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 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 and an Applicant Assistance Handbook, ICANN is now seeking independent panel members 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.