New TLD contracting

The following is an outline of the Contracting process as defined by ICANN. It is our goal to supplement this with actual contracting timelines and action items that are encountered by new TLD applicants. Information can be edited directly, or contact Andrew Merriam, andrew[at]tldesign.co

Steps & Timeline

1. CIR
   1. approx. 4-6 weeks from CIR invitation to RA provisioning
2. Sign Registry Agreement
3. Pre-Delegation Testing (approx. 6 weeks)
4. Registry Onboarding
   1. approx. 6 weeks, to be completed simultaneous with PDT & IANA transition
5. Transition to IANA (approx. 4-6 weeks)
6. Delegation
   1. TMCH
   2. Sunrise (min. 60 days)

Contracting Information Request (CIR)

• See Contracting Information Request summary and example.
  • ICANN's CIR Guide, with examples
• ICANN suggested timeline between the CIR and RA: 4-6 weeks
• Applicant timeline examples:
  • 28 days, Oct. 16-Nov. 14; Donuts Inc.'s .network
  • 29 days, Nov. 6-Dec. 14; Donuts Inc.'s .report

Registry Agreement

• Download Base Agreement, supplement
• ICANN suggested timeline: 7 days, based on the following weekly schedule
  • Thursday-Monday: draft RAs
  • Tuesday-Wednesday: send the RA out for signature
  • Thursday: execute RA
  • Friday: post RA
  • Note: ICANN's estimate of 7 days represents how long it takes ICANN to create and process the RA internally. However, because applications are processed by priority number, this step may take longer.
• Applicant timeline examples: ____ days
  • Donuts Inc., which has signed RAs for a significant number of applications, generally has received RAs ready for signature on Tuesday with ICANN returning them countersigned by Thursday.
• Some Post RA provisioning can be done simultaneous to other phases, see Registry Onboarding.

Pre-Delegation Testing

• See Pre-Delegation Testing for summary
• ICANN suggested timeline: 6 weeks
  • In prior documents, ICANN has broken this down as 2 weeks for testing, and an additional 2-3 weeks for reporting the PDT results. This seems to have been recently conflated and changed to a 6 week process, according to slides from ICANN 48 in Buenos Aires.
• Applicant timeline examples:
  • 21 days, Aug. 5-Aug. 26; DotShabaka. Yasmin Omer has explained that as the first applicant to go through PDT, their experience should not be taken as indicative of current ICANN processes.
  • 24 days, Nov. 4-Nov. 28; Dot Chinese Online and Dot Chinese Website
  • 17 days, Nov. 25-Dec. 12; for Donuts Inc.'s .holiday
    • This is the fastest time frame for PDT Donuts Inc. has experienced.
  • 24 days; for Donuts Inc.
• ICANN's Self-Test Tools

Transition to IANA and Delegation

Transition to Delegation sequence, including the status of registries in the Delegation Process as of Nov. 18, 2013

• ICANN's list of delegated strings
• ICANN suggested timeline: 4-6 weeks
  • An initial ICANN 48 presentation stated there was an estimated 2 week period for transitioning to delegation, an update of the slide presentation from Buenos Aires shows that this estimate has since been lengthened.
• Applicant timeline examples:
  • 5 days, Oct. 19-24; dotShabaka.
  • 5 days, Nov. 1-Nov. 6; for Donuts Inc.'s .singles

Transition to IANA

Below is a brief overview of the transition process provided by ICANN:

• Open the Transition to IANA Case in the Customer Portal
• Provide Delegation POC
• After ICANN validates the delegation POC, obtain IANA token later used to start delegation

See ICANN's Customer Portal User Guide: Transition to Delegation PDF for specific instructions.

Delegation Process

Below is an overview provided by the dotShabaka Registry:

• "Notification of eligibility for Alternate Path to delegation and report
• Request for Delegation POC
• Delegation token sent through CSC portal
• Delegation PIN sent to Delegation POC
• Token and pin entered into RZM system to initiate process
• Following information entered:
  • Manager: also know as the "Registry" or "Sponsoring Organization"
  • Administrative and Technical Contacts
  • Authoritative Name servers maintained to serve the TLD
  • Registration Information: additional information including location of whois server"

Tips

dotShabaka also had some recommendations for the delegation process, such as:

• making sure that the Delegation POC and Primary Contact are the same
• ensuring that whois is located at whois.nic.tld
• and hosting the whois server at a different location during the delegation process

Registry Onboarding

• ICANN suggested timeline: 6 weeks, simultaneous with 6 week PDT
  • In a previous ICANN 48 presentation, 30+ days were allotted for the Onboarding Process
• Applicant timeline examples: ____ days
• Much of the registry onboarding can be done concurrently with PDT, Delegation, and Sunrise.
  • Contact Sheet - Establishes appropriate contacts for various contingencies.
  • Delegation Info - Can be established concurrently with PDT, but must be completed prior to Delegation. Includes information on Zone File Access; Bulk Thin Registration Data Access; Data Escrow Registry Reporting; URS; EPP; IDN Tables; SLA Monitoring.
  • Launch Program Application - Can be completed anytime after the contracting process has begun and needs to be submitted to ICANN before the Sunrise Period starts.
    • Launch Program Application (PDF) provided by ICANN.
    • A sample (pdf) of dotShabaka's Launch Policy

Delegation

Trademark Clearinghouse

• Registries can send a Trademark Clearinghouse TLD Startup Information Form to ICANN after delegation. This form outlines the Sunrise, Claims, and other registration periods for the new TLD, in addition to describing the registry's policies, such as any specific restrictions on registration during the Sunrise and Claims Periods. ICANN then will schedule dates that fit the TMCH requirements with IBM. Both the registry and IBM will the confirm the dates.
  • A sample (pdf) of Donuts Inc.'s Trademark Clearinghouse TLD Startup Information Form for .gallery
  • A sample (.docx) of dotShabaka's Trademark Clearinghouse TLD Startup Information Form
• An update from the TMCH indicates that it will continue to provide notice to trademark holders if an individual registers domains matching their TMCH stored trademark after the 90 day period required in the new gTLD program ends.

Sunrise Period

• See Sunrise Period summary, (min. 60 days)
  • ICANN mandated timeline for Start Date Sunrise: 30 day notice period with a minimum of 30 days running
  • ICANN mandated timeline for End Date Sunrise: no notice period, minimum of 60 days running
• ICANN's current list of Sunrise and Trademark Claims Periods
  • A sample (pdf) of Donuts Inc.'s Complete Registry Policy for .guru
  • A sample (pdf) of dotShabaka's Sunrise Dispute Resolution Policy

Applicant Examples

Applicant Timelines

dotShabaka

This image shows the experience of dotShabaka, beginning with the execution of their registry agreement.

• NOTE: dotShabaka's 30 day Landrush Period is scheduled to begin on Jan. 2 and to conclude on Jan. 31, 2014. It's General Availability (GA) date is set for Feb. 4, 2014.

Dot Chinese Online and Dot Chinese Website

Expected timeline :

• PDT begins-Monday Nov. 4
• PDT ends-Thursday Nov. 28
• Sunrise begins-Friday Jan. 17
• Sunrise ends-Monday Mar. 17
• 2 day quiet period
• Landrush begins-Thursday Mar. 20
• Landrush ends-Thursday Apr. 24
• 3 day quiet period
• GA begins-Monday Apr. 28

Applicant Tips

• Be sure your TLD is on the PSL so that it works smoothly with major browsers

Internet Assigned Numbers Authority

Top-Level Domain

Internationalized Domain Name