ICANN to publish new gTLD contract changes
ICANN has decided to start publishing red-lined versions of its new gTLD Registry Agreements, so applicants can see what special terms ICANN is willing to accept.
It’s a reversal of its previous position, and follows complaints from applicants and back-end providers.
So far ICANN has signed almost 50 new gTLD contracts, all of which have been published, but it’s not easy to compare them all to the baseline Registry Agreement found in the Applicant Guidebook.
By publishing versions with the changes highlighted, applicants will be able to go into contract negotiations with a better idea of how far ICANN is willing to bend.
ICANN said today:
Upon further consideration, ICANN has concluded that publishing redlined versions of Registry Agreements would be helpful to the entire ICANN community, and would also support ICANN’s efforts to provide operational transparency.
It added that so far there have been no substantial changes in the contracts it’s signed, apart from gTLD-specific Public Interest Commitments and approved Registry Services.
It will start publishing the redlines next month.
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