“Applicants will undergo criminal background checks, financial evaluations and challenging technical assessments. More than 300 pages of rules govern the application process.”

“Tough standards will be a major deterrent to cyber criminals looking to take advantage of consumers. Most of these schemers and scammers will not invest the money and time needed to clear the application hurdle, nor will the new domain names — with more protections — be attractive to them.”

“Once applicants meet these high standards, they’ll be required to adopt several new safeguards, among them a process to quickly take down domain names of those who engage in clearly malicious conduct, such as trademark infringement. There are new procedures to secure remedies against wrongdoers.”

“ICANN is not just expanding the domain space. We’re improving it. We’ve heard from hundreds of experts around the world — from law enforcement to leading global trademark authorities — and we’ve incorporated their recommendations.”

“The new registries will also make information about website owners more accessible in the “Whois” databases, and create a one-stop location where accredited parties, such as law enforcement investigators, can view registry data.”

“It is simplistic to argue that expanding the Internet domain space will expand the possibility of online malfeasance. That’s like arguing that building more homes increases the possibility of home burglaries. The argument ignores the fact that this new part of the Internet’s domain-name system will offer substantially improved security, strengthened enforcement and greater transparency.”…

Jeff Neuman of NeuStart Tweeted today:

“Check your applications in TAS. Reports of missing applications- Our application 4 .Neustar is 1 of them”

“”TAS also lost our “unique” ID which we got upon paying initial 5k. We need ID to pay remainder, fill out app & see all apps.””

Ken Hanson of Neustar also Twitted today:

“Check your applications in TAS this morning. Reports of missing application”

On Tuesday we were on a blogger call with Rod Beckstrom the CEO of ICANN who told the bloggers that everything was “running smoothly” on the new gTLD process.

Looks like today there maybe an issue which apps getting lost during the submission process.

We will keep checking Twitter for other reports of problems and will update you as the day goes on.

UPDATE

ICANN has now tweeted:

“A display issue occurred in TAS, it has been corrected. All data is now visible & no information was lost”

 …

“For us, No news is good news, things are running smoothly we have not encountered any major technical or service issues.”

Beyond that Mr. Beckstrom was unwilling to give any updated numbers in terms of the number of applications submitted or the number of companies that had paid the $5,000 for the spot to file and application.

ICANN has previously stated that 25 companies had paid the $5K fee.

Today Mr. Beckstrom wouldn’t disclose how many application fees of $180K (less the $5K fee for the spot online to file) have been received.

Another uncertainty in the process is the selection of the company(s) that will handle the Uniform Rapid Suspension (URS) and whether any company will be willing to undertake hearing those for the published goal of $300-$500 per, as we sit today, its not clear that anyone is beating down ICANN door to take this project on.

Beckstrom did indicate that they have received interest from qualified company(s) to operate the Trademark Clearing House and it sounds like ICANN is closer than to making a selection.  Also from the call its clear that there will not be a public comment period on ICANN’s selection of the provider to run the Trademark Clearing House.

Finally as far as publishing the list of applications received, although shooting for two weeks after the closing of the application period Mr. Beckstrom would not commit to the list being published on May 1, 2012.

 …

The Final Draft Report [PDF, 1.04 MB] is opened for public comment until 18 March 2012.

“Comprehensive and straightforward, the report lays out systematically what the team found lacking with Whois policy and what they think should be done about it.”

Here are the recommendations from the DRAFT final report:

The study commissioned by AusRegistry and the .au Domain Administration (auDA),  is the first of its kind to assesses the true extent of the .au domain’s influence on the Australian economy.

“The key finding from the report was that the .au domain name space contributed $475 million to the Australian economy in 2011.”

“More than 4300 full-time jobs were connected to it.”

“$269 million of that, or 57 per cent, was connected to registration and hosting of .au domains, with services such as web design and infrastructure provision also contributing.”

“The Internet has clearly become the starting point for consumer research and purchasing decisions,” Deloitte Access economics director, Ric Simes, said.

“The contribution to the Australian economy of the industry administering .au is significant, particularly in terms of employment, and this will continue to grow with the ongoing shift to e-commerce.”

Despite the attraction of the cheaper and more accessible .com domain, the .au domain has experienced exponential growth in the number of registrations over the last decade, reaching a total of 2.3 million in 2011 for a 600 per cent increase from 2002.

“.The report found that the .au name space is a labour-intensive industry, with 58 per cent of the $475 million contributed to the economy being attributed to employees.”

You can read the whole story here.

 …

There are now more than 900,000 active  .РФ domain names,according to statistics on the Coordination Center for TLD RU,the .RU registry website . As of today there are 902,531 .РФ domain names registered and the number is increasingly rapidly .

A year and a half ago,on May 12,2010,the Coordination Center for TLD .RU became the administrator of the new cyrilic domain name .РФ . On November 11,2010 domain names registration in domain .РФ became accessible for all comers.

For the full story go HERE.

You want to register for a new gTLD?

The TLD Application System (TAS), the online system for submission of new gTLD applications is now live.

