Release of Country and Territory Names within the .HONDA, .AXA, .EPSON, .HSBC, .XYZ and .COLLEGE TLDs

• Top-Level Domains
• Second-Level Domains
• Contracted Party Agreements
• Security/Stability

Five (5) Registry Services Evaluation Policy (RSEP) requests were submitted by the registry operators listed below to allow the release of country and territory names for the below TLDs. In total, the requests concern 6 New gTLDs.

Currently, .HONDA, .AXA, .EPSON, .HSBC, .XYZ and .COLLEGE Registry Agreements require country and territory names contained in specific internationally recognized lists to be withheld from registration or allocated to the registry operator at all levels.

As required by the RSEP, ICANN has undertaken a preliminary determination on whether these RSEP proposals might raise significant competition, security or stability issues. ICANN's preliminary review (based on the information provided) did not identify any such issues.

Following ICANN's preliminary determination that the proposals do not raise significant competition, security or stability issues, it was further determined that the change would require a material change to the respective Registry Agreements and that an amendment is needed in order to effect the change.

The proposed amendments, which are being posted for comment, would allow the registration of country and territory names at all levels in .HONDA, .AXA, .EPSON, .HSBC, .XYZ and .COLLEGE TLDs. It should be noted that as of 18 December 2014, Specification 13 is granted for .HONDA, as of 30 October 2014, Specification 13 is granted for .AXA, as of 11 December 2014,  Specification 13 is granted for .EPSON, and as of 24 October 2014, Specification 13 is granted for .HSBC, whereas Registry Agreements for .XYZ and .COLLEGE do not include Specification 13 provisions in place.