I would just add that as anyone who deals with government knows, having a proviso saying that something will be re-signed later is not the same thing as actually getting it resigned later.  There are many unrelated circumstances the government entity could be dealing with that could take precedence over this getting re-signed and I don’t think that the applicant should be burdened with having to go through this process with government twice.  I don’t think 12 months (or even 18 months) before is so long that there is a material risk that the endorsement will have changed – at least no more risk than if the endorsement had been procured 6 months before.

 

Marc H. Trachtenberg
Shareholder

Chair, Internet, Domain Name, e-Commerce and Social Media Practice
Greenberg Traurig, LLP
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T +1 312.456.1020

M +1 773.677.3305
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From: Sam Lanfranco <samlanfranco@gmail.com>
Sent: Friday, October 13, 2023 9:56 AM
To: Trachtenberg, Marc H. (Shld-Chi-IP-Tech) <trachtenbergm@gtlaw.com>; abl@annebeth-lange.no
Cc: subpro-irt@icann.org
Subject: Re: [SubPro-IRT] Topic 21.1: Geographic Names - Updated

 

Colleagues,

Is there a middle ground here? Not only can it take time to get a government to respond, the longer the period between that endorsement and the submission date, the greater the possibility that the governmental context can change. The process also wants to be protected from an early endorsement that is no longer valid. Would the following work?

The initial request (and negotiations) for endorsement would contain a proviso that the agreement would be re-initialed/signed/verified just prior to the submission of the proposal. The applicant would be responsible for making sure that the contact person/office and context were such that the re-initial/sign/verify process would go smoothly at submission, and the evaluation process would be secure in the knowledge that the context had not changed, risking making the endorsement questionable. Also, there would be no need for a specified time frame.

Sam Lanfranco, NCSG

On 10/13/2023 9:14 AM, trachtenbergm--- via SubPro-IRT wrote:

I agree as well but think 6 months is too short. It can be difficult to get a government entity to do anything and I think signing this letter will be low on the priority list. If an applicant is investing significant time and money in applying they shouldn’t have to scramble at the last minute to get the letter signed (or re-signed) and have everything be for naught if the government entity drags its feet. I think 12 or 18 months prior is more reasonable. 

 

Best Regards,

 

Marc H.Trachtenberg

Chair, Internet, Domain Name, eCommerce, and Social Media Practice

Shareholder

Greenberg Traurig, LLP

77 West Wacker Drive

Chicago, IL 60601

Office (312) 456-1020

Mobile (773) 677-3305



On Oct 13, 2023, at 6:48 AM, Annebeth Lange via SubPro-IRT <subpro-irt@icann.org> wrote:



*EXTERNAL TO GT*

I agree with Alexander and Justine. It would be a good idea to set a time line to avoid problems.

 

 

Best regards 

Annebeth 



13. okt. 2023 kl. 12:35 skrev Justine Chew <justine.chew.icann@gmail.com>:



Thank you for bringing this up, Alexander.

I think what you alluded to is very relevant, and in my personal capacity, I would urge Lars, Michael K. and their colleagues to consider propagating some language on this in the same way they proposed to address the issue brought up by Susan regarding what "a limited time frame to provide the documentation" under para 2.4 could mean (noting also Ruben's remark about Extended Evaluation).


Kind regards,
Justine

 

 

On Fri, 13 Oct 2023 at 17:50, <alexander@schubert.berlin> wrote:

Hi members,

 

I guess few of us have ever dealt with the real-life issues of obtaining “government support” for a geo gTLD. I have: both in the last round, and right now for the 2nd round. And I urge us to remember one of the glaring issues that actually created quite a commotion in the 1st round:

The total absence of any timeline for such letter. In the last round one applicant had government support that was literally ‘years old’ – and allegedly even subsequently withdrawn: .africa. Remember what hassle that caused?

So, I recommend introducing a simple shelf-life requirement for the support letter. It is of course laudable when such support letter has been acquired years before the application submission. But even IF an applicant acquired such expression of support very early out – would it be an unbearable task for them to kindly ask the applicable entity to re-sign the letter? Because sometimes the responsible entity changes (e.g., a new major in a city) and shouldn’t they have a say, too? Or they changed their mind – e.g., after having been approached by a more suitable applicant. I think the signature under the support letter shouldn’t be older than e.g., 6 months before the application submission. The exact amount of time would of course be subject to discussion. But I assume we could save ourselves quite some troubles if we require to either sign (or re-sign an already signed) letter X months before the actual application submission.

I also urge to have the deadline requirement stipulated in the letter itself: so that the relevant Government entity is aware that they will have to resign the letter later! Something along the lines: “The signee is aware that ICANN will require that this letter of support (non-objection) has to be authorized (or re-authorized) within 6 months to the actual application submission.”

Has the example support letter draft been finalized already? Is the draft publicly available for review?

 

Thanks,

 

Alexander

___________________________________

Alexander Schubert

LinkedIn.com/in/alexanderschubert

+1(202)684-6806

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From: SubPro-IRT <subpro-irt-bounces@icann.org> On Behalf Of Michael Karakash
Sent: Thursday, October 12, 2023 9:51 PM
To: subpro-irt@icann.org
Subject: [SubPro-IRT] Topic 21.1: Geographic Names - Updated

 

Dear IRT Members,

 

We’ve updated the Geographic Names AGB section based on the discussions held on the 3 October IRT call. As noted during that session, we will not be having another dedicated call on this topic but can continue to discuss this on-list if there are any comments or concerns.

 

As a reminder, past agenda items and video/audio recordings from the previous session can be found on the IRT Community Wiki.

 

Thank you!

 

Best,

 

Michael

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