Rod Beckstrom, ICANN’s President and CEO, held a press conference in Moscow on 12 December 2012. Mr. Beckstrom briefed the Russian Internet community about main tasks and challenges of the new gTLD program. The ICANN President call on Moscow as a part of the ICANN’s roadshow on the new gTLD program, with Russia being an 18th country covered in the tour.
While speaking at the event, Mr. Beckstrom specifically touched upon the issue of sponsorship of applications for new gTLDs: according to the ICANN President , ICANN is to put aside certain funds to support some applicants should they be in need of financial assistance. ICANN will consider sponsorship on individual basis. The ICANN President emphasized that the overall size of the fund will amount to 2 mn USD.
He focused on the new gTLD application processing procedure. Rod Beckstrom noted that the final decision on giving priority to certain applications was still pending. However, in the event there are two or more applicants for the same top-level domain, the preference will be given to a community-based application. This mechanism will work on condition such an application has met all the required criteria and successfully passed the ICANN evaluation procedure.
George Sadowsky, member of ICANN Board of Directors, stressed Russia’s unique role both in development of Internet and in the ICANN: “We support and appreciate contribution of Russian representatives in ICANN. ICANN is an organization where all voices are heard of. We are always open to recommendations and the Russian members’ contribution to the ICANN committees is invaluable.”
“Moscow is a landmark city for completion of this roadshow, - underlined Rod Beckstrom at the end of his presentation. – It is Russia which has been delegated the first Cyrillic domain in the Internet. Russian representatives in ICANN played a pivotal role in introduction of internationalized domain names (IDNs). Today, Russia’s support is paramount for various committees and organizations within ICANN and the presence of Russian representatives in ICANN ensures that their voices will be heard of. Russia, in my opinion, will continue to play a significant role in expansion and advancement of the global Internet.”
