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ICANN to throw millions more at cheapo gTLDs

Kevin Murphy, April 7, 2026, 00:53:23 (UTC), Domain Policy

ICANN wants to increase the number of new gTLD applications it will subsidize from its own coffers, as well as the size of the discounts it will provide.

The Applicant Support Program was originally budgeted at $10 million, with half coming from application fees and half coming from the proceeds of auctions from the 2012 application round.

The plan was to offer up to 45 qualifying applicants a 75% discount on their application fees, along with a collection of other perks such as hookups with pro-bono consultants.

But it turns out the ASP was oversubscribed — there are currently 75 organizations vying for the discount, and ICANN seems to suspect most or all will be found eligible for support.

About a month ago, after public comment, the ICANN board of directors requisitioned an extra $4.9 million from the auction proceeds war chest to cover the extra subsidies.

But the Governmental Advisory Committee and At-Large Advisory Committee have both recently recommended that ICANN increases the discount to 85% — about $192,500 of the $227,000 base evaluation fee.

So now the board wants to know if the community is cool with it dipping into the auction proceeds to cover the difference to the tune of an extra $3.2 million.

It’s asking for feedback via correspondence, outside of the usual more formal public comment process, by April 12.


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