ICANN84: Focus on gTLD Policies and Board and Committee Transition.

Dublin, Ireland – October 29, 2025

Day 5 of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) 84th Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Dublin, Ireland, brought the week-long global summit to a critical stage, centering on final policy drafts, governance transitions, and key discussions shaping the future expansion of the Domain Name System (DNS).

🌐 Key Policy Work Advances

The final full day of the conference saw intense closed-door and public sessions across the various Supporting Organizations (SOs) and Advisory Committees (ACs).

• New gTLD Program: Next Round: Significant time was dedicated to refining the policies governing the Next Round of new generic Top-Level Domains (gTLDs). Discussions focused heavily on the Applicant Guidebook (AGB) and addressing concerns raised by the Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) regarding potential geopolitical conflicts and the necessity of robust DNS Abuse mitigation measures within the application process.
• Registration Data Access: The Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO) held key working sessions to review public comments on the pilot service for requesting private domain name registration data. This work is crucial for finalizing a permanent, global policy (often referred to as a successor to WHOIS) that balances user privacy rights with the legitimate needs of law enforcement and intellectual property rights holders.
• ccTLD Resilience: The Country Code Names Supporting Organization (ccNSO) wrapped up its technical focus sessions, sharing best practices and resilience strategies for Domain Name System (DNS) Abuse and disaster recovery for country code top-level domains.

🤝 Board and Community Plenary

A highly attended Joint Session brought the ICANN Board together with community leaders to discuss the progress of ongoing Accountability Mechanisms and the final review of several Periodic Reviews of ICANN’s structures. This session underscored the importance of the organization’s unique Multistakeholder Model as policy recommendations transition toward Board consideration.

As an AGM, the day also marked final preparations for the formal onboarding of newly elected and appointed members to the ICANN Board and various committees, symbolizing the organization’s continuous cycle of governance renewal.

📣 Day 5 Resolution Summary

Official Recommendation to the ICANN Board:

The Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) finalized and delivered a formal communique to the ICANN Board regarding the Next Round of the New gTLD Program.

• Resolution: The GAC formally advised the ICANN Board to ensure that geopolitical concerns related to potential gTLD string applications, especially those that may be confusing or sensitive, are adequately addressed within the final design of the Applicant Guidebook, specifically recommending the establishment of a clear, expedited channel for government objection on grounds of public order and national security prior to application evaluation. This is intended to be a non-binding but highly influential policy recommendation.

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Obanla Abayomi

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