Two influential committees within ICANN – the Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) and the At-Large Advisory Committee (ALAC) – have submitted an official inquiry to ICANN leadership, voicing profound concern about the state of the Applicant Support Program (ASP). This program offers substantial discounts to applicants for new generic top-level domains (gTLDs) from non-governmental, non-profit organizations.
One of the program’s primary goals is to encourage applications from regions ICANN considers underrepresented in the global internet space. However, GAC and ALAC argue that the ASP is failing to meet this objective. As of late July, statistics show that 10 applications were submitted from Africa, 16 from the Asia-Pacific region, 19 from North America, and only 2 from Latin America – a paradoxical disparity given Latin America’s notably low internet presence. Notably, North America (as classified by ICANN) does not include Mexico, yet still accounts for 33 percent of ASP applications, while Latin America represents a mere 3 percent.
In light of this, GAC Chair Nicolas Caballero and ALAC Chair Jonathan Zuck have raised concerns about the current trajectory of the ASP program. They stress that the ASP is not merely a procedural requirement but a cornerstone of trust in the new phase of the gTLD program. Both committees urge ICANN to assess the causes of this skewed geographic distribution – whether due to complex application requirements, funding shortages, or insufficient ICANN presence and ASP outreach in some regions.
The joint letter from GAC and ALAC was submitted to ICANN’s Board this past Monday, with a response deadline set for Friday, August 22 – though the timeframe appears unrealistic.
