<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:
"Times New Roman""><a href="http://www.icann.org/"><span style="text-decoration:
none;text-underline:none"><img border="0" id="_x0000_i1025" src="http://www.icann.org/images/gradlogo_bow.jpg" style="border-bottom-width:
0px;border-left-width:0px;border-right-width:0px;border-top-width:0px;
float:left;height:94px;margin-right:10px;margin-top:0px;width:94px" alt="ICANN"></span></a></span></p>
<h2><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"">News
Alert</span></h2>
<p style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:7.5pt;margin-left:0in"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""><a href="http://www.icann.org/en/announcements/announcement-25oct09-en.htm">http://www.icann.org/en/announcements/announcement-25oct09-en.htm</a></span></p>
<div class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="margin-top:15.0pt;text-align:center"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"">
<hr size="2" width="100%" align="center">
</span></div>
<h2 style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-family:
"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"">Evaluators
Selection for the New gTLD Program Continues</span></h2>
<p style="margin-top:11.25pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:0in;margin-left:
0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">25
October 2009</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">ICANN has received 12
responses to the call for Expressions of Interest (EOI) for independent
evaluators in the new generic top-level domain name (gTLD) program. The
application period for organizations interested in evaluating applications for
new gTLDs took place between 13 April and 15 September 2009. The respondents
are well-qualified and respected organizations from Australia, Belgium, Iran,
Jordan, United Kingdom, and the United States.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The panel selection process
is part of the New gTLD Program’s operational readiness and organizations will
be retained to examine the applications covering the following areas: (1) <a href="http://www.icann.org/en/topics/new-gtlds/eoi-app-eval-31jul09-en.pdf">Applicant
Evaluation (Technical and Financial Evaluation)</a>; (2) Geographical Names;
(3) String Similarity; (4) Community Priority (<em><span style="font-family:
"Arial","sans-serif"">formerly known as Comparative Evaluation</span></em>).</span></p>
<h3><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"">List
of respondents</span></h3>
<div align="center">
<table class="MsoNormalTable" border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="border-collapse:collapse;border:none;mso-border-alt:solid black .75pt;
mso-yfti-tbllook:1184">
<tbody><tr style="mso-yfti-irow:0;mso-yfti-firstrow:yes">
<td valign="top" style="border:solid #DEDEDE 1.0pt;mso-border-alt:solid #DEDEDE .25pt;
background:#DEDEDE;padding:6.0pt 6.0pt 6.0pt 6.0pt">
<p><strong>Organization</strong></p>
</td>
<td valign="top" style="border:solid #DEDEDE 1.0pt;border-left:none;mso-border-left-alt:
solid #DEDEDE .25pt;mso-border-alt:solid #DEDEDE .25pt;background:#DEDEDE;
padding:6.0pt 6.0pt 6.0pt 6.0pt">
<p><strong>Location</strong></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow:1">
<td valign="top" style="border:solid #DEDEDE 1.0pt;border-top:none;mso-border-top-alt:
solid #DEDEDE .25pt;mso-border-alt:solid #DEDEDE .25pt;padding:6.0pt 6.0pt 6.0pt 6.0pt">
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"">1.
Deloitte & Laga </span></p>
</td>
<td valign="top" style="border-top:none;border-left:none;border-bottom:solid #DEDEDE 1.0pt;
border-right:solid #DEDEDE 1.0pt;mso-border-top-alt:solid #DEDEDE .25pt;
mso-border-left-alt:solid #DEDEDE .25pt;mso-border-alt:solid #DEDEDE .25pt;
padding:6.0pt 6.0pt 6.0pt 6.0pt">
<p>Belgium</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow:2">
<td valign="top" style="border:solid #DEDEDE 1.0pt;border-top:none;mso-border-top-alt:
solid #DEDEDE .25pt;mso-border-alt:solid #DEDEDE .25pt;padding:6.0pt 6.0pt 6.0pt 6.0pt">
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"">2.
Economist Intelligence Unit </span></p>
</td>
<td valign="top" style="border-top:none;border-left:none;border-bottom:solid #DEDEDE 1.0pt;
border-right:solid #DEDEDE 1.0pt;mso-border-top-alt:solid #DEDEDE .25pt;
mso-border-left-alt:solid #DEDEDE .25pt;mso-border-alt:solid #DEDEDE .25pt;
padding:6.0pt 6.0pt 6.0pt 6.0pt">
<p>United States</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow:3">
<td valign="top" style="border:solid #DEDEDE 1.0pt;border-top:none;mso-border-top-alt:
solid #DEDEDE .25pt;mso-border-alt:solid #DEDEDE .25pt;padding:6.0pt 6.0pt 6.0pt 6.0pt">
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"">3.
Ernst & Young </span></p>
</td>
<td valign="top" style="border-top:none;border-left:none;border-bottom:solid #DEDEDE 1.0pt;
border-right:solid #DEDEDE 1.0pt;mso-border-top-alt:solid #DEDEDE .25pt;
mso-border-left-alt:solid #DEDEDE .25pt;mso-border-alt:solid #DEDEDE .25pt;
padding:6.0pt 6.0pt 6.0pt 6.0pt">
<p>United States</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow:4">
<td valign="top" style="border:solid #DEDEDE 1.0pt;border-top:none;mso-border-top-alt:
solid #DEDEDE .25pt;mso-border-alt:solid #DEDEDE .25pt;padding:6.0pt 6.0pt 6.0pt 6.0pt">
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"">4.
