Public Interest Commitments

Public Interest Commitments (PICs) as related to new gTLD applicants and the Registry Agreement they are to sign, is a term and creation directly from ICANN, first suggested on February 5th, 2013, in ICANN's revised new registry agreement that it opened for public comments.

PICs are voluntary amendments that applicants can create, sign, and undertake along with the general registry agreement in order to hold their registry operations to certain standards. They seem to originally have been developed as a way to allow applicants to appease GAC members that may be concerned about how their application stands as is, or how ICANN will be able to ensure a potential registry remains compliant with its aspirations and mandate as it defined in its summary of its proposed operations in the TLD application. As is, prior to PICs, there was no clear way of defining operating procedures when moving from the long form essays in the TLD application to the Registry Agreement.

For example, if an applicant expresses a desire to restrict registration to a certain group of professionals, such as doctors, lawyers, etc., the applicant can create a PIC to underline this and hold their future registry to that standard. If the applicant did not originally intend to create such restrictions as defined in its TLD application, but it has received communication from the GAC that the supporting organization intends to oppose their application to the ICANN Board without such language, then the PIC can be added as an appeal to those governments.

Timeline

It is a controversial topic that many applicants think was created quickly, with no outside input, and is presented in such a way that they feel compelled to make a decision without fully understanding the proposal. It seems to apply to a small subset of applicants, as only 145 of 1,409 strings were flagged by GAC Early Warnings, the primary target for PICs. The dispute resolution procedure, the Public Interest Commitment Dispute Resolution Process or PICDRP, has yet to be defined. Applicants were given one month, until March 5th, to submit their PICs. It seemed to conflict with other deadlines, such as the end of objection filling just a week later, so, "potential objectors would have to decide whether to file their objections based on PICs that have been published for just one week and that could be amended post-deadline."

ICANN CEO Fadi Chehadé noted around the imminent closing of the PIC submission date that this issue has the potential for pushing back the receipt of GAC advice and therefore the entire TLD implementation schedule, which is tightly fixed and aiming to recommend the first TLDs for delegation by April 23rd. ICANN will not recommend TLDs for implementation without the GAC's final advice, and the GAC seems to be placing a great import on the submission of PICs, to which the applicants remain wary.

Stakeholder Reactions

ICANN's Registry Stakeholder Group is very much opposed to the PICs and the rest of the proposed Registry Agreement, which includes provisions to only allow new registries to work with registrars that are party to their own new registrar accreditation agreement, which has yet to be settled upon. TLD applicants have argued that they are being used as a "wedge" to force registrars into signing a still non-existent agreement. The RySg has said, the Registry Agreement “contains so many serious and fundamental flaws that it should be withdrawn in its entirety." The U.S. Governement's National Telecommunications and Information Administration, from which ICANN is given its mandate and oversight, encouraged all applicants to submit PICs that related to verification of registration, the validity of Whois data, and help protect the "creative sector", a reference to content producers that are often subject to piracy on the Internet.

