> **** > > On 7 February 2012, the ICANN Board reaffirmed ICANN's commitment to > opening a second round of applications in the New gTLD Program as > expeditiously as possible. > As strongly suggested by Sebastien at the Singapore vote. > **** > > > In addition, ICANN is seeking public comment on certain trademark > protections<http://www.icann.org/en/public-comment/newgtlds-defensive-applications-06feb12-en.htm>in the New gTLD Program. Some stakeholders recently indicated that there > are concerns about the perceived need for "defensive" applications at the > top level, and encouraged ICANN to ensure that the program was launched in > a manner that protects intellectual property rights. The public comment > will help ICANN clarify the scope and benefits of the available protections > as well as understand and respond to specific concerns with them. > ICANN "feels your pain" department. > **** > > Finally, ICANN continues to push forward with its program to provide > financial and other forms of assistance to qualifying applicants. Having > designed an Applicant Support Program<http://newgtlds.icann.org/en/applicants/candidate-support>and an Applicant > Assistance Handbook<http://newgtlds.icann.org/en/applicants/candidate-support#financial-assistance>, > ICANN is now seeking independent panel members<http://www.icann.org/en/announcements/announcement-3-03feb12-en.htm>to help make financial award decisions. Global diversity and broad sets of > experiences will be required and ICANN encourages those interested to seek > additional information.**** > > ** > I trust we are well represented. -- --------------------------------------------------------------- Joly MacFie 218 565 9365 Skype:punkcast WWWhatsup NYC - http://wwwhatsup.com http://pinstand.com - http://punkcast.com VP (Admin) - ISOC-NY - http://isoc-ny.org -------------------------------------------------------------- -