Check out it out here.

Once you fill out that form, you just have to send in your $5K which will allow you to submit your application and the $180,000 balance that goes with.

Applications as of 7PM EST are now being accepted

The deadline to get your application in is April 12, 2012.

Don’t’ forget you have to have your online TAS registration complete and your $5K to reserve your online application spot in by March 28th 2012.

Here is all of the info from ICANN:

“”After more than seven years of planning, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has initiated a process that could trigger a dramatic expansion of the Internet.

Starting today, ICANN begins accepting applications for new generic top-level domains (gTLDs).  The world of .com, .gov, .org and 19 other gTLDs will soon be expanded to include all types of words in many different languages. For the first time generic TLDs can include words in non-Latin languages, such as Cyrillic, Chinese or Arabic.

Applicants will use the TLD Application System (TAS) to submit their application, in which they answer the 50 questions detailed in the Applicant Guidebook.  Links to register in TAS are provided on the ICANN New gTLD page.

An updated version of the Applicant Guidebook was posted with the opening of the application window. The updated version incorporates clarifications made through responses previously published by the gTLD customer service center. Main points of clarification are on topics such as batching, background screening, the applicant support program, Continued Operations Instrument, GAC advice processes, and the registry code of conduct. Additional information and answers to previously asked questions can be found in the Program’s Supplemental Notes. These materials are not intended to introduce new requirements or criteria. Links to both the Applicant Guidebook and the Supplemental Notes can be found at the ICANN New gTLD page.

Also available now are changes to the Applicant Support Program: limited financial assistance is offered to qualifying applicants. Through this program, applicants, especially from developing economies, have access to financial assistance in the form of an evaluation fee reduction and other in-kind or community pro bono services. The financial assistance element of the program will allow a limited number of qualifying applicants to pay a US $47,000 evaluation fee instead of the full USD $185,000. This fee reduction has been made possible because ICANN’s Board of Directors has dedicated USD $2,000,000 to the program. This is a seed fund to which other organizations can donate. In response to public comment, the draft program has been updated to increase availability of refunds, make the program available to certain trademark owners, and broaden the scope for those seeking to serve the public interest. More information on the Applicant Support program can be found on the ICANN New gTLD page.

ICANN encourages all interested parties, whether applicants or observers, to refer to the New gTLD section of ICANN’s website for authoritative documents, helpful resources, and latest developments. The New gTLD site is found at http://newgtlds.icann.org.””

It appears ICANN is NOT willing to give any assurance to applicants who put down their $185,000 application fee that any special refund would be available in the event a court orders ICANN to stopped or delay the new gTLD program.

When asked about the refund policy of ICANN in the event that some court orders ICANN to stop or delay the new gTLD program, ICANN was quite clear.

“We will only offer refunds that are laid out in the Applicant Guide Book.”

“The Guidebook does not specifically talk about a refund based on court action.”

“The only refunds provided under the Guidebook are:

“If the GAC (Governmental Advisory Counsel)  issues an early waring and the applicant withdraws its application they get 80% of the application fee back;

“If an Applicant withdraws before initial evaluation they get 70%  of their application fee back”

“After initial evaluation if the applicant withdraws their application they get 20% of the application fee back.”

So ICANN is clearly asking the applicants to take the risk of litigation with them.

Some groups like the ANA have openly threaten to sue ICANN to stop the new gTLD program and they have said they might not sue right away.

When it come to a partial refund of the application fee, the old saying Time is Money, is particularly true.

Something that any applicant needs to consider before writing out the check for $185,000 per application.

Sunrise Registration Details:

Beginning January 16, 2012 (through February 17, 2012), Sunrise will open exclusively to trademark owners globally. Applicants must demonstrate ownership of a trademark that was registered prior to July 30, 2011 and is identical to the desired domain name.

There are three subsequent registration phases scheduled for non-trademark holders:

• Phase 2: Landrush (February 20, 2012 – March 16, 2012). Keywords, city names, even one and two character domains are all available. Companies without trademarks can get a .JP.NET domain name.  Applicant can be based anywhere and there are no restrictions.
• Phase 3: .JP & .NET Owner Promotion (March 19, 2012 – April 20, 2012). A special invitation for .JP and .NET registrants to obtain their matching .JP.NET domains (including official Organizational/Geographic Type .JP domains), where that Domain Name was not previously registered or applied for during Sunrise or Landrush, and/or excluded by the Registry.
• Phase 4: General Availability (April 24, 2012). No requirements. Domains are available on a first-come, first-served basis.

If you have any questions about the .JP.NET Sunrisephase or would like to check the availability of a .JP.NET domain name, please contact your Safenames account manager. You may also contact the Safenames UK office at +44 1908 200022 and emeasales@safenames.net, or the Safenames US office at +1.703.574.5313 and nasales@safenames.net.

Related posts:

1. Trademark Sunrise begins for 1 and 2 letter co.uk domain names
2. Trademark Sunrise for .CM is here
3. .XXX General Availability Opens December 6, 2011!