ICANN Seeks Input on Proposed Renewal of the Registry Agreement for .COM

Today, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) opened a new Public Comment proceeding regarding the proposed renewal of the .COM Registry Agreement (.COM RA). The current .COM RA between ICANN and Verisign, Inc. (Verisign), the registry operator for the .COM top-level domain (TLD), was established in 2012 and is set to expire on 30 November 2024. There have been three amendments to this agreement in 2016, 2019, and 2020.

The renewal proposal is the result of bilateral discussions between ICANN and Verisign. The proposed renewal RA includes new contractual obligations from the 2023 Global Amendment to the Base gTLD Registry Agreement; obligations from the 2024 Global Amendment to the Base gTLD Registry Agreement; commitments to further enhance security, stability, and resilience; and an updated three-party Data Escrow Agreement.

It includes updates to not only the RA, but also a Letter of Intent between the two parties originally signed in 2020 and amended in 2023.

For more information, and to participate in this proceeding, please visit this webpage.

Submissions Opening Date: Thursday, 26 September 2024

Submissions Closing Date: Tuesday, 5 November 2024

ICANN's mission is to help ensure a stable, secure, and unified global Internet. To reach another person on the Internet, you need to type an address - a name or a number - into your computer or other device. That address must be unique so computers know where to find each other. ICANN helps coordinate and support these unique identifiers across the world. ICANN was formed in 1998 as a nonprofit public benefit corporation with a community of participants from all over the world.