN Board to Reverse Adoption of GNSO Policy Recs public comment is open for your review and comments: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1D3Gitqr14Uwf4quB53SBN8tfVokFFUomv5l4GJC… Please review the document and provide your comments before the CPWG meeting on 14 January 2026. For your convenience, this is the At-Large workspace for this statement: https://icann-community.atlassian.net/wiki/x/AQAJJg Best regards, At-Large Staff ICANN Policy Staff in support of the At-Large Community www.icann.org<http://www.icann.org>

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Meeting invitation: At-Large Consolidated Policy Working Group (CPWG) Call on Wednesday, 14 January 2026 at 14:00 UTC
by ICANN At-Large Staff Jan. 9, 2026

Jan. 9, 2026

Dear All, The next At-Large Consolidated Policy Working Group (CPWG) Call has been scheduled for Wednesday, 14 January 2026 at 14:00 UTC for 90 mins. For other times: <https://tinyurl.com/ynfbz3v5> <https://icann-community.atlassian.net/wiki/x/AQADK> <https://tinyurl.com/ywc3jd27> HERE<https://tinyurl.com/29997727> The agenda (to be updated) and call details can be found at: https://icann-community.atlassian.net/wiki/x/AYCbKw Zoom Room: https://icann.zoom.us/j/765717566?pwd=UTJCdWRSZVdJNEhOYW02OVBqQVQ1Zz09 / Passcode: #CPWG2345* Real time transcription (RTT) available at (subject to availability): https://www.streamtext.net/player?event=ICANN At-Large Consolidated Policy Working Group (CPWG) Wiki Space: https://community.icann.org/x/jYDpB Thank you. Kind regards, At-Large Staff ICANN Policy Staff in support of the At-Large Community www.icann.org<http://www.icann.org/>

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At-Large Consolidated Policy Working Group (CPWG)
by ICANN Policy Calendar Jan. 9, 2026

Jan. 9, 2026

Dear All, The next At-Large Consolidated Policy Working Group (CPWG) Call has been scheduled for Wednesday, 14 January 2026 at 14:00 UTC for 90 mins. For other times: <https://tinyurl.com/ynfbz3v5> <https://icann-community.atlassian.net/wiki/x/AQADK> <https://tinyurl.com/ywc3jd27> HERE<https://tinyurl.com/29997727> The agenda (to be updated) and call details can be found at: https://icann-community.atlassian.net/wiki/x/AYCbKw Zoom Room: https://icann.zoom.us/j/765717566?pwd=UTJCdWRSZVdJNEhOYW02OVBqQVQ1Zz09 / Passcode: #CPWG2345* Real time transcription (RTT) available at (subject to availability): https://www.streamtext.net/player?event=ICANN At-Large Consolidated Policy Working Group (CPWG) Wiki Space: https://community.icann.org/x/jYDpB Thank you. Kind regards, At-Large Staff ICANN Policy Staff in support of the At-Large Community www.icann.org<http://www.icann.org/>

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Meeting invitation: At-Large Consolidated Policy Working Group (CPWG) Call on Wednesday, 07 January 2026 at 19:00 UTC
by ICANN At-Large Staff Jan. 7, 2026

Jan. 7, 2026

Dear All, The next At-Large Consolidated Policy Working Group (CPWG) Call has been scheduled for Wednesday, 07 January 2026 at 19:00 UTC for 90 mins. For other times: <https://tinyurl.com/ynfbz3v5> <https://icann-community.atlassian.net/wiki/x/AQADK> HERE<https://tinyurl.com/ywc3jd27> The agenda (to be updated) and call details can be found at: https://icann-community.atlassian.net/wiki/x/2IDcKQ Zoom Room: https://icann.zoom.us/j/765717566?pwd=UTJCdWRSZVdJNEhOYW02OVBqQVQ1Zz09 / Passcode: #CPWG2345* Real time transcription (RTT) available at (subject to availability): https://www.streamtext.net/player?event=ICANN At-Large Consolidated Policy Working Group (CPWG) Wiki Space: https://community.icann.org/x/jYDpB Thank you. Kind regards, At-Large Staff ICANN Policy Staff in support of the At-Large Community www.icann.org<http://www.icann.org/> <https://owa.icann.org/owa/PolicyCalendar@icann.org/?offline=disabled>

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REMINDER / Meeting invitation: At-Large Consolidated Policy Working Group (CPWG) Call on Wednesday, 07 January 2026 at 19:00 UTC
by ICANN At-Large Staff Jan. 5, 2026

Jan. 5, 2026

Dear All, The next At-Large Consolidated Policy Working Group (CPWG) Call has been scheduled for Wednesday, 07 January 2026 at 19:00 UTC for 90 mins. For other times: HERE<https://tinyurl.com/ywc3jd27> The agenda (to be updated) and call details can be found at: https://icann-community.atlassian.net/wiki/x/2IDcKQ Zoom Room: https://icann.zoom.us/j/765717566?pwd=UTJCdWRSZVdJNEhOYW02OVBqQVQ1Zz09 / Passcode: #CPWG2345* Real time transcription (RTT) available at (subject to availability): https://www.streamtext.net/player?event=ICANN At-Large Consolidated Policy Working Group (CPWG) Wiki Space: https://community.icann.org/x/jYDpB Thank you. Kind regards, At-Large Staff ICANN Policy Staff in support of the At-Large Community www.icann.org<http://www.icann.org/>

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