May 2025 - SubPro-IRT - lists.icann.org

IRT Call 15 May
by Lars Hoffmann Nov. 4, 2025

Nov. 4, 2025

Dear IRT members, For tomorrow’s call we have two topics: Fees and Terms and Conditions. Regarding fees, attached you will find the analysis that ICANN org has undertaken on the different conditional evaluations and the fees that this is resulting in. For those evaluations that are expected to be carried out by vendors, ICANN org plans to include an estimate (CPE and Name Collision High Risk String Mitigation Plan Evaluation) or a ‘will not exceed’ amount (Geographic Names Evaluation) so that applicants can prepare accordingly, but ICANN org will only charge actual costs incurred. You can also find the updated Application Fees section with new updates in the table on page 4-6. Note that other updates were reviewed by the IRT previously. The redline IRT language can be found here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1kUixs9Ln2qnBYCPi3yCIALiI7v47fYiGaB2rvvU… On Terms and Conditions, we are still thinking through some of the feedback we received last week and so there is no updated redline for tomorrow’s call. But we will discuss the issues raised with the goal to move the conversation forward. I am also noting that next week Thursday (22 May) we will have an IRT call on the Base Registry Agreement, and, subject to tomorrow’s discussion, I anticipate we will revisit Terms and Conditions then, too. With that, I am looking forward to tomorrow’s call. Best. Lars

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RSP statistics
by Rubens Kuhl June 5, 2025

June 5, 2025

Considering the closing of the RSP pre-evaluation organization submission period, perhaps a snapshot of https://newgtldprogram.icann.org/en/application-rounds/round2/rsp/program-s… could be useful ? Rubens

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Public comment
by Lars Hoffmann May 30, 2025

May 30, 2025

Dear all, Just to notify you that the public comment has gone live: https://www.icann.org/en/public-comment/proceeding/final-proceeding-for-pro… We wanted to note that the version that is out for public comment has some edits (grammar, spelling, etc.) compared to what we shared with you on Wednesday. So when you provide comments, please, be sure to refer back to the version that was posted today. Many thanks and best wishes, Lars

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Compilation of Public Comments and ICANN Responses
by Elisa Busetto May 28, 2025

May 28, 2025

Hello IRT, This is just a quick note to inform you that we have posted to the wiki the Compilation of Public Comments on Draft Sections of the Applicant Guidebook and ICANN Responses: https://icann-community.atlassian.net/wiki/download/attachments/112197947/2…. Best, Elisa

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Draft AGB
by Lars Hoffmann May 28, 2025

May 28, 2025

Dear IRT members, It is with equal parts pride and relief that I share with you today the complete draft AGB - attached here as a PDF. The document will be published for public comment on Friday, 30 May. If you spot any omissions or glaring errors, please reach out - we will try to address them before publication if feasible. Otherwise, we kindly ask that you submit your substantive feedback as part of the public comment process, which will remain open until 23 July - a total of 54 days starting from Friday. A brief note on this draft: As we finalized the document, the team made edits to improve consistency, flow, readability, and - especially for newcomers and non-native speakers - accessibility. We believe no substantive changes were made in this process. Every section was carefully checked against what had been previously shared with the IRT, and all content remains consistent - with one exception: Section 2.1.8.4 (page 55) on “Identification of Other Non-Permitted Strings” is new and reflects an omission of established policy that we felt needed to be corrected. I also would like thank all of you sincerely for your work that brought us to this milestone. Your attention to detail, your dedication, and collegiality made it possible - and thanks to that, we’ve met the deadline that was set more than two years ago. That doesn’t happen every day. Of course, there’s still more work ahead to reach adoption, but today is a good moment to pause and reflect on what we've accomplished together: From working through supplemental GNSO recommendations, GAC, ALAC, and SSAC advice, to organizing a community-wide consultation, navigating 300+ SubPro outputs, and addressing four Board scorecards - this has truly been a collective achievement by the community, the org, and the Board. Finally, a special thank-you to the ICANN team who have worked exceptionally hard - often around the clock - over the past two years. Many of you have seen them regularly in IRT calls, but a broader group of support staff and subject-matter experts contributed behind the scenes to make all this happen. Thank you again - and I look forward to seeing many of you during Tuesday’s webinar and/or in Prague. Very best, Lars PS: As promised, there will be no IRT calls in June and July. But brace yourselves, we’ll resume the work in early August…

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Terms and Conditions
by Lars Hoffmann May 27, 2025

