Preliminary Report | Special Meeting of the ICANN Board | 28 June 2024

Rationale for Resolutions 2024.06.28.01 – 2024.06.28.02

Why is the Board addressing this issue?

The Applicant Guidebook for the 2012 round of new gTLDs was explicitly approved by the ICANN Board. Unlike the 2012 round, the New gTLD Program: Next Round has three programs, each requiring a separate handbook/guidebook to establish the rules and procedures for applicants applying to those programs. Today, the Board is approving the RSP Handbook so that ICANN org can take the next steps to launch the RSP Evaluation Program. In addition, the Board is also approving the evaluation fee for the RSP Evaluation Program.

What is the proposal being considered?

The proposal being considered is the affirmation of the RSP Handbook and the RSP Evaluation Program following the review by the ICANN community through consultation with the Subsequent Procedures Implementation Review Team (SubPro IRT) and a public comment proceeding.

Additionally, this proposal sets the RSP Evaluation fee of $92,000.00 USD with a potential refund under certain conditions as outlined below:

At the conclusion of the RSP Pre-Evaluation period, the RSP fee will be adjusted to reflect the actual number of RSP applicants at that time based on the RSP fee schedule below. Should the number of RSP applicants warrant a fee reduction, RSP applicants will be refunded the difference as outlined in the table:

RSP Fee Schedule
Number of RSP Applicants	RSP fee
0 – 49	USD $92,000
50 – 59	USD $77,000
60 and above	USD $68,500

What concerns or issues were raised by the community?

Overall, the community provided positive feedback regarding the RSP Handbook. Many suggestions from both the SubPro IRT and the public comments were incorporated, including changes to processes beneficial to applicants with difficulties not common in the United States and Europe.

Some in the community have raised concerns regarding the eligibility criteria for applicants in the New gTLD Program: Next Round. These concerns have two areas of focus:

1. ICANN org has not provided the eligibility criteria within a reasonable timeframe that applicants may self-evaluate their own eligibility before the opening of the RSP Evaluation Program.

2. The eligibility criteria may not account for organizations and individuals with less-than-usual circumstances as might be found under the jurisdictions of many global economies.

Many in the community have raised concerns with the RSP Evaluation fee, specifically that it is too high for those in the Global South.

Per recommendation 6.8 of the GNSO Final Report on the new gTLD Subsequent Procedures Policy Development Procedure, the RSP Evaluation Program must be funded on a cost-recovery basis by those seeking evaluation. ICANN estimates that the total cost of the RSP Evaluation Program is approximately USD $4.1 million. The ICANN Board has confirmed with ICANN org that it has made all efforts to undertake this work as efficiently as possible. This consists of:

Item	Cost
Design and Implementation	2.0M
Total Evaluation Cost	1.3M
Contingency (10%)	0.3M
Shared Services (15%)	0.5M
Total	4.1M

Below are descriptions of the various activities that form each of these elements to make up the total cost:

• Design and implementation refers to the design and development of an RSP application system that uses best software development practices and the design of business processes to accommodate a new entity (an RSP) in the gTLD evaluation process. As part of the implementation: (1) new technical criteria have been developed to make it easier for applicants to understand what is being asked; (2) processes for the evaluation and approval of registry services and IDN tables have been established; and (3) technical tests using RST 2.0 are being incorporated.

• Evaluation costs include the cost of technical, registry services, and IDN table evaluations. This cost includes supporting RSP applicants throughout their journey in the RSP program, which, based on operational experience, it's estimated to require a considerable amount of staff hours. ICANN org has estimated the potential number of registry services and IDN tables that would be evaluated as the program does not establish a limit for the number of registry services and IDN tables that RSP applicants may submit.

• Contingency is an estimate or an assumption of unknown and hard to predict costs. Examples of the set costs are vendor pricing and unforeseen circumstances that may arise.

• Shared services include ICANN org's ongoing internal services that support all programs but which are not directly attributable to a specific program or project. These services provide the infrastructure and support that any organization would require to run a business.

Currently, there are 34 gTLD main RSPs and 10 DNS RSPs providing services to gTLDs – for a total of 44. For the purposes of establishing the fee, ICANN org has estimated that 40 of those RSPs will apply during the pre-evaluation phase. While ICANN org  anticipates that new RSPs may join the program, there are no guarantees that they will.

What other factors did the Board consider?

The RSP Evaluation Program is planned to open for application submissions for the RSP Pre-Evaluation period on 19 November 2024. Material changes to the RSP Handbook and/or the RSP Evaluation Program may require a delay in the opening of this period, which could in turn impact the opening of the gTLD application period. Additionally, material changes may require some re-implementation to systems that have been developed for the RSP Evaluation Program, increasing the cost of the program and potentially impacting the RSP Evaluation fee.

What significant materials did the Board review?

To help facilitate the Board's action on the RSP Handbook and Evaluation fee, the Board considered the following materials to be significant:

• The Final Report of the Subsequent Procedures Policy Development Process

• Public Comments on the Draft RSP Handbook

• The Summary Report of the RSP Handbook Public Comment Proceedings

• The RSP Handbook version 1.2

• The RSP Evaluation fee described in https://newgtldprogram.icann.org/en/application-rounds/round2/rsp/handbook

Are there positive or negative community impacts?

Approving the RSP Handbook and Evaluation fee allows potential RSP applicants to study the evaluation criteria and start working on their application in advance of the RSP application window.

Are there fiscal impacts or ramifications on ICANN (strategic plan, operating plan, budget), the community, and/or the public?

The RSP Evaluation Program is part of the New gTLD Program: Next round, for which ICANN has allocated the necessary budget. It should also be noted that per policy recommendation 6.8, the RSP Evaluation Program is to be set on a cost-recovery basis.

Are there any security, stability or resiliency issues relating to the DNS?

RSPs provide critical services for the Internet, including DNS and DNSSEC. The RSP Program is expected to directly and positively impact the security, stability, or resilience of the DNS, as its main objective is to verify that potential RSPs have the technical capacity to operate those services according to the requirements of the Registry Agreement.

Is this decision in the public interest and within ICANN's mission?

This decision supports both the public interest and ICANN's mission as it furthers the implementation of the New gTLD Program: Next round. Also, the RSP Evaluation Program is part of the overall expansion of the gTLD namespace through the New gTLD Program, which is consistent with ICANN's role, as defined in the Bylaws, to coordinate the development and implementation of policies relating to "the allocation and assignment of names in the root zone of the Domain Name System ("DNS")" and promote competition in the DNS marketplace.

Is this either a defined policy process within ICANN's Supporting Organizations or ICANN's Organizational Administrative Function decision requiring public comment or not requiring public comment?

A public comment period on the RSP Handbook was held between 19 March 2024 and 22 April 2024. In total, 7 comments were received, with all indicating yes to the question: "Does the RSP Evaluation Program, as described in the draft RSP Handbook, meet the intent of the policy recommendations of Topic 6: Registry Service Provider Pre-Evaluation of the SubPro PDP Final Report?". It should also be noted that the policy recommendations and implementation guidance upon which the RSP Evaluation Program is based, was the subject of public comment as part of the New gTLD Subsequent Procedures Policy Development Process: https://gnso.icann.org/en/group-activities/active/new-gtld-subsequent-procedures.

The Chair called the meeting to a close.