ICANN Pushes Forward with Next gTLD Contract Amid Strengthened DNS Abuse Enforcement.

ICANN Newsletter Extract.

29 October 2025 – ICANN is prioritizing both future expansion and enhanced security, as detailed in the latest ICANN84 Newsletter. The organization has issued a final public call for feedback on the contractual backbone of the next major round of new domain names, while reporting significant success in enforcing mitigation requirements against Domain Name System (DNS) Abuse.

Final Feedback Sought on Next gTLD Registry Agreement

As the New Generic Top-Level Domain (gTLD) Program: Next Round moves closer to its projected launch in April 2026, ICANN is urging stakeholders to submit comments on the proposed Next Round Base gTLD Registry Agreement (Next Round RA).

The RA outlines the contractual obligations between ICANN and successful applicants for new gTLDs. This second Public Comment proceeding is intended to solicit feedback on incremental changes made since the initial consultation. The deadline for submissions is 17 November 2025, after which the ICANN Board is expected to approve the final terms of the contractual document.

The Next Round team also provided an update on outreach efforts, including those aimed at raising global awareness and supporting the Applicant Support Program and Registry Service Provider Evaluation Program.

Strong Progress Reported in DNS Abuse Mitigation

ICANN Contractual Compliance reported measurable success in bolstering the stability of the DNS ecosystem. Since new DNS Abuse mitigation requirements were implemented in April 2024, the compliance team has initiated 400 investigations and issued four formal Notices of Breach.

Through targeted audits conducted between April 2024 and August 2025, the organization facilitated the mitigation of nearly 20,000 malicious domain names. Beyond direct enforcement, these actions have driven long-term improvements across the industry, with registrars and registries implementing new systems to proactively identify and address abuse. ICANN stated its commitment to continued education, streamlining complaint submissions, and expanding multilingual resources to enhance reporting effectiveness.

Community Focus: Leadership, Fellows, and Reviews

ICANN continues to invest in community development and oversight:

Leadership Program: A call for nominations for the 2026 ICANN Leadership Program was issued. The program, designed to help current and incoming leaders understand ICANN’s complexities and develop facilitation skills, will be held in Mumbai, India, on 5–6 March 2026, ahead of ICANN85. The deadline for nominations is Friday, 21 November 2025.
Fellow Recognition: ICANN84 Fellow Shanelle McPherson from Jamaica was honored as the recipient of the Tarek Kamel Fellowship Recognition Award for her outstanding contributions to advancing Internet security and regional collaboration in the Latin America and Caribbean region. NextGen participant Om Prakash Sharma (Nepal) was also highlighted for his work on Internet governance and bridging the digital divide.
ICANN84 Session Highlights: The meeting in Dublin featured the final session of the Review of Reviews Cross Community Group, which is working to build a more effective system for ICANN’s internal oversight processes. Technical discussions included the DNSSEC and Security Workshop, sharing best practices on deployment and management of DNS security extensions.

North America Region Sets Strategic Goals

The North America Stakeholder Engagement team announced the publication of its Engagement Plan for Fiscal Years 2026–2030. Developed collaboratively with the community, the plan aligns regional efforts with ICANN’s global Strategic Plan and includes newly defined Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) aimed at ensuring accountability and demonstrating measurable progress in regional outreach to diverse communities.