ICANN’s New gTLD Progam Committee has passed a resolution on additional security measures for registration of new gTLDs that have a particular public value.
Over the past year, the Government Advisory Committee classified at least 386 applications for 174 unique domain names as domains of public value. These include domain names like .doctor, .lawyer, .insurance, .bank etc.
GAC representatives pointed out, and with reason, that more stringent requirements should be put in place for registering within such domains. Otherwise internet users may have to deal with fraudsters representing themselves as banks, insurers, lawyers or doctors. However, ICANN believes the security measures proposed by GAC are excessive. It has been suggested, for example, that the registration would require certificates and licenses to prove qualification in the respective area. Also, the supporting documents would have to be verified by the registering authorities.
The requirements have been significantly softened in the new version approved by the New gTLD Progam Committee. The list of domains falling under the requirements has been cut by half. Also, it is not necessary to verify certificates and licenses of the applicants. The approved version states that the Registrant must confirm that he or she possesses the necessary qualifications and credentials to participate in the sector associated with the TLD string. However, the confirmation procedure is not specifically described and therefore, experts believe, it will boil down to ticking a box in an application form.
This approach came under strong criticism from the US government. Department of Commerce assistant secretary Larry Strickling sent a letter to ICANN on February 4 and called for going back to the tougher security measures proposed by GAC. However, the latest decision of the committee shows that ICANN chose to disregard the opinion of the US officials.
