ICANN invites public feedback on proposed next round base gTLD registry agreement
This is the second round of public consultation, focusing on incremental changes made since the first.
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has opened a new round of public consultation on the draft contract that will govern future operators of generic top-level domains (gTLDs), such as .shop, .blog, or .music.
Known as the Next Round Base gTLD Registry Agreement, the contract sets out the rights and responsibilities of organisations that successfully apply to run new domain extensions in ICANN’s upcoming New gTLD Program: Next Round. Once finalised and approved by the ICANN Board, it will serve as the binding agreement between ICANN and registry operators.
This is the second round of public consultation, focusing on incremental changes made since the first. These updates include revisions based on earlier feedback, adjustments to draft language still under discussion with ICANN’s SubPro Implementation Review Team and the Registries Stakeholder Group, and further clarifications to improve readability.
ICANN encourages all interested stakeholders — including businesses, civil society organisations, and members of the technical community — to provide input. The consultation opened on 30 September and will remain open until 17 November 2025.