PICs Submitted

499 PIC specs were submitted. The following link out directly to the downloads for the respective PICs submitted:

1. .abogado - Top Level Domain Holdings Ltd., PIC
2. .academy - Donuts, PIC
3. .accountant - Famous Four Media, PIC
4. .accountants - Donuts, [PIC
5. .actor - Demand Media, PIC
6. .agency - Donuts, PIC
7. .airforce - Demand Media, PIC
8. .apartments - Donuts, PIC
9. .app - Donuts, PIC
10. .app - Famous Four Media, PIC
11. .app - Top Level Domain Holdings Ltd., PIC
12. .architect - Donuts, Donuts
13. .army - Demand Media, PIC
14. .art - Donuts, PIC
15. .art, Top Level Domain Holdings Ltd., PIC
16. .associates, Donuts, PIC
17. .attorney, Donuts, PIC
18. .auction, Donuts, PIC
19. .audio - Donuts, PIC
20. .auto - Donuts, PIC
21. .baby - Top Level Domain Holdings Ltd., [1]
22. .baby - Donuts, PIC
23. .band - Donuts, PIC
24. .bar - Demand Media, PIC
25. .bargains - Donuts, PIC
26. .baseball - Donuts, PIC
27. .basketball - Famous Four Media, PIC
28. .basketball - Donuts, PIC
29. .basketball - FIBA, PIC
30. .bayern - Bayern Connect GmbH, PIC
31. .beauty - Top Level Domain Holdings Ltd., PIC
32. .beauty - Donuts, PIC
33. .bet - Famous Four Media, PIC
34. .bet - Donuts, PIC
35. .bible - Donuts, PIC
36. .bike - Donuts, PIC
37. .bingo - Famous Four Media, PIC
38. .bingo - Donuts, PIC
39. .blog - Top Level Domain Holdings Ltd., PIC
40. .blog - Donuts, PIC
41. .boats, Donuts, PIC
42. .book - Famous Four Media, PIC
43. .book - Donuts, PIC
44. .book - Bronze Registry Limited, PIC
45. .boutique, Donuts, PIC
46. .bradesco - Banco Bradesco S.A., PIC
47. .broadway - Celebrate Broadway, Inc., PIC
48. .broadway - Donuts, PIC
49. .broker - Donuts, PIC
50. .budapest - Top Level Domain Holdings Ltd., PIC
51. .builders - Donuts, PIC
52. .business - Donuts, PIC
53. .buy - Donuts, PIC
54. .buzz - dotStrategy, PIC
55. .cab - Donuts, PIC
56. .cafe - Donuts, PIC
57. .cam - Demand Media, PIC
58. .camera - Donuts, PIC
59. .camp - Donuts, PIC
60. .capital - Donuts, PIC
61. .cards - Donuts, PIC
62. .care - Donuts, PIC
63. .career - dotCareer LLC, PIC
64. .careers - Donuts, PIC
65. .cars - Donuts, PIC
66. .casa - Donuts, PIC
67. .casino - Famous Four Media, PIC
68. .casino - dotBeauty LLC, PIC
69. .charity - Donuts, PIC
70. .charity - Famous Four Media, PIC
71. .cheap - Donuts, PIC
72. .city - Donuts, PIC
73. .claims - Donuts, PIC
74. .cleaning - Donuts, PIC
75. .clinic - Donuts, PIC
76. .clothing - Donuts, PIC
77. .cloud - Donuts, PIC
78. .club - Donuts, PIC
79. .coffee - Donuts, PIC
80. .college - Donuts, PIC
81. .community, Donuts, PIC
82. .company - Donuts, PIC
83. .computer - Donuts, PIC
84. .condos - Donuts, PIC
85. .consulting - Donuts, PIC
86. .contractors - Donuts, PIC
87. .cool - Donuts, PIC
88. .corp - Donuts, PIC
89. .construction - Donuts, PIC
90. .coupons - Donuts, PIC
91. .cpa - Donuts, PIC
92. .credit - Donuts, PIC
93. .creditcard - Donuts, PIC
94. .creditunion - CUNA, PIC
95. .cricket - Donuts, PIC
96. .cruise - Cruise Lines International Association Inc., PIC
97. .cruises - Donuts, PIC
98. .dance - Demand Media, PIC
99. .date - Donuts, PIC
100. .dating - Donuts, PIC
101. .deals - Donuts, PIC
102. .degree - Donuts, PIC
103. .delivery - Donuts, PIC
104. .democrat - Demand Media, PIC
105. .dental - Donuts, PIC
106. .dentist - Donuts, PIC
107. .design - Donuts, PIC
108. .diamonds - Donuts, PIC
109. .diet - Donuts, PIC
110. .digital - Donuts, PIC
111. .direct - Donuts, PIC
112. .directory - Donuts, PIC
113. .discount - Donuts, PIC
114. .doctor - Donuts, PIC
115. .dog - Donuts, PIC
116. .domains - Donuts, PIC
117. .download - Famous Four Media, PIC
