On Wed, Dec 7, 2022 at 10:07 AM Sarah T. Kiden via CPWG <cpwg@icann.org> wrote:
 
I hope you are doing well. As you may be aware, the Applicant Support Program was developed to ensure worldwide accessibility and competition in the 2012 new generic top-level domain (gTLD) Program. It enabled new gTLD applicants meeting certain qualifying criteria to receive financial and non-financial support. 

Actually, it didn't enable anyone, there were zero successful applicants under the original program. Much work was spent on the program with no effective benefit (except for painful lessons learned by the team).

The GNSO Council determined that the provision of guidance for the next round is best accomplished via the GNSO Guidance Process (GGP).

How benevolent of them, considering that Applicant Support was started as an ALAC/GAC initiative, initially with explicit LACK of GNSO support and in some corners active hostility.

When did the GNSO acquire the ability to impose its "guidance" on the Advisory Committees? I must have missed that direction in the Bylaws.

- Evan