Another bad ICANN decision: on August 1st 2018 thousands of New gTLD domains will be blocked from registration

Another bad ICANN decision is out that will protect some privileged IGOs and INGOs and the “beloved” International Olympic Committee (IOC).

Red Cross/Red Crescent Movement (RCRC), the only organization that might have warranted some additional protection, is there just to make the decision better looking to outsiders.

On August 1st 2018 thousands of New gTLD domains will be blocked from registration. There are a lot of “junk” domain names in there but also many good 2, 3 and 4 letter domains and common dictionary words like “who”.

The policy requires registry operators to withhold the specified names from registration for IGOs, the IOC, and the RCRC at the second-level and provides an exceptions procedure for registration. For INGOs, the policy requires claims notices at the second-level.

There are enough protection mechanisms as it is. There was no need for this except for … oh well…

Reservation

All gTLD Registry Operators MUST either Reserve from registration or allocate to Registry Operator the second-level domain names corresponding to the DNS label(s) of all identifiers recorded on the Red Cross, IOC, and IGO Identifier List found on the Reserved Names for gTLDs1. Upon conclusion of Registry Operator’s designation as operator of the registry for the TLD, all such protected identifiers shall be transferred as specified by ICANN. Registry Operator may self-allocate and renew such names without use of an ICANN accredited registrar, which will not be considered Transactions for purposes of Section 6.1 of the Agreement.

Existing Registrations in gTLDs

If a domain name, containing an exact match name from the Red Cross, IOC, and IGO Identifier List, is registered before this Consensus Policy effective date or before the label is added to the Red Cross, IOC and IGO Identifier List, the Registry Operator MUST permit renewals of the domain name and MUST permit transfers of the domain name. If a domain name, containing an exact match name from the Red Cross, IOC and IGO Identifier List, is registered before the label is added to the Red Cross, IOC and IGO Identifier List, and is subsequently deleted, the Registry Operator MUST Reserve the domain name from registration or allocate the domain name to Registry Operator.

For the Red Cross, IOC, and IGOs, the Policy is effective for all gTLD Registry Operators and ICANN-accredited Registrars no later than 1 August 2018.

For the INGOs, the Policy is effective for all gTLD Registry Operators and ICANN-accredited Registrars 12-months after the release of the INGO Claims System Specification.

The Reserved Names List is available here https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/reserved-2013-07-08-en

Here is the ICANN announcement:

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) announced that all ICANN generic top-level domain gTLD contracted parties must implement the new Consensus Policy concerning the protection of certain specific names of intergovernmental organizations (IGO) and international nongovernmental organizations (INGO) identifiers in all gTLDs. This Consensus Policy relates only to those identifiers specifically approved by the ICANN Board in April 2014 following the conclusion of a Policy Development Process conducted by the Generic Names Supporting Organization. It does not include IGO and INGO identifiers for which Board approval is still pending or for which GNSO policy work remains ongoing.

Contracted parties will have until 1 August 2018 to complete implementation of the new requirements for certain specific names of IGOs, the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and the Red Cross/Red Crescent Movement (RCRC). For INGOs, the implementation period will be 12 months from the release of the INGO Claims Systems Specification which is currently under development by ICANN org.

The protections within this policy pertain to specific names of certain IGOs, INGOs, the IOC, and the RCRC, according to the recommendations adopted by the ICANN Board. The policy requires registry operators to withhold the specified names from registration for IGOs, the IOC, and the RCRC at the second-level and provides an exceptions procedure for registration. For INGOs, the policy requires claims notices at the second-level.

Additional information is available at the ICANN Generic Names Supporting Organization working group and IGO/INGO implementation review team wiki pages.