The fourth version of the Draft Applicant Guidebook (DAG4) on new TLDs was the subject of much debate at the recent ICANN Brussels meeting (at which Valideus was a silver sponsor).
The Government Advisory Committee has done well in DAG4. Perhaps because they were alarmed at the ability of the GAC to slow the process down but more likely because they recognise the importance of avoiding consumer confusion, the ICANN staff have greatly strengthened measures to protect geographical terms. At the Top Level, any term on the ISO 3166-1 list of country names in both their long and short form (e.g. Afghanistan and “AF”) are excluded from registration in any script whilst the short form (two letter code) is also excluded at the second level. Applicants for terms that match the name of any city where the intention of the applicant is to use the domain in association with the city or a sub-national place name such as a state or province must “enlist the support or obtain the non-objection” of a get a Letter of Endorsement from a government authority. In the case of an application which matches a capital city name, national government endorsement must be obtained. A Geographic Names Panel will determine if a character string is a Geographic Name. If a Government withdraws support after a gTLD has been delegated, a Registry Restrictions Dispute Resolution Procedure will be available. If a registry that matches a Geographic Term is subject to a change of control, prior Government approval will be required.