It seems that in every large, distributed organization, simple things get overlooked or left out for one reason or another. Basically, things are just hard to find.
I don’t know if ICANN did this intentionally, but in the latest New gTLD Application Guidebook, there is no Table of Contents. Earlier editions had one, but the latest version, which was approved in June and is on ICANN’s website as of this writing doesn’t. So I’ve taken the liberty of creating one for my own use and am happy to share it here.
How the Guidebook is organized – An Index
Module 1 Introduction To The New TLD Process
1.1 Application Lifecycle And Timelines
1.1.1 Application Submission Dates
1.1.2 Application Processing Stages
1.1.2.1 Application Submission Period
1.1.2.2 Administrative Completeness Check
1.1.2.3 Comment Period
1.1.2.4 GAC Early Warning
1.1.2.5 Initial Evaluation
1.1.2.7 Receipt Of GAC Advice On New gTLDs
1.1.2.8 Extended Evaluation
1.1.2.9 Dispute Resolution
1.1.2.10 String Contention
1.1.2.11 Transition To Delegation
1.1.3 Lifecycle Timelines
1.1.4 Posting Periods
1.1.5 Sample Application Scenarios
1.1.6 Subsequent Application Rounds
1.2 Information For All Applicants
1.2.1 Eligibility
1.2.2 Required Documents
1.2.3 Community Based Designation
1.2.3.1 Definitions
1.2.3.2 Implications Of Application Designation
1.2.3.3 Changes To Application Designation
1.2.4 Notice Concerning Technical Acceptance Issues With New gTLDs
1.2.5 Notice Concerning TLD Delegations
1.2.6 Terms And Conditions
1.2.7 Notice Of Changes To Information
1.2.8 Voluntary Designation For High Security Zones
1.2.9 Security And Stability
1.2.10 Resources For Applicant Assistance
1.2.11 Updates To The Applicant Guidebook
1.3 Information For Internationalized Domain Name Applicants
1.3.1 IDN Specific Requirements
1.3.2 IDN Tables
1.3.3 IDN Variant TLDs
1.4 Submitting An Application
1.4.1 Accessing The TLD Application System
1.4.1.1 User Registration
1.4.1.2 Application Form
1.4.2 Customer Service During The Application Process
1.4.3 Backup Application Process
1.5 Fees And Payments
1.5.1 gTLD Evaluation Fee (And Refunds)
1.5.2 Fees Required In Some Cases
1.5.3 Payment Methods
1.5.4 Requesting A Remittance Form
1.6 Questions About This Applicant Guidebook
CHART 1: After P. 1.45 New gTLD Program – Evaluation Process
Module 2 Evaluation Procedures
2.1 Background Screening
2.1.1 General Business Diligence And Criminal History
2.1.2 History Of Cybersquatting
2.2 Initial Evaluation
2.2.1 String Reviews
2.2.1.1 String Similarity Review
2.2.1.1.1 Reviews Performed
2.2.1.1.2 Review Methodology
2.2.1.1.3 Outcomes Of The String Similarity Review
2.2.1.2 Reserved Names
2.2.1.3 DNS Stability Review
2.2.1.3.1 DNS Stability: String Review Procedure
2.2.1.3.2 String Requirements
2.2.1.4 Geographic Names Review
2.2.1.4.1 Treatment Of Country Or Territory Names
2.2.1.4.2 Geographic Names Requiring Government Support
2.2.1.4.3 Documentation Requirements
2.2.1.4.4 Review Procedure For Geographic Names
2.2.2 Applicant Reviews
2.3.3 Registry Services Review
2.2.3.1 Definitions
2.2.3.2 Customary Services
2.2.3.3 TLD Zone Contents
2.2.3.4 Methodology
2.2.4 Applicant’s Withdrawal Of An Application
2.3 Extended Evaluation
2.3.1. Geographic Names Extended Evaluation
2.3.2 Technical/Operational Or Financial Extended Evaluation
2.3.3 Registry Services Extended Evaluation
2.4 Parties Involved In Evaluation
2.4.1 Panels And Rules
2.4.2 Panel Selection Process
2.4.3 Code Of Conduct Guide For Panelists
2.4.3.1 Conflict Of Interest Guidelines For Panelists
2.4.3.2 Code Of Conduct Violations
2.4.4 Communication Channels
CHART 2: After P. 2.33 New gTLD Program – Initial Evaluation and Extended Evaluation
TABLE: Annex: Separable Country Names List
Attachment to Module 2 Sample Letter Of Government Support
Attachment to Module 2 Evaluation Questions And Criteria
I. Principles of the Technical and Financial New gTLD Evaluation Criteria
II. Aspects of the questions Asked in the Application and Evaluation Criteria
III. Scoring
Applicant Information Application Questions
1.) Full Legal Name
2.) Address
3.) Phone Number
4.) Fax Number
5.) Website
6.) Primary Contact
7.) Secondary Contact
8.) Proof of Legal Establishment
9.) If public, exchange symbol
10.) Business ID / Tax/VAT Number
11.) Applicant Background
12.) Evaluation Fee
13.) Applied For gTLD String
14.) If IDN provide A Label Beginning With “Xn
15.) If IDN, upload IDN tables for proposed registry
16.) Describe efforts to ensure no known problems or mitigations of new gTLD
17.) Optional: Provide Representation Of Label According To International Phonetic Alphabet
18.) Mission / Purpose / Rules
19.) Community Based Designation: Is This A Community Based TLD?
20.) Provide name and description of community with relationships / endorsements
21.) Geographic Names: Is The Application A Geographic Name?
22.) Protection of Geographic Names – Describe Protective Measure For Geo
23.) Registry Services: Registry Services To Be Provide
24.) Demonstration of Technical & Operational Capability (External)
25.) Extensible Provisioning Protocol: Provide Description
26.) Whois: Describe System
27.) Registration Lifecycle: Describe Plans
28.) Abuse prevention and mitigation: Describe Plans
29.) Rights Protection Mechanisms: Related To Intellectual Property, Etc.
30.) Security Policy: Related To Registry Demonstration Of Technical And Operational (Internal) Related To Systems
31.) Technical Overview or Proposed Registry
32.) Architecture documentation: Network / OS / Software
33.) Database Capabilities
34.) Geographic Diversity of name servers and operation centers
35.) DNS Service: Describe Configurations
36.) IPV6: Reachability: Describe Services / Plans
37.) Data Backup Policies and Procedures
38.) Data Escrow Procedures
39.) Registry Continuity Plans
40.) Registry Transition: Service Migration Plan
41.) Fail over Testing: Provide Plan
42.) Monitoring and Fault Escalation Process
43.) DNSSEC Plan
44.) Optional: IDN Plans
45.) Demonstration of Financial Capability: Financial Statement Sources Of Funds,
46.) Financial Projections
47.) Costs and Capital Expenditures
48.) Funding & Revenue Provisions
49.) Contingency Planning
50.) Cost Estimates For Funding Critical Registry Functions, Letters Of Credit (LOC)
Instructions: TLD Applicant – Financial Projections
TLD Applicant Financial Projections: Sample
Template 1 – Financial Projections: Most Likely
Template 2 – Financial Projections: Worst Case
Module 3 Objection Procedures
I. GAC Objections
II. Dispute Resolution Process
3.1 GAC Advice On New TLDs
3.2.1 Grounds For Objection
3.2.2 Standing To Object
3.2.2.1 String Confusion Objection
3.2.2.2 Legal Rights Objection
3.2.2.3 Limited Public Interest Objection
3.2.2.4 Community Objection
3.2.3 Dispute Resolution Service Provider
3.2.4 Options In The Event Of Objection
3.2.5 Independent Objector
3.3 Filing Procedures
3.3.1 Objections Filing Procedures
3.3.2 Objection Filing Fees
3.3.3 Response Filing Procedures
3.3.4 Response Filing Fees
3.4 Objection Processing Overview
3.4.1 Administrative Review
3.4.2 Consolidation Of Objections
3.4.3 Mediation
3.4.4 Selection Of Expert Panels
3.4.5 Adjudication
3.4.6 Expert Determination
3.4.7 Dispute Resolution Costs
3.5 Dispute Resolution Principles (Standards)
3.5.1 String Confusion Objections
3.5.2 Legal Rights Objection
3.5.3 Limited Public Interest Objection
3.5.4 Community Objection
CHART 3: New gTLD Program – GAC Advice on New gTLDs
CHART 4: New gTLD Program – Objection and Dispute Resolution
Attachment to Module 3 New gTLD Dispute Resolution Procedure
Procedure Articles
ICDR Attachments International Centre for Dispute Resolution (ICDR) Fees And Costs Schedule For String Confusion Objections
ICDR Supplementary Procedures for String Confusion Objections
WIPO Attachments World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Schedule of Fees and Costs: New GTLD Pre-Delegation Legal Rights Objection Procedure
WIPO Rules for New gTLD Dispute Resolution
Module 4 String Contention Procedures
4.1 String Contention
4.1.1 Identification Of Contention Sets
4.1.2 Impact Of String Confusion Dispute Resolution Proceeding On Contention Sets
4.1.3 Self Resolution Of String Contention
4.1.4 Possible Contention Resolution Outcomes
4.2 Community Priority Evaluation
4.2.1 Eligibility For Community Priority Evaluation
4.2.2 Community Priority Evaluation Procedure
4.2.3 Community Priority Evaluation Criteria
Criterion 1 Community Establishment
Criterion 2 Nexus Between Proposed Strings And Community
Criterion 3 Registration Policies
Criterion 4 Community Endorsement
4.3 Auction: Mechanism Of Last Resort
4.3.1 Auction Procedures
4.3.1.1 Currency
4.3.1.2 Fees
4.3.2 Winning Bid Payments
4.3.3 Post Default Procedures
4.4 Contention Resolution And Contract Execution
CHART 5: New gTLD Program – String Contention
Module 5 Transition To Delegation
5.1 Registry Agreement
5.2 Pre Delegation Testing
5.2.1 Testing Procedures
5.2.2 Test Elements: DNS Infrastructure
5.2.3 Test Elements: Registry Systems
5.3 Delegation Process
5.4 Ongoing Operations
5.4.1 What Is Expected Of A Registry Operator
5.4.2 What Is Expected Of ICANN
CHART 6: New gTLD Program – Transition to Delegation (estimates)
New gTLD Agreement
Registry Agreement Draft Articles and Covenants
Specification 1 Consensus Policies and Temporary Policies Specification
Specification 2 Data Escrow Requirements Technical and Legal Requirements
Specification 3 Format and Content for Registry Operator Monthly Reporting
Specification 4 Specifications for Registration Data Publication Services
Specification 5 Schedule of Reserved Names at the Second Level in gTLD Registries
Specification 6 Registry Interoperability and Continuity Specifications
Specification 7 Minimum Requirements for Rights Protection Mechanisms
Specification 8 Continued Operations Instrument
Specification 9 Registry Operator Code of Conduct
Specification 10 Registry Performance Specifications
Trademark Clearinghouse
URS Uniform Rapid Suspension System (URS)
Trademark PDDRP Trademark Post Delegation Dispute Resolution Procedure (Trademark PDDRP)
RRDRP Registry Restrictions Dispute Resolution Procedure (RRDRP)
Module 6 Top Level Domain Application Terms And Conditions
Figures
Figure 1-1 Once submitted to ICANN, applications will pass through multiple stages of processing.
Figure 1-2 All applications in a contention set must complete all previous evaluation and dispute resolution stages before string contention resolution can begin.
Figure 1-3 A straightforward application could have an approximate 9-month lifecycle.
Figure 1-4 A complex application could have an approximate 20-month lifecycle.
Figure 4-1 This diagram represents one contention set, featuring both directly and indirectly contending strings.
Figure 4-2 Resolution of string contention cannot begin until all applicants within a contention set have completed all applicable previous stages.
Figure 4-3 Sequence of events during an ascending-clock auction.
Figure 4-4 Example of an auction for five mutually-contending applications.
Charts
CHART 1: Evaluation Process
CHART 2: Initial Evaluation and Extended Evaluation
CHART 3: GAC Advice on New gTLDs
CHART 4: Objection and Dispute Resolution
CHART 5: String Contention
CHART 6: Transition to Delegation (estimates)
Notes: Everything in this index is subject to change. I created the index independently as of August 12, 2011. I do not represent ICANN and I am not responsible for any errors or omissions. This was created as an aid to finding topics in the Application Guidebook.
