This section contains progress updates on various Program activities and lists all the relevant news from the ICANN home page.

See also:

• Follow us on Twitter
• ICANN Blog
• Information for the Press
• Information on Global Events
• Overarching Issues Wiki

General Program Updates

• ICANN is soliciting information, advice and proposed models as it considers soliciting expressions of interest in new gTLDs. The public comment forum will be open until December 11, 2009 however, community members that wish to have their input considered by the Board during its December meeting, should submit comments no later than November 27, 2009. You can access this Expressions of Interest Public Comment Forum here:
  http://www.icann.org/en/public-comment/public-comment-200912.htm#eoi-new-gtlds
• ICANN will be co-hosting two events in Latin America during the month of November, Sao Paulo, Brazil (November 24) and Buenos Aires, Argentina (November 27). For details, see the Global Events page.
• ICANN has received 12 responses to the call for Expressions of Interest (EOI) for independent evaluators in the new generic top-level domain name (gTLD) program. The application period for organizations interested in evaluating applications for new gTLDs took place between 13 April and 15 September 2009. The respondents are well-qualified and respected organizations from Australia, Belgium, Iran, Jordan, United Kingdom, and the United States. See more details about the selection process here:
  http://www.icann.org/en/announcements/announcement-25oct09-en.htm
• ICANN has recently posted version 3 of the Draft Applicant Guidebook for public comments, along with a series of Explanatory Memoranda and other supporting documents. The public comment forum will be open until 22 November, 2009 and can be accessed at http://www.icann.org/en/topics/new-gtlds/comments-3-en.htm.
• ICANN successfully concluded New gTLD events in New York, London, Hong Kong and Abu Dhabi. The total number of estimated attendees (at all 4 events) was 555 plus an average of 45 remote participants in each event. These events generated an estimated number of 55 articles in English, Arabic and Chinese.
• The US House Judiciary Committee held a hearing on New gTLDs in September 2009.
• Trademark Protection – Now available: a document explaining the Summary of Differences between IRT Final Recommendations and Applicant Guidebook v3 [PDF, 96K]. ICANN has recently also posted a summary on the IRT Final Report public comments and a summary of the Sydney, New York and London live consultations. Both documents can be found at: http://www.icann.org/en/topics/new-gtlds/comments-3-en.htm. There are currently two new trademark rights protection mechanism proposals open for public comments in parallel to the Draft Applicant Guidebook version 3 public forum. The proposals are (1) Uniform Rapid Suspension and (2) Trademark Clearinghouse, formally referenced as IP Clearinghouse. You can access the proposals and public forum here: http://www.icann.org/en/topics/new-gtlds/gnso-consultations-reports-en.htm. ICANN will be discussing these two proposals with the GNSO during the Seoul Meeting.
• Malicious Conduct – On 29 September, ICANN staff held a webinar with its supporting organizations to introduce measures it will be proposing for inclusion in new gTLD registry contracts and the new High Security Zones Verification program. The webinar was recorded on Mp3 and can be accessed via the Overarching Issues Wiki. There is also a new Explanatory Memoranda posted along with version 3 of the Applicant Guidebook detailing the proposed measures to mitigate malicious conduct and a draft framework for the proposed High Security Zones program. These documents are available here: http://www.icann.org/en/topics/new-gtlds/comments-3-en.htm.
• Security and Stability: Root Zone Scaling – ICANN is posting a summary analysis of the public comments received between 29 May and 31 July regarding the terms of reference for the root scaling study. There are also two new reports available: Interisle and TNO reports on Root Scaling and "L" Root Server Scaling Report.
• TLD Demand and Economic Analysis – ICANN is considering further expert reports on the issue.