Fulcrum Financial Inquiry </span></p>
</td>
<td valign="top" style="border-top:none;border-left:none;border-bottom:solid #DEDEDE 1.0pt;
border-right:solid #DEDEDE 1.0pt;mso-border-top-alt:solid #DEDEDE .25pt;
mso-border-left-alt:solid #DEDEDE .25pt;mso-border-alt:solid #DEDEDE .25pt;
padding:6.0pt 6.0pt 6.0pt 6.0pt">
<p>United States</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow:5">
<td valign="top" style="border:solid #DEDEDE 1.0pt;border-top:none;mso-border-top-alt:
solid #DEDEDE .25pt;mso-border-alt:solid #DEDEDE .25pt;padding:6.0pt 6.0pt 6.0pt 6.0pt">
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"">5.
GeoLang LTD </span></p>
</td>
<td valign="top" style="border-top:none;border-left:none;border-bottom:solid #DEDEDE 1.0pt;
border-right:solid #DEDEDE 1.0pt;mso-border-top-alt:solid #DEDEDE .25pt;
mso-border-left-alt:solid #DEDEDE .25pt;mso-border-alt:solid #DEDEDE .25pt;
padding:6.0pt 6.0pt 6.0pt 6.0pt">
<p>United Kingdom</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow:6">
<td valign="top" style="border:solid #DEDEDE 1.0pt;border-top:none;mso-border-top-alt:
solid #DEDEDE .25pt;mso-border-alt:solid #DEDEDE .25pt;padding:6.0pt 6.0pt 6.0pt 6.0pt">
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"">6.
InterConnect Communications </span></p>
</td>
<td valign="top" style="border-top:none;border-left:none;border-bottom:solid #DEDEDE 1.0pt;
border-right:solid #DEDEDE 1.0pt;mso-border-top-alt:solid #DEDEDE .25pt;
mso-border-left-alt:solid #DEDEDE .25pt;mso-border-alt:solid #DEDEDE .25pt;
padding:6.0pt 6.0pt 6.0pt 6.0pt">
<p>United Kingdom</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow:7">
<td valign="top" style="border:solid #DEDEDE 1.0pt;border-top:none;mso-border-top-alt:
solid #DEDEDE .25pt;mso-border-alt:solid #DEDEDE .25pt;padding:6.0pt 6.0pt 6.0pt 6.0pt">
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"">7.
Iranian ICT Guild Organization (IranNSR)</span></p>
</td>
<td valign="top" style="border-top:none;border-left:none;border-bottom:solid #DEDEDE 1.0pt;
border-right:solid #DEDEDE 1.0pt;mso-border-top-alt:solid #DEDEDE .25pt;
mso-border-left-alt:solid #DEDEDE .25pt;mso-border-alt:solid #DEDEDE .25pt;
padding:6.0pt 6.0pt 6.0pt 6.0pt">
<p>Iran</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow:8">
<td valign="top" style="border:solid #DEDEDE 1.0pt;border-top:none;mso-border-top-alt:
solid #DEDEDE .25pt;mso-border-alt:solid #DEDEDE .25pt;padding:6.0pt 6.0pt 6.0pt 6.0pt">
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"">8.
JAS Communications </span></p>
</td>
<td valign="top" style="border-top:none;border-left:none;border-bottom:solid #DEDEDE 1.0pt;
border-right:solid #DEDEDE 1.0pt;mso-border-top-alt:solid #DEDEDE .25pt;
mso-border-left-alt:solid #DEDEDE .25pt;mso-border-alt:solid #DEDEDE .25pt;
padding:6.0pt 6.0pt 6.0pt 6.0pt">
<p>United States</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow:9">
<td valign="top" style="border:solid #DEDEDE 1.0pt;border-top:none;mso-border-top-alt:
solid #DEDEDE .25pt;mso-border-alt:solid #DEDEDE .25pt;padding:6.0pt 6.0pt 6.0pt 6.0pt">
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"">9.
KPMG </span></p>
</td>
<td valign="top" style="border-top:none;border-left:none;border-bottom:solid #DEDEDE 1.0pt;
border-right:solid #DEDEDE 1.0pt;mso-border-top-alt:solid #DEDEDE .25pt;
mso-border-left-alt:solid #DEDEDE .25pt;mso-border-alt:solid #DEDEDE .25pt;
padding:6.0pt 6.0pt 6.0pt 6.0pt">
<p>United States</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow:10">
<td valign="top" style="border:solid #DEDEDE 1.0pt;border-top:none;mso-border-top-alt:
solid #DEDEDE .25pt;mso-border-alt:solid #DEDEDE .25pt;padding:6.0pt 6.0pt 6.0pt 6.0pt">
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"">10.
TAEUS International </span></p>
</td>
<td valign="top" style="border-top:none;border-left:none;border-bottom:solid #DEDEDE 1.0pt;
border-right:solid #DEDEDE 1.0pt;mso-border-top-alt:solid #DEDEDE .25pt;
mso-border-left-alt:solid #DEDEDE .25pt;mso-border-alt:solid #DEDEDE .25pt;
padding:6.0pt 6.0pt 6.0pt 6.0pt">
<p>United States</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow:11">
<td valign="top" style="border:solid #DEDEDE 1.0pt;border-top:none;mso-border-top-alt:
solid #DEDEDE .25pt;mso-border-alt:solid #DEDEDE .25pt;padding:6.0pt 6.0pt 6.0pt 6.0pt">
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"">11.
Talal Abu Ghazaleh Information Technology International </span></p>
</td>
<td valign="top" style="border-top:none;border-left:none;border-bottom:solid #DEDEDE 1.