On last week's call -- see
https://community.icann.org/x/a7KjBg we heard several calls for
changing this long standing ALAC line and whilst some opposed
changing the At-Large position, there was also significant support
for changing it.
In short, the argument that was developed against Applicant Support was that the financial support proposed to applicants only covered the application fee that was only a small subset of the costs of running a gTLD - so one could argue that applicants risk being set-up to fail. Second, there was concern that there were so few applications for applicant support in the previous ground and thirdly, the guidelines for accepting support applications were so tight to reduce the possibility of gaming, that they were unachievable.
I recommend that you read the appropriate transcript that is
linked from the agenda on https://community.icann.org/x/a7KjBg --
but I would urge those who developed their points, in favour of
continuing the ALAC view to improve applicant support and those in
favour of scrapping Applicant Support, to make their points known
here. My paraphrased summary definitely doesn't do justice to all
of the points that were put across during the call so I apologise
if I have not gotten its interpretation all correct.
The conversation was just too large and too fundamental for the small amount of time we had available on the call.
Kindest regards,
Olivier