118. .eco - Big Room Inc., PIC
119. .eco - Donuts, PIC
120. .ecom - Ecommerce Inc., PIC
121. .education - Donuts, PIC
122. .email - Donuts, PIC
123. .energy - Famous Four Media, PIC
124. .engineer - Donuts, PIC
125. .engineering - Donuts, PIC
126. .enterprises - Donuts, PIC
127. .equipment - Donuts, PIC
128. .estate - Donuts, PIC
129. .events - Donuts, PIC
130. .exchange - Donuts, PIC
131. .expert - Donuts, PIC
132. .exposed - Donuts, PIC
133. .express - Donuts, PIC
134. .fail - Donuts, PIC
135. .family - Donuts, PIC
136. .fan - Donuts, PIC
137. .farm - Donuts, PIC
138. .fashion - Donuts, PIC
139. .film - Donuts, PIC
140. .finance - Donuts, PIC
141. .financial - Donuts, PIC
142. .fish - Donuts, PIC
143. .fishing - Demand Media, PIC
144. .fitness - Donuts, PIC
145. .flights - Donuts, PIC
146. .florist - Donuts, PIC
147. .flowers - Donuts, PIC
148. .food - Donuts, PIC
149. .football - Donuts, PIC
150. .forsale - Donuts, PIC
151. .forum - Donuts, PIC
152. .foundation - Donuts, PIC
153. .free - Donuts, PIC
154. .fun - Donuts, PIC
155. .fund - Donuts, PIC
156. .furniture - Donuts, PIC
157. .flowers - Donuts, PIC
158. .futbol - Donuts, PIC
159. .fyi - Donuts, PIC
160. .gallery - Donuts, PIC
161. .games - Donuts, PIC
162. .garden - Donuts, PIC
163. .gay - Demand Media, PIC
164. .gcc - GCCIX WLL, PIC
165. .gecompany - GE GTLD Holdings LLC, PIC
166. .gifts - Donuts, PIC
167. .gives - Donuts, PIC
168. .glass - Donuts, PIC
169. .global - Donuts, PIC
170. .gmbh - Donuts, PIC
171. .gmbh - InterNetWire, PIC
172. .gold - Donuts, PIC
173. .golf - Donuts, PIC
174. .graphics - Donuts, PIC
175. .gratis - Donuts, PIC
176. .green - DotGreen Community Inc., PIC
177. .green - Demand Media, PIC
178. .gripe - Donuts, PIC
179. .group - Donuts, PIC
180. .guide - Donuts, PIC
181. .guru - Donuts, PIC
182. .halal - Asia Green IT System Bilgisayar San., PIC
183. .haus - Donuts, PIC
184. .health - DotHealth, LLC, PIC
185. .health - dot Health Limited, PIC
186. .health - Donuts, PIC
187. .healthcare - Donuts, PIC
188. .help, Donuts, PIC
189. .hiv - dotHIV gemeinnuetziger e.V., PIC
190. .hockey - Donuts, PIC
191. .holdings - Donuts, PIC
192. .holiday - Donuts, PIC
193. .home - Donuts, PIC
194. .hospital - Donuts, PIC
195. .hosting - Donuts, PIC
196. .hot - Donuts, PIC
197. .hotel - Donuts, PIC
198. .hotel - Famous Four Media, PIC
199. .house - Donuts, PIC
200. .idn - NameShop, PIC
201. .immo - Donuts, PIC
202. .immo - Top Level Domain Holdings Ltd., PIC
203. .immobilien - Demand Media, PIC
204. .inc - Donuts, PIC
205. .industries - Donuts, PIC
206. .institute - Donuts, PIC
207. .insurance - Donuts, PIC
208. .insure - Donuts, PIC
209. .international - Donuts, PIC
210. .investments - Donuts, PIC
211. .islam - Asia Green IT System Bilgisayar San., PIC
212. .jewelry - Richemont DNS Inc., PIC
213. .jewelry - Donuts, PIC
214. .juegos - Donuts, PIC
215. .kaufen - Demand Media, PIC
216. .kids - DotKids Foundation Limited, PIC
217. .kitchen - Donuts, PIC
218. .kiwi - Dot Kiwi Limited, PIC
219. .land - Donuts PIC
220. .latino - Top Level Domain Holdings Ltd., PIC
221. .law - Famous Four Media, PIC
222. .law - Donuts, PIC
223. .lawyer - Donuts, PIC
224. .lease - Donuts, PIC
225. .legal - Donuts, PIC
226. .lighting - Donuts, PIC
227. .limited - Donuts, PIC
228. .limo - Donuts, PIC
229. .living - Donuts, PIC
230. .llc - Top Level Domain Holdings Ltd., PIC
231. .llc - Donuts, PIC
232. .loan - Famous Four Media, PIC
233. .loans - Donuts, PIC
234. .london - Dot London Domains Limited, PIC
235. .love - Donuts, PIC
236. .ltd - Donuts, PIC
237. .luxe - Top Level Domain Holdings Ltd., PIC
238. .luxury - Donuts, PIC
239. .mail - Donuts, PIC
240. .mail - 1&1 Mail & Media GmbH, PIC
241. .maison - Donuts, PIC
242. .man - MAN SE, PIC
243. .management - Donuts, PIC
244. .map - Demand Media, PIC
245. .market - Donuts, PIC
246. .marketing - Donuts, PIC
247. .mba - Donuts, PIC
248. .med - Medistry, PIC
249. .med - HEXAP SAS, PIC
250. .media - Donuts, PIC
251. .medical - Donuts, PIC
252. .memorial - Donuts, PIC
253. .merck - Merck KGaA, PIC
254. .mobile - Donuts, PIC
255. .moda - Donuts, PIC
256. .mom - Demand Media, PIC
257. .money - Donuts, PIC
258. .money - Famous Four Media, PIC
259. .mortgage - Donuts, PIC
260. .moto - Demand Media, PIC
261. .movie - Famous Four Media, PIC
262. .movie - Donuts, PIC
263. .music - Famous Four Media, PIC
264. .music - Donuts, PIC
265. .music - Top Level Domain Holdings Ltd., PIC
266. .navy - Demand Media, PIC
267. .network - Donuts, PIC
268. .news - Donuts, PIC
269. .ninja - Demand Media, PIC
270. .now - Donuts, PIC
271. .nowruz - Asia Green IT System Bilgisayar San., PIC
272. .nrw - Minds + Machines, PIC
273. .online - Tucows, PIC
274. .online - Donuts, PIC
275. .ooo - INFIBEAM INCORPORATION LIMITED, PIC
276. .organic - Afilias, PIC
277. .pars - Asia Green IT System Bilgisayar San., PIC
278. .partners - Donuts, PIC
279. .parts - Donuts, PIC
280. .patagonia - Patagonia, Inc., PIC
281. .persiangulf -Asia Green IT System Bilgisayar San., PIC
282. .pets - Donuts, PIC
283. .phone - Donuts, PIC
284. .photography - Donuts, PIC
285. .photos - Donuts, PIC
286. .pictures - Donuts, PIC
287. .pizza - Top Level Domain Holdings Ltd., PIC
288. .pizza - Donuts, PIC
289. .place - Donuts, PIC
290. .plumbing - Donuts, PIC
291. .plus - Donuts, PIC
292. .poker - Donuts, PIC
293. .poker - Dot Poker LLC, PIC
294. .poker - dot Poker Limited, PIC
295. .productions - Donuts, PIC
296. .properties - Donuts, PIC
297. .property - Donuts, PIC
298. .property - Top Level Domain Holdings Ltd., PIC
299. .pub - Demand Media, PIC
300. .racing - Donuts, PIC
301. .racing - Famous Four Media, PIC
302. .radio - Donuts, PIC
303. .radio - BRS Media, PIC
304. .realestate - Top Level Domain Holdings Ltd., PIC
305. .realestate - Donuts, PIC
306. .realty - Donuts, PIC
307. .recipes - Donuts, PIC
308. .red - Donuts, PIC
309. .rehab - Demand Media, PIC
310. .reise - dotreise GmbH, PIC
311. .reisen - Donuts, PIC
312. .rent - Donuts, PIC
313. .rentals - Donuts, PIC
314. .repair - Donuts, PIC
315. .report - Donuts, PIC
316. .republican - Demand Media, PIC
317. .restaurant - Donuts, PIC
318. .restaurant - Demand Media, PIC
319. .review - Top Level Domain Holdings Ltd., PIC
320. .reviews - Donuts, PIC
321. .rip - Demand Media, PIC
322. .rocks - Donuts, PIC
323. .rodeo - Top Level Domain Holdings Ltd., PIC
324. .roma - Top Level Domain Holdings Ltd., PIC
325. .rugby - IRB Strategic Developments Limited, PIC
326. .rugby - Donuts, PIC
327. .rugby - Famous Four Media, PIC
328. .run - Donuts, PIC
329. .sale - Top Level Domain Holdings Ltd., PIC
330. .sale - Donuts, PIC
331. .salon - Donuts, PIC
332. .sap - SAP AG, PIC
333. .sarl - Donuts, PIC
334. .sarl - mySarl GmbH, PIC
335. .school - Donuts, PIC
336. .school - Top Level Domain Holdings Ltd., PIC
337. .schule - Donuts, PIC
338. .science - Top Level Domain Holdings, PIC
339. .search - Donuts, PIC
340. .security - Donuts, PIC
341. .services - Donuts, PIC
342. .shia - Asia Green IT System Bilgisayar San., PIC
343. .shoes - Donuts, PIC
344. .shop - Donuts, PIC
345. .shopping - Donuts, PIC
346. .show - Donuts, PIC
347. .singles - Donuts, PIC
348. .site - Donuts, PIC
349. .site - Top Level Domain Holdings Ltd., PIC
350. .ski - Donuts, PIC
351. .smart - SMART, PIC
352. .soccer - Top Level Domain Holdings Ltd., PIC
353. .soccer - Donuts, PIC
354. .social - Demand Media, PIC
355. .software - Donuts, PIC
356. .solar - Donuts, PIC
357. .solutions - Donuts, PIC
358. .spa - Donuts, PIC
359. .spa - Top Level Domain Holdings Ltd., PIC
360. .sports - Donuts, PIC
361. .srl - mySRL GmbH, PIC
362. .storage - Donuts, PIC
363. .store - [[Donuts[[, PIC
364. .store - Top Level Domain Holdings Ltd., PIC
365. .stream - Famous Four Media, PIC
366. .studio - Donuts, PIC
367. .style - Donuts, PIC
368. .style - Top Level Domain Holdings Ltd., PIC
369. .sucks - Momentous, PIC
370. .sucks - Donuts, PIC
371. .supplies - Donuts, PIC
372. .supply - Donuts, PIC
373. .support - Donuts, PIC
374. .surf - Top Level Domain Holdings Ltd., PIC
375. .surgery - Donuts, PIC
376. .systems - Donuts, PIC
377. .tax - Donuts, PIC
378. .taxi - Donuts, PIC
379. .taxi - Taxi Pay GmbH, PIC
380. .team - Donuts, PIC
381. .tech - Donuts, PIC
382. .tech - Top Level Domain Holdings Ltd., PIC
383. .technology - Donuts, PIC
384. .tennis - Donuts, PIC
385. .theater - Donuts, PIC
386. .tickets - Shubert Internet, Inc., PIC
387. .tickets - Accent Media Limited, PIC
388. .tickets - Donuts, PIC
389. .tienda - Donuts, PIC
390. .tips - Donuts, PIC
391. .tires - Donuts, PIC
392. .tools - Donuts, PIC
393. .tours - Donuts, PIC
394. .town - Donuts, PIC
395. .toys - Donuts, PIC
396. .trading - Donuts, PIC
397. training - Donuts, PIC
398. .tube - Latin American Telecom LLC, PIC
399. .tube - Donuts, PIC
400. .ummah - Ummah Digital Limited, PIC
401. .university - Donuts, PIC
402. .vacations - Donuts, PIC
403. .ventures - Donuts, PIC
404. .vet - Donuts, PIC
405. .viajes - Donuts, PIC
406. .video - Top Level Domain Holdings Ltd., PIC
407. .video - Donuts, PIC
408. .villas - Donuts, PIC
409. .vin - Donuts, PIC
410. .vip - Top Level Domain Holdings, PIC
411. .vip - Donuts, PIC
412. .vision - Donuts, PIC
413. .vodka - Top Level Domain Holdings Ltd., PIC
414. .vote - Donuts, PIC
415. .voyage - Donuts, PIC
416. .watch - Donuts, PIC
417. .watches - Richemont DNS Inc, PIC
418. .web - Donuts, PIC
419. .website - Donuts, PIC
420. .website - Top Level Domain Holdings Ltd., PIC
421. .wed - Atgron, Inc., PIC
422. .wedding - Donuts, PIC
423. .wedding - Top Level Domain Holdings, PIC
424. .win - Famous Four Media, PIC
425. .wine - Donuts, PIC
426. .work - Top Level Domain Holdings, PIC
427. .works - Donuts, PIC
428. .world - Donuts, PIC
429. .wow - Demand Media, PIC
430. .wtf - Donuts, PIC
431. .yoga - Donuts, PIC
432. .yoga - Top Level Domain Holdings Ltd., PIC
433. .zone - Donuts, PIC
434. .zulu - Top Level Domain Holdings Ltd., PIC
435. .онлайн - CORE, PIC
436. .рус - Rusnames Limited, https://gtldresult.icann.org/application-result/applicationstatus/applicationdetails/159 PIC]
437. .сайт - CORE, PIC
438. .بازار - CORE, PIC
439. .همراه - Asia Green IT System Bilgisayar San., PIC
440. .企业 - Donuts, PIC
441. .健康 - Stable Tone Limited, PIC
442. .公益 - CONAC, PIC
443. .商店 - Donuts, PIC
444. .娱乐 - Donuts, PIC
445. .慈善 - Zodiac, PIC
446. .手表 - Richemont DNS Inc., PIC
447. .政务 - CONAC, PIC
448. .政府 - Net-Chinese, PIC
449. .游戏 - Donuts, PIC
450. .珠宝 - Richemont DNS Inc., PIC
451. .网址 - Top Level Domain Holdings Ltd., PIC
452. .购物 - Top Level Domain Holdings Ltd., PIC
453. .通用电气公司 - GE GTLD Holdings, PIC

Top-Level Domain

Governmental Advisory Committee. Considers and provides advice on the activities of ICANN as they relate to concerns of governments, particularly matters where there may be an interaction between ICANN's policies and various laws and international agreements or where they may affect public policy issues (ICANN Bylaws).