May 27, 2025

Dear IRT members, For today’s call, we do not have a redline but we had more internal discussions and I wanted to provide this – lengthy – note before the call, giving you the opportunity to digest and hopefully inform a constructive discussion. First, thank you again for the discussion last week and the messages on the mailing list. As we work through the language in the Terms & Conditions to address the questions raised about assignments and changes of control in light of the Board’s direction to ICANN org in the 30 April 2023 resolution addressing the .WEB IRP (https://www.icann.org/en/board-activities-and-meetings/materials/approved-r…) We thought it would be helpful first to lay out the specific directions given in the noted resolution by the Board to ICANN org to consider when developing the Applicant Guidebook for the Next Round, and second, to identify how these directions have been or are being addressed in the implementation of the Program. Board Directions to ICANN Org from 30 April 2023 Resolution on .WEB IRP Below are some relevant sections of the resolution and rationale where the Board directed ICANN org to undertake specific actions for the Next Round in light of the .WEB IRP: Excepts from Board Resolution 2023.04.30.12 – 2023.04.30.14: * Resolved (2023.04.30.13), the Board hereby notes the questions raised regarding certain conduct by both NDC and Altanovo and directs the Interim President and CEO, or her designee(s), to carefully consider the issues raised by the parties and the Panel in the .WEB IRP with regard to agreements similar to the DAA and communications prior to an ICANN auction when developing the Guidebook and auction rules for the next round of the New gTLD Program in order to provide greater clarity to applicants regarding the transparency and notification requirements throughout the application and auction processes. Excepts from Rationale to Board Resolution 2023.04.30.12 – 2023.04.30.14: * The Board, however, does note the claims asserted regarding NDC's non-disclosure of its arrangement with Verisign and regarding Altanovo's communications prior to the ICANN auction and, thus, has directed ICANN organization to carefully consider such issues when developing the Guidebook and the auction rules for the next round of the New gTLD Program. It would be beneficial to both the applicants and the application process as a whole to provide greater clarity in the next iteration of the Guidebook and auction rules regarding the transparency and notification requirements throughout the application and auction processes, in particular with regard to proposed registry agreement assignments and/or arrangements similar to the DAA as well as communications during the Blackout Period. * More specifically, the BAMC and the Board found that the DAA does not violate Paragraph 10 of the Guidebook, including the last sentence, which states that "Applicant may not resell, assign, or transfer any of applicant's rights or obligations in connection with the Application." NDC remains the applicant of its .WEB application because NDC did not sell or transfer the application. While NDC has agreed that the DAA grants Verisign various rights with respect to how NDC proceeds, including with respect to [Redacted-Confidential Information], NDC did not resell, assign, or transfer its rights or obligations with regard to the .WEB application itself, and retained the right to communicate with ICANN and to provide information "[Redacted-Confidential Information]." In the event NDC negotiates with and enters into a Registry Agreement with ICANN for .WEB, NDC would become the Registry Operator for .WEB. Only after NDC secures a Registry Agreement (if it does) can NDC then submit a request to ICANN to have the agreement assigned to Verisign. * Finally, the Board acknowledges and agrees with the BAMC's recommendation regarding the importance of greater clarity regarding the transparency and notification requirements in the application and auction processes. The Board recognizes that numerous new gTLD Registry Agreements have been assigned and the Applicant Guidebook applicable to the 2012 round of the New gTLD Program does not address the myriad of circumstances under which such assignments might occur, and when such agreements may be entered into. In this respect, the Board has determined that it is prudent to take that into consideration when developing the guidelines, rules and procedures for the next round of the New gTLD Program. Thus, the Board is directing ICANN org to carefully consider the issues raised by the parties and the Panel in the .WEB IRP with regard to agreements similar to the DAA and communications prior to an ICANN auction when developing the Guidebook and auction rules for the next round of the New gTLD Program in order to provide greater clarity to applicants regarding the transparency and notification requirements throughout the application and auction processes. ICANN Org Implementation Approach to Address Board’s 30 April 2023 Resolution on .WEB IRP As directed by the Board, to provide greater clarity to applicants regarding the transparency and notification requirements throughout the application and auction processes, ICANN org looked at the Next Round Program holistically and proposed the following approach: 1. Updated Program Terms & Conditions * Section 1: We updated the language on changes to an application that must be reported to ICANN to provide additional clarity, including timeframes. We continue to review this section to also see whether it is possible to map changes required to be reported to ICANN to specific application questions. b. Section 9: As we discussed on prior calls, we updated the assignment language in the Terms & Conditions to make clear that an applicant cannot assign its application as a whole. We understand the questions/concerns about distinguishing between assignments and changes of control, and note that we’ve proposed to address changes of control as further explained below in #2. There was some discussion on the email list and during the previous call about the 2012 AGB including a right for applicants to assign an application with ICANN’s express written consent, but this was not a feature of the Program in 2012. The 2012 Terms & Conditions also had an anti-assignment clause, and the AGB made it clear that if applicants attempted to resolve contention privately, it should be done in a way that does not materially affect the remaining application. (See 2012 AGB Section 4.1.3) 2. Updated Application Questions to require additional disclosures of persons/entities having some level of control over the applicant or an application. As part of the discussion with the IRT, there were questions raised about a scenario where a person or entity may be in “control” of an applicant and the applicant would never have to disclose this fact, and this could deprive ICANN/the public/other applicants information that might be relevant for filing an objection, the GAC giving the Board advice, and ICANN conducting background screening, for example. We think these concerns have been addressed through the changes we made to the application questions, specifically the new question/disclosure that would be required by Application Question 104. The question provides additional information and transparency. The current version of the question reads, “Disclose any entities or persons, including any entities or persons providing Financing (if any), that exercise or have the ability to exercise (or will exercise or will have the ability to exercise) direct or indirect control over the operations, management, or policies of Applicant or any of its affiliates, whether by ownership interest, contractual rights or otherwise.” In light of the discussions about changes of control, we are proposing a further update to Question 104 so that it would say, “Disclose any entities or persons, including any entities or persons providing Financing (if any), that exercise or have the ability to exercise (or will exercise or will have the ability to exercise) direct or indirect decision-making or management over the operations or policies (i) concerning the Application, or (ii) of the Applicant or any of its affiliates relating to this Application, whether by ownership interest, contractual rights or otherwise.” Note: if answer to application question change (after submission), applicants are required to submit an ACR. 3. Updates to Auction Process In the noted Board direction, there’s direction to also look at the auction process for additional transparency opportunities. The current draft of the AGB notes that the auction rules will be finalized once we’ve gone through the process of securing a vendor. While we don’t have the specific rules/changes yet, it is very much on our project plan that we will need to look at this issue when it comes time to work with the relevant vendor on developing the auction rules and any related procedures or agreements. Overall, we believe the above approach addresses the directions given to ICANN org to address Board Resolution 2023.04.30.12 – 2023.04.30.14. For today, I will review this note on the call and invite initial feedback. Our suggestion is that we move this to public comment where community members, including the IRT can provide further comments. Many thanks and best wishes, Lars

