Wednesday, March 6, 2013

No "Pics" for wine applications...yet?

ICANN requested that New gTLD applicants submit Public Interest Commitments (PIC) Specifications. PIC Specifications provide applicants with the opportunity to make public interest commitments based on statements made in their applications and/or additional public interest commitments which were not included in their applications but to which they intend to commit.

Understand: we now ask you to "voluntary" confirm that you will do everything you wrote in your application so we can cause you trouble if you don't stick to the text in the future.

For example, some applicants stated in their applications that they intend to implement registration restrictions or heightened rights protection mechanisms above those required in the current draft of the New gTLD Registry Agreement.
But outside of community-based applications, there are no mechanisms for requiring these plans and objectives to be incorporated into the New gTLD Registry Agreement.

Understand: you could write whatever you liked in your application and if you don't do what you wrote, it does not matter as long as you do the minimum.

As of today none of the 3 applicants for all wine related applications submitted any Public Interest Commitments. But is this necessary ? Why would an applicant with the intention to earn money and who has been waiting so long after ICANN, would provide more information that could:
  1. cause him trouble in the future?
  2. take the risk to slow down the ICANN process "a little more"?
  3. endanger his application? 
On the other hand, it is possible the first wine applicant to submit a Public Interest Commitment benefits a greater credibility during his validation process. This morning, there were more than 70 PICs submitted.

Update (03/07/2013): a total of 499 PIC specs have been received and are now posted on the current application status page on the new gTLD. "Donuts", applicant for both .WINE and .VIN new gTLDs, submitted 2; none were received from Afilias and Famous Four Media.

PICs can be found on the right column here.

.BRAND new gTLD Reports are updated once a month: CLICK HERE !