ICANN: Definitely No Vote on Fresh TLDs at March Meeting

No longer just a “probably not”.

In case your glass-half-full optimism wouldn’t let go of the idea that ICANN’s Board of Directors would approve the fresh gTLD applicant guidebook at its March meeting in San Francisco, I’ve got news for you.

It’s not going to happen.

In a blog post today, ICANN outlines ongoing work with the Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) on fresh TLDs.

ICANN and the GAC are meeting in Brussels next month. Then it will have a bylaws-defined consultation with the GAC during its San Francisco meeting on March 17, the day ahead of the board holds its regularly scheduled meeting.

Just in case there’s still any question, the post states:

Since of the timing of the bylaws consultation, the Board will not approve or announce the fresh gTLD program at that Board Meeting.