ICANN|ARCHIVES

Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers

ICANN today announced that, in response to a request for proposals, it has received ten applications for new sponsored top-level domains (sTLD's).

Proposed TLD String	Proposed Sponsor	Sponsor Location	Web Address
.asia	DotAsia Organisation Limited	Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China	www.dotAsia.org
.cat	Fundació puntCAT (which would be formed only in case the TLD is delegated)	N/A	www.puntcat.org
.jobs	The Society for Human Resource Management	Alexandria, Virginia, United States	www.shrm.org
.mail	The Anti-Spam Community Registry	London, United Kingdom	www.spamhaus.org
.mobi	Mobi JV (working name)	Helsinki, Finland	www.mtldinfo.com
.post	Universal Postal Union (UPU)	Bern, Switzerland	www.upu.int
.tel	pulver.com	Melville, New York, United States	www.pulver.com
.tel	Telname Limited	London, United Kingdom	www.telname.com
.travel	The Travel Partnership Corporation	New York, New York, United States	www.ttpc.org
.xxx	The International Foundation for Online Responsibility	Toronto, Ontario, Canada	www.iffor.org

This sTLD RFP is the first stage of ICANN's strategic initiative to move to a streamlined, fully-globalized process for the introduction of new generic TLDs.

This unique phase is part of the continuing expansion of the domain name system.

The applications were submitted in response to a request for proposals process that was initiated by ICANN on 15 December 2003. The last day to submit applications was 16 March 2004. A public comment period will open 1- 30 April 2004.

The applications will be reviewed by an independent evaluation panel beginning in May 2004. The criteria for evaluation were posted with the RFP. All applicants that are found to satisfy the posted criteria will be eligible to enter into technical and commercial negotiations with ICANN for agreements for the allocation and sponsorship of the requested TLDs.

The seven original gTLDs (.com, .edu, .gov, .int, .mil, .net, and .org) were created in the 1980s. In 2000, ICANN conducted a proof of concept testbed selection of seven new TLDs. Four of those new TLDs (.biz, .info, .name, and .pro) are unsponsored. The other three TLDs from that round (.aero, .coop, and .museum) are sponsored.

An unsponsored TLD operates under policies established by the global Internet community directly through the ICANN process, while a sponsored TLD is a specialized TLD that has a sponsor representing the narrower community that is most affected by the TLD. The sponsor thus carries out delegated policy-formulation responsibilities over many matters concerning the TLD.

For more Press Information please email baker@icann.org, or call at +1 323-691-2812.