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AGB: Next Steps
by Lars Hoffmann May 23, 2025

May 23, 2025

Dear IRT members, I hope this email finds you well. I wanted to reach out with some information on the Draft AGB: Terms and Conditions I would like to provide a final update onTerms and Conditions before the public comment: * We did not make any more changes to the document prior to the public comment. * The current version does not permit trading or assigning of selling of applications. * We updated application question 109 as indicated in my previous note on this topic. The changes to this question go to address the issues that were raised about disclosure/transparency around changes or control of an applicant/application The answer to the question will be published on reveal day and, as with all material questions, applicants are required to submit a change request as soon as the answer is no longer true and valid. Full Draft AGB We will share with you a PDF of the collated Applicant Guidebook (AGB) no later than close of business Wednesday, 28 May, as an early heads-up. Please note that this version is being circulated for your awareness only, ahead of the upcoming public comment period. While we are not seeking further input on the language or substance at this point, if you notice any significant omissions, please do flag them. If relevant and feasible, we will aim to address such issues prior to publication. Public Comment We will open the public comment on the full AGB on 30 May 2025 and close on 23 July, for a total of 54 days. There will be no extension to this comment period. Thank you and a happy Memorial weekend to those in the United States. Best. Lars

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Post call | SubPro IRT Meeting #142 | 22 May 2025
by Next Round Policy Implementation May 22, 2025

May 22, 2025

Dear All, The recordings for Meeting #142 of the SubPro IRT held on Thursday, 22 May 2025 are published on the meeting wiki page<https://icann-community.atlassian.net/wiki/x/nQDMCg>. These include: * Audio recording * Zoom recording (including audio, visual, rough transcript, chat) * Attendance * Deck For additional information, you may consult the mailing list archives<https://mm.icann.org/pipermail/subpro-irt/> and the main wiki page<https://community.icann.org/x/pQM5Dg>. Best regards, Renate

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Public Comment on the AGB - SPIRT Charter
by Anne ICANN May 22, 2025

May 22, 2025

Hi Lars, Will the SPIRT Charter as approved by Council go out with the AGB for public comment? (It would be difficult to fully understand the Predictability Framework without reference to the Charter.) Thank you, Anne Anne Aikman-Scalese GNSO Councilor NomCom Non-Voting 2022-2026 anneicanngnso(a)gmail.com

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NxR Base RA: 22 May IRT discussion document
by Karla Hakansson May 22, 2025

May 22, 2025

Dear SubPro IRT members, Please find excerpted redlines for our discussion tomorrow, 22 May. They include sections: * 4.3(f) – as compared to the last version shared on 24 April 2025 * 6.1(a) Applicant Support Program TLD Fees – new * Name Collision Report Handline – Spec 6, Sections 6.3.1 and 6.3.2 * Rights Protection Mechanisms – Spec 7, Section 1 * Specification 13 – updates marked against version shared on 29 April Thank you, Karla

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