13 Dec 2010 07:00
For immediate release
13 December 2010
TOP LEVEL DOMAIN HOLDINGS LTD
("TLDH" or "The Company")
ICANN Cartagena Update
The Directors of Top Level Domain Holdings, Ltd (AIM: TLDH.L), the only public company focused exclusively on acquiring and operating new top-level domains, is pleased to provide an update on the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers ("ICANN") meeting in Cartagena that concluded on 10 December 2010, at which the ICANN Board of Directors resolved that a series of key issues had been addressed in relation to the introduction of new generic top level domains ("gTLDs").
As noted by ICANN (see http://www.icann.org) several controversial aspects of new gTLDs were resolved, including trademark protection, mitigating malicious conduct, root zone scaling, and economic analysis. An inter-sessional meeting of ICANN and the Governmental Advisory Committee ("GAC") has been arranged for February 2011 to address the GAC's remaining concerns with the gTLD process relating principally to aspects of geographic gTLDs and other gTLD's that raise morality and public order issues.
TLDH's CEO, Antony Van Couvering, said:
"As the Chairman of the Board of ICANN, Peter Dengate-Thrush, commented when explaining the resolutions, a turning point has been reached. We believe that we are now in sight of the finishing line with regards to finalising the introduction program for new gTLD's. The ICANN Board resolved that concerns about trademarks and intellectual property had been addressed, thereby dealing with what had been to date the longest running source of delay to the new gTLD program. Trademarks can no longer be considered as a "threshold issue" that could derail the new gTLD program.
"The ICANN Board and the GAC have expressed their expectation that their meeting in February should resolve the remaining issues. In the Company's view, any extension to ICANN's published application timeline should not be significant and the benefits of certainty and consensus between ICANN and the GAC should outweigh the short delay that this meeting introduces.
"We are therefore now entering a key phase in our Company's development as we prepare for the opening of the gTLD application window in 2011. We are delighted that we have the funds, the personnel and the infrastructure in place to move rapidly in this environment."
As previously announced the final rules for applicants for new gTLDs will be the starting point for ICANN to publicise the new gTLD programme in order to attract qualified applicants. While community discussions on the draft Applicant Guidebooks have addressed numerous issues, some implementation issues remain and the ICANN Board has directed its staff to take account of the public comments received on the final draft of the Applicant Guidebook (which was issued in November) to enable the ICANN Board to make a decision on the launch of the new gTLD program as soon as possible. The next ICANN meeting will take place in March 2011 in San Francisco.
About Top Level Domain Holdings Limited, http://www.tldh.org
Top Level Domain Holding is a publicly-traded holding company listed on the London AIM market. The company is focused on the new top-level domain space. Top-level domains, such as .com, .run by VeriSign (NASDAQ: VRSN) and .biz, run by NeuStar (NYSE: NSR) are regulated by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers ("ICANN"). ICANN has announced plans to expand the number of top level domains. Top Level Domain Holdings intends to make targeted investments in this space, focusing on both infrastructure technologies and specific top level domains.
About MINDS + MACHINES www.mindsandmachines.com
Minds + Machines is a registry company that works internationally with commercial organisations, cities, not-for-profits and entrepreneurs to secure and operate new web domains, known as top-level domains (TLDs). Minds + Machines is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Top Level Domains Holdings, Ltd. (AIM: TLDH.L)
For further information, please contact:
Top Level Domain Holdings Limited
North America
Frederic Krueger Tel: +1 310 866 1935
Antony Van Couvering Tel: +1 917 406 7126
Europe
David Weill Tel: +44 (0) 20 7881 0180
Beaumont Cornish Limited
Roland Cornish/Michael Cornish Tel +44 (0) 20 7628 3396
gth media relations
Toby Hall /Christian Pickel Tel: +44 (0) 20 3103 3903
ENDS