CADNA's What’s at Stake Conference

explored a full spectrum of information about ICANN’s upcoming New gTLD Program. This conference was created to prepare executives to develop effective strategies around potentially game-changing new gTLDs, and to create a dialogue with ICANN in the hopes to impact the current policy in a manner that makes it less contentious to both companies and Internet users.

What's at Stake:
The Reality of ICANN’s New gTLD Program for Brands
November 1, 2011 8:30 am – 1:00 pm
The Edgar J. Kaufmann Conference Facility
at the Institute of International Education
809 United Nations Plaza
New York, NY 10017

Download a Recap of the Conference

Conference Goals:

1Present a balanced view of the New gTLD Program with an emphasis on exploring the impacts and identifying how to mitigate some of the potentially damaging aspects of the Program.

2Propose and present to ICANN alternate language for incorporation into the policy regarding two specific provisions deemed to be most detrimental to businesses and, in turn, Internet users.

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What's at stake?

As the global population becomes more dependent on the Internet, stable Internet policies are incredibly important. This is why this potentially drastic change to the Internet’s infrastructure has generated such scrutiny. There is broad consensus that the New gTLD Program needs to be fair and transparent, yet as currently constructed, there are broad concerns about its implementation, including the following:

• Does the cost to apply ($185,000) and subsequent costs (potentially in excess of $1,000,000 per gTLD per year) disadvantage most corporations or emerging countries? Does this give the biggest organizations an unfair advantage?
• Will the result of an increase in new and unfamiliar gTLDs create extensive consumer confusion, thereby setting the stage for new MITM (Man in the Middle) attacks?
• In recasting gTLDs as a new element in the marketing ecosystem, how are brands, budgets and processes impacted? What can be done to throttle the sea change this potentially could create?
• Will the closed application structure, in combination with the one-time only compressed four-month time frame, create artificial scarcity, driving defensive gTLD applications? How can this process be reconciled against ICANN’s transparency principles?

Download the Conference Brochure