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We have chosen to address the Scorecard by "theme" as opposed to line-by-line, in part because of the compress timeline required for this Response but also because some themes are spread between multiple Scorecard items (which will be denoted as (#1), etc in the analysis below).

It must be emphasised that, because of the extremely compressed timeline allowed for this response, ALAC has not received the broad At-Large community feedback and buy-in that such a statement would normally warrant. While its authors have solicited comment and ALAC endorsement, this statement is still subject to review and possible refinement pending broader At-Large distribution. If the language below is seen as too sharp, the reader is asked to accept our apologies -- but also to understand that we have had both little time and few words with which to express our concerns.

Theme 1: Objection Procedure

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However, the At-Large community has been alarmed by what has become an environment of trademark obsession within ICANN. The original "IRT" group chartered by the Board, which shunned community participation, went far beyond reasonable trademark protections and would have empowered ICANN to enforce protections well beyond that afforded by existing law or treaty. Extension of protection to prevent strings which were "similar" to marks, for instance, was a clear example of stepping outside of common sense and into the realm of stifling competition and choice. It is unfortunate that such anti-public-interest foolishness, attempted by the IRT but rebuffed by the STI recommendations, has crept back into the GAC Scorecard. The assertion of of these extreme measures as in the public interest and serving consumer protection is baseless and almost offensive.

Indeed, we find it unfortunate that such a disproportionate part of the Scorecard itself has been given to this issue, offering detailed remedies while the rest of the Scorecard deals in high-level concepts. While we share many of the GAC's concerns in this area, we believe that a sense of fair play and common sense is paramount, as well as a sense of proportion regarding Intellectual Property issues being but one part of the public interest related to Internet domains.  

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Theme 3: Special categories of applications

Scorecard items 2.2, 6.4.4, 8, 10

Despite widespread community request, ICANN has not budged from its long-standing position of only two categories of applications -- "regular" and "community". This is despite the fact that GNSO policy on gTLDs allows for categorization, and indeed allows for differential pricing for different categories (another policy conveniently overlooked in all versions of the AG to date).

The GAC Scorecard, in our view, simply adds one more strong voice to the need for categorization beyond what now exists. While arguments have been made -- and should be heeded -- about the concern that categorizatioin mechanisms would be subverted for financial gain (also known as "gamed"), ALAC holds the view that such concerns are not sufficient to resist implementation of new necessary categories. Even if gaming succeeds, in our view it is prefereable to let a few applications "slip through the cracks" than to deny the public service and innovation possible through creating a small number of new categories.

The ALAC view of categories indicated in the Scorecard as are follows:

Extension of the "community" designation to industry sectors (#2.2, 6.4.4): In principle, we endorse the GAC position of wanting a special status for TLD names which indicate entire sectors which may be subject to regulation (such as .bank, .pharma, .lawyer). We are unclear about what form of extended evaluation is expected for such applications, and how the evaluation criteria are to be verified and enforced post-delegation. At-Large members have been following the High Security TLD Working Group and applaud its efforts; however its work seems too highly focused only on the financial services industry and might be overkill for other sectors. We are also concerned about the limits of such a designation; for instance, would ".shop" -- a real application-in-waiting -- be affected, since many countries regulate retail sales? We understand the public-protection aspects of such a recommendation but are unsure if its execution is sufficiently evolved to be implentable without incurring significant delay to the new-gTLD process. Perhaps this "category" of TLD applications only should be delayed until appropriate public-interest concerns and solutions are studied before implementation.

Theme 4: Operational readiness

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