Highlights from #ICANN48 Opening Ceremony

As industry delegates and business leaders converge in Buenos Aires, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) commenced their last meeting of the year in Argentina.  ICANN’s President and CEO, Fadi Chehadé, struck a cautiously optimistic tone during his opening ceremony remarks noting achievements over the past year as well as areas for improvement.

Amongst the notable updates from ICANN, mentioned during the President’s opening session and in the weeks leading up to ICANN 48:

  • 24 new gTLDs delegated and added to the Internet root, more than all the original generic top-level domains (gTLDs) combined.
  • More than 140 new gTLDs that have signed contracts with ICANN with the intention to launch registration services in the coming months including geographic top-level domains (TLDs) such as .london.
  • 17,000 trademarks filed globally in the Trademark Clearinghouse (TMCH) in preparation for upcoming Sunrise launches.
  • Scheduled auctions during Q1 2014 for competing applicants and contention sets in the New gTLD program.
  • Established legal entities for ICANN in Istanbul and Singapore, in addition to the existing office in Los Angeles.
  • 1net.org, a global panel of diverse stakeholders established to address the future of Internet governance including industry veterans like Vint Cerf (VP and Chief Internet Evangelist for Google) and Jimmy Wales (founder of Wikipedia).

New gTLD registries have also increased the pace of their activities in the past several weeks including an announcement from the largest portfolio applicant in the program, Bellevue-based Donuts Inc., that announced the second batch of TLDs for Sunrise launch beginning on December 3.  Those TLDs include .camera and .photography.  Read about the first batch of Donuts TLDs that are scheduled to launch on November 26 here.

Upcoming Webinar – ICANN Updates from Buenos Aires (10am NYC/ 3pm London) – Dec. 4th

For a complete wrap up of all the events and news from ICANN 48 in Buenos Aires, join CSC’s Director of Industry and Policy Affairs, Gretchen Olive, for a web seminar on Wednesday December 4th 2013: Register here.

Announcing The Brand Circle

For the latest information about the TMCH, rights protection mechanisms such as the Donuts DPML for brand and trademark owners, and details on every upcoming Sunrise launch, check out exclusive client-only resources available on The Brand Circle.  For immediate assistance contact your CSC Digital Brand Services Client Service Partner or Strategic Account Manager.  If you are not a CSC Digital Brand Services client,  request a  free New gTLD consultation here.