At the ICANN meeting held in Cartagena, Colombia, from 5 to 10
December, it was agreed there would be an intersessional meeting to be
held between ICANN and the Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) before
the San Francisco meeting, to be held from 13 to 18 March, in the
interest of resolving outstanding issues with the new gTLD process.
The GAC Communiqué that came out as a result of the meeting notes "that the GAC will provide the Board at the earliest opportunity with a list or "scorecard" of the issues which the GAC feels are still outstanding and require additional discussion between the Board and the GAC. These include:
- The objection procedures including the requirements for governments to pay fees
- Procedures for the review of sensitive strings
- Root Zone Scaling
- Market and Economic Impacts
- Registry - Registrar Separation
- Protection of Rights Owners and consumer protection issues
- Post-delegation disputes with governments
- Use and protection of geographical names
- Legal recourse for applicants
- Providing opportunities for all stakeholders including those from developing countries
- Law enforcement due diligence recommendations to amend the Registrar Accreditation Agreement as noted in the Brussels Communiqué
- The need for an early warning to applicants whether a proposed string would be considered controversial or to raise sensitivities (including geographical names).
Kieren McCarthy has also written on the issue on the Global Internet Business Coalition website at:
gibc.biz/2010/12/governments-outline-12-points-of-gtld-contention-with-icann/
The GAC communiqué is available at:
gac.icann.org/system/files/Cartagena_Communique_0.pdf