At-Large Workspace: Proposed Next Round Base gTLD Registry Agreement - Public Comment 1 of 2

As part of the New gTLD Program: Next Round, ICANN is preparing the Next Round Base gTLD Registry Agreement (Next Round RA), outlining the rights and obligations of new gTLD Registry Operators. Once the ICANN Board approves the final terms of the Next Round RA, it will serve as the contractual document between successful applicants in the New gTLD Program: Next Round and ICANN. Note this draft is not final and is subject to ICANN Board consideration and approval. ICANN is opening its first Public Comment proceeding on the Next Round RA to seek input from the community, including potential Next Round applicants.

Consistent with the outputs of the Final Report on the new gTLD Subsequent Procedures Policy Development Process (Final Report), the Next Round RA is based on the revised Base gTLD RA (approved by the ICANN Board 21 January 2024), incorporates changes from Board-approved policy recommendations, and includes other operational updates based on ICANN’s experience since launching the 2012 round of the New gTLD Program. 

The Guided Submission form will ask if the changes related to policy in the proposed Next Round RA appropriately incorporate the wording and intent of the following (and as summarized in the “Overview of Policy Updates” document found in the Supporting Information section below):

• Final Report - the policy recommendations for future rounds of gTLD applications following the 2012 round, as developed by the Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO). 
• ICANN Consensus Policies - 
• Registration Data Policy - the ICANN Consensus Policy that governs how domain name registration data is collected, maintained, and disclosed.
• Protection of IGO and INGO Identifiers in All gTLDs Policy - the ICANN Consensus Policy that protects the names and acronyms of IGOs and INGOs.
• Phase 1 Final Report on the Internationalized Domain Names Expedited Policy Development Process (IDN EPDP Phase 1) - the ICANN Consensus Policy that introduces variant gTLDs.
• Phase 1 Final Report on the Review of All Rights Protection Mechanisms (RPMs) - the recommendations that update the Uniform Rapid Suspension System (URS), the Trademark Clearinghouse (TMCH), the Sunrise and Trademark Claims services offered through the TMCH, and the Trademark Post-Delegation Dispute Resolution Procedure (TM-PDDRP).

The Guided Submission form will also ask if there is any community feedback on the changes related to operational updates, as summarized in the “Overview of Operational Updates” document found in the Supporting Information section below.

This first Public Comment proceeding is intended to gather feedback on substantive elements of the Next Round RA and the community is encouraged to provide its input during this proceeding to allow more time for consideration. The second Public Comment proceeding, expected for September 2025, is intended for incremental changes, including those resulting from the feedback received in the first Public Comment proceeding, as applicable and appropriate