Fresh TLD applicants impatiently wait for timeline
Reveal Day triggers a lot of deadlines, but applicants still don’t know for sure when it will be.
One representative of fresh TLD applicants is urging ICANN to finalize the timeline for the next steps in the process. I doubt he’s the only one.
Jeffrey Neuman of JNJ Solutions has sent a letter to ICANN asking it to peg down when Reveal Day will be, the dates for the string replacement start and finish, and details on the prioritization draw.
He noted that Reveal Day is lining up to be sometime around ICANN’s meeting in Bali. If it’s ahead of or during the meeting, many people will skip the meeting due to a prohibition on applicant communications following that date. Neuman wrote:
Applicants are awaiting an notice of the Reveal Day date ahead of deciding whether to attend ICANN 87 in Bali, which begins October 17. That is not a decision that can sensibly be made at the last minute. It affects flights, lodging, meeting schedules, and whether the people who need to make decisions can be present.
If Reveal Day occurs ahead of or during ICANN 87, applicants must be ready from that day forward to comply with the Applicant Guidebook’s communications restrictions for applications in the same contention set. Those restrictions apply to applicants, affiliates, and agents, and reach both public and private communications. Applicants also will have only 14 days to decide whether to elect a pre-designated replacement string. That decision is irreversible. A notice issued too late to allow applicants to put compliance protocols and decision-makers in place serves no one.
It is, frankly, a bit surprising that ICANN hasn’t confirmed Reveal Day given its proximity to the meeting. While the timeline won’t impact ICANN staff and board attendance, it will impact many other people who would otherwise go to Bali. And these people have entrusted ICANN with regarding $350 million of application fees.
