Initial Evaluation results released for 27 out of the first 30 new gTLD IDN applications

Last Friday marked a major milestone in the New gTLD Program: Initial Evaluation (IE) results for the first set of new gTLD applications were released to applicants and the general public.

This achievement is the result of many years of policy development and implementation work to bring diversity, competition, and innovation to the Domain Name System. Applicants, along with the greater ICANN community have dedicated countless hours toward reaching this goal. This is not only an important and exciting moment in the New gTLD Program but also in the continuing evolution of the Internet.

To view Initial Evaluation results for applications with priority numbers 1 through 30, go to the Current Application Status page of the new gTLD microsite. Results are posted under the IE Results column. Clicking on the result will take you to the Initial Evaluation report for that application. Here are the 27 strings that passed the Initial Evaluation:

There are three possible outcomes of Initial Evaluation: Pass, Eligible for Extended Evaluation, or Ineligible for Further Review.

• Pass – The evaluation panels determined that the application is consistent with the requirements in the Applicant Guidebook and can advance to the next phase of the Program.
• Eligible for Extended Evaluation – The Financial, Technical/Operational, Registry Services, or Geographic Names evaluation panels determined that the application did not provide sufficient information to award a passing score. The application is eligible for extended evaluation.
• Ineligible for Further Review – The DNS Stability, String Similarity, Background Screening, and/or Geographic Names evaluation panels determined that the application did not meet the relevant criteria in the Applicant Guidebook, and the application is ineligible for further review.

For some applications Initial Evaluation results were not yet available for one or more possible reasons such as: pending change requests, clarifying questions, or follow-up with applicants regarding missing information. The results for these applications will be published as soon as the relevant processes are completed.

As communicated previously, ICANN is releasing Initial Evaluation results in priority order, in increments of 30 per week, with plans to increase to 100 per week. ICANN anticipates having Initial Evaluation results for all applications published by the end of August 2013.

Next Steps

Applications that pass Initial Evaluation (and that do not face any objections or string contention) will be eligible to proceed to contracting, with execution of the Registry Agreement as early as 23 April 2013.