closed Review of the Draft Applicant Support Program (ASP) Handbook – New gTLD Program

Outcome

ICANN org received a total of nine (9) Public Comment submissions on the draft Applicant Support Program (ASP) Handbook from groups, organizations, and individuals. ICANN org is now conducting a thorough review of the submissions received and considering what changes may be needed to the Handbook to reflect the community’s input.

What We Received Input On

For each section of the Applicant Support Program (ASP) Handbook, we would like commenters to indicate whether the section in question accurately reflects the policy recommendations on Topic 17, Applicant Support, based on the recommendations of the Subsequent Procedures (SubPro) PDP Final Report and the guidance of the GNSO Guidance Process on Applicant Support. Commenters are asked to answer “yes” or “no” to each of the questions in the guided submission form. Commenters may also add a rationale or explanation to their answer, including proposed changes to the language in the ASP Handbook.

Background

The Applicant Support Program (ASP) is an initiative developed as part of ICANN’s New Generic Top-Level Domain (gTLD) Program. The program is intended to provide financial and non-financial support for eligible entities that demonstrate financial need and work in the public interest.

The ASP Handbook offers a step-by-step guide to applying for support and includes information on application deadlines, criteria, processes, and evaluation. The handbook is part of ICANN’s effort to implement the policy recommendations on Topic 17: Applicant Support of the Final Report on the New gTLD Subsequent Procedures Policy Development Process while taking into account the Board’s pending consideration of guidance provided by the GNSO Guidance Process (GGP) for Applicant Support.

Before this Public Comment proceeding, ICANN org worked with the Subsequent Procedures (SubPro) ASP Implementation Review Team Sub-Track to refine the draft ASP Handbook in line with Applicant Support policy recommendations and pending GGP ASP guidance. This Public Comment period is an opportunity for the broader ICANN community to contribute to strengthening and refining the draft ASP Handbook in line with policy outputs.

Supporting Information