ICANN has revealed in a statement that TAS, an application system for new generic top-level domains, is to open again today after a continuous interruption. TAS closed earlier in just a few hours after a technical bug was found out to strike serious consequences for top-level domain applicants. As said in current ICANN statement, TAS users will finally be able to lodge their top-level domain applications starting May 22 and ending May 30.
A bug in ICANN's top-level domain application system is said to reveal some sensitive data submitted by the domain applicants, meaning that some system users were able to see the names of files uploaded by others. ICANN has warned all affected TAS users, sending them an email in case they were affected by the bug. Earlier on, ICANN planned to have TAS back up and running in a week, but the bug revealed some serious problems underestimated before.
At the moment, ICANN aims to open access to TAS from May 22 to May 30. After the application window closes, ICANN plans to reveal the list of domains that were applied for. The entire procedure for any single new generic top-level domain could take several months – or even years for applications that could cause controversy.
