August 5 2013 ICANN published the results of a study examining the consequences of ‘name space collisions’ between applied-for and non-delegated Top Level Domains.
http://www.icann.org/en/news/announcements/announcement-3-05aug13-en.htm
Details and the public comment information can be found at http://www.icann.org/en/news/public-comment/name-collision-05aug13-en.htm
The study divided strings into three categories based on risk:
- Low risk
- Uncalculated risk
- High risk
Two TLDs come out as high-risk, and may have their application cancelled completely – one of which is not a surprise:
.HOME which is widely used on end-user equipment
The study included mitigation options for each category to minimise collision potentials…
Low risk
: Continue with contracting and delegation, devise mitigation strategies that would not interfere with launch timeline
Uncalculated risk
: Carry out further studies about risk; these studies may take approximately 3-6 months to complete
High risk
: Delay contracting and delegation and commence with mitigation efforts that will eventually land these two strings in the “low risk” category
ICANN continually stresses that security is of the utmost importance in the new gTLD introduction process. Keep in mind that the above mitigation strategies are in the proposal phase only; public comment and feedback is
encouraged.
ICANN has posted these recommendations for public comment, and the initial reaction from the New TLD Applicant community has been swift and strong — the term “backlash” springs to mind. With two new gTLDs facing elimination, and a further 20% of all applications confronting an uncertain future after years of work and millions of dollars invested, the next few weeks promise to be colorful indeed.
More information can be seen at
http://www.worldipreview.com/news/icann-delays-20-percent-of-gtlds
http://blog.icann.org/2013/08/a-better-new-gtld-program/
