ICANN opens public consultation on draft agreement for New gTLD program
This is the first of two planned public comment periods. The second round, expected in September 2025, will address further refinements based on the feedback received. After both rounds, ICANN will prepare a final version of the agreement for Board consideration.
On 4 June 2025, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) launched a public consultation on the draft Next Round Base gTLD Registry Agreement (Next Round RA). This document outlines the terms under which future generic top-level domain (gTLD) operators will function in the next round of the New gTLD Program.
The proposed agreement builds on the revised Base gTLD Registry Agreement approved in January 2024. It incorporates policy changes recommended in the Final Report on the new gTLD Subsequent Procedures Policy Development Process, operational lessons from the 2012 round, and updated ICANN consensus policies.
The Next Round RA defines the rights and obligations of registry operators. It includes a ten-year initial term and expectations for renewal. It also integrates recent developments such as the Registration Data Access Protocol (RDAP) and DNS Abuse mitigation measures. Community feedback is being sought through a Guided Submission form covering both policy updates and operational changes.
Several key policies are reflected in the draft agreement, including:
- The Registration Data Policy
- Protections for intergovernmental and international non-governmental organisation identifiers
- Support for internationalised domain names through the IDN EPDP Phase 1
- Updates to rights protection mechanisms, such as the Uniform Rapid Suspension System and the Trademark Clearinghouse
The consultation responds to implementation efforts that began following ICANN Board resolutions from 2023 and 2024. These resolutions approved various aspects of the Final Report, guiding ICANN’s preparatory work with the Subsequent Procedures Implementation Review Team (SubPro IRT).
ICANN emphasises that the current draft is not final and encourages feedback from all community members, including those planning to apply in the upcoming round. Stakeholder input, including from the Registries Stakeholder Group, has already helped shape the current draft, but broader engagement is needed.
This is the first of two planned public comment periods. The second round, expected in September 2025, will address further refinements based on the feedback received. After both rounds, ICANN will prepare a final version of the agreement for Board consideration.
Supporting documents, including clean and redlined versions of the draft agreement and summaries of policy and operational updates, are available on the ICANN website.
