ICANN today announced that 17 individuals have been selected to serve on the team that will review the New gTLD Program in relation to competition, consumer trust and consumer choice (CCT). Review team members represent an array of geographic regions and areas of expertise, and have demonstrated knowledge of the New gTLD Program or one of the review areas.
Six review team members were endorsed by the Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO) and two were endorsed by the At-Large Advisory Committee (ALAC). Four members will serve as independent experts and bring deep knowledge of economics, consumer protection and intellectual property law, and Internet security to the team. Of the remaining five team members, two also belong to the Country Code Names Supporting Organization (ccNSO), two from the Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC), and one represents ICANN's CEO.
In accordance with ICANN's Affirmation of Commitments, CCT review team members were selected byICANN CEO Fadi Chehadé and GAC Chair Thomas Schneider. The pair made their selections based on rigorous analysis of application materials from 72 candidates. Applications were evaluated against the criteria outlined in the call for volunteers with a particular focus on candidates' expertise in competition, consumer trust and consumer choice. Endorsements and guidance from the GNSO and ALAC were also taken into consideration. Chehadé and Schneider chose candidates representing a cross-section of experience and geographic diversity.
The Affirmation of Commitments also allows the CEO and GAC chair to serve on the review team or designate representatives. Chehadé will be represented by ICANN's Jamie Hedlund, and Schneider byLaureen Kapin [PDF, 89 KB], of the GAC Public Safety Working Group and the U.S. Federal Trade Commission.
The CCT review team is expected to convene for its first meeting in January 2016 and to complete a final draft of its report by December 2016. Periodic updates on the progress of the review will be made available on icann.org and at ICANN public meetings.
| Members Representing an ICANN Supporting Organization or Advisory Committee | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Country | SO/AC | Documents |
| Calvin Browne | South Africa | GNSO | |
| Jordyn Buchanan | USA | GNSO | |
| Carlos Raul Gutierrez | Costa Rica | GNSO | |
| Waudo Siganga | Kenya | GNSO | |
| David Taylor | United Kingdom | GNSO | |
| Jonathan Zuck | USA | GNSO | |
| Kaili Kan | People's Republic of China | ALAC | |
| Carlton Samuels | Jamaica | ALAC | |
| Megan Richards | Belgium | GAC | |
| Dejan Djukic | Serbia | ccNSO | |
| Gaongalelwe G.P. Mosweu | Botswana | ccNSO | |
| Members Serving as Independent Experts | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Country | Documents |
| Drew Bagley | USA | |
| Stanley Besen | USA | |
| N. Ravi Shankar | India | |
| Fabro Steibel | Brazil | |
Background
Section 9.3 of the Affirmation of Commitments states: "If and when new gTLDs (whether in ASCII or other language character sets) have been in operation for one year, ICANN will organize a review that will examine the extent to which the introduction or expansion of gTLDs has promoted competition, consumer trust and consumer choice." An implementation advisory group recommended a set of 66 metrics [PDF, 472 KB], which the ICANN Board adopted, for the review team to consider. ICANN has been collecting data on many of these metrics. In addition, ICANN commissioned a global survey and economic study to gather data on certain metrics. Baseline reports on consumer and registrant awareness of new gTLDs have been published along with an economic assessment of competition in the domain name marketplace. These and other supporting materials will be made available to the review team to inform its work.
