ICANN - Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers

11/04/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 11/04/2024 17:12

ICANN Request for Information: Dispute Resolution Service Providers for the Next Round

Today, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) organization issued a Request for Information (RFI) to seek input from potential providers on the Dispute Resolution and the Appeal Procedures for the New Generic Top-Level Domains Program: Next Round, which is due to launch in April 2026.

The dispute resolution process is intended to afford certain parties an opportunity to advance objections based on four defined grounds against introducing certain new gTLDs into the Domain Name System.

This RFI will play a crucial role in gathering information on potential providers as well as input on current draft procedures. These rules (the ICANN Dispute Resolution Procedure and the ICANN Objection Appeal Procedure) will be published in the Applicant Guidebook.

This is a public RFI, which means that any prospective provider may participate. Thereafter, a separate public Request for Proposal (RFP) will be conducted in the first quarter of calendar year 2025 to perform a more comprehensive evaluation of potential providers to administer disputes arising from specific objection grounds.

For a complete overview of this RFI, including the timeline, please click here.

Indications of interest should be emailed to [email protected]and provide the following information:

  • Name of the organization
  • Name of the contact
  • Email address of the contact

Official responses to the RFI should be electronically submitted using ICANN's sourcing tool by 23:59 UTC on 9 December 2024. Access to this tool may be requested via the same email address.

About ICANN

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.