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<p><a></a>ICANN has just put out a new announcement on the gTLD<a></a> program at
<a href="http://icann.org/en/announcements/announcement-22feb11-en.htm">http://icann.org/en/announcements/announcement-22feb11-en.htm</a> .</p>
<p> </p>
<p>In addition to containing summaries and analyses of the latest comments on the Guidebook, it has this to say about the process going forward --</p>
<p> </p>
<p><font size="3" face="Times New Roman">The ICANN<a></a> Board and Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC<a></a>)
</font><a href="http://meetings.icann.org/board-gac-spring11"><font size="3" face="Times New Roman">will meet in Brussels</font></a><font size="3" face="Times New Roman"> from 28 Feb – 1 Mar and during the ICANN<a></a> meeting in San Francisco (13 – 18 March)
in the interest of resolving the outstanding issues the GAC<a></a> has identified with the new gTLD<a></a> process.</font></p>
<p><font size="3" face="Times New Roman"><strong>A new version of the Applicant Guidebook is not being published at this time.</strong> This decision was made with the intent to avoid presuming the outcomes of the discussions among the Board, GAC<a></a>, and
community. <strong>Given the short time period between these consultations and the ICANN<a></a> meeting in San Francisco, there is little utility to publishing a version with new changes, which would also be subject to additional changes based on the outcomes
of these meetings, <u>and without time for comment between versions.</u></strong></font></p>
<p><font size="3" face="Times New Roman">Work on the Applicant Guidebook is continuing in parallel with these activities. <strong><strong>ICANN</strong><a></a> is continuing to work with stakeholder groups in order to fully understand comments made on the Guidebook
and make changes based upon them. It is expected that the next version of the Guidebook to be released will incorporate updates based on: public comment, ongoing consultations, and changes resulting from the Board-GAC<a></a> consultations and from community
discussions in San Francisco.</strong></font></p>
<h3><font face="Times New Roman"><font size="3">Expected Path Forward</font></font></h3>
<ul>
<li><font size="3" face="Times New Roman">Board-GAC<a></a> Consultations: 28 Feb – 1 Mar 2011</font>
</li><li><font size="3" face="Times New Roman"><a></a><font size="3" face="Times New Roman">ICANN</font> meeting: 14 – 18 Mar 2011</font>
</li><li><font size="3" face="Times New Roman"><strong>Release of Applicant Guidebook: 14 Apr 2011
</strong>(emphasis added)</font></li></ul>
<p> </p>
<p>Based upon the language of the<a></a> statement, it appears likely that the version of the Guidebook released in April will likely be subject to an additional round of public comment. As to what that means for the<a></a> actual opening date of the application
window, the answer is unclear but one would expect additional delay until at least June 2011 in my personal opinion.</p>
<p> </p>
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<p style="MARGIN: 4.8pt 0in; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><font color="navy" size="2" face="Arial Black"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial; COLOR: navy; FONT-SIZE: 10pt"><font face="Arial Black">Philip S. Corwin<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><br>
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<p style="MARGIN: 4.8pt 0in; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><font face="Arial"><font face="Arial Black"><em><i><font color="navy" size="2"><span style="COLOR: navy; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">"Luck is the residue of design."</span></font></i></em><font color="navy" size="2"><span style="COLOR: navy; FONT-SIZE: 10pt"><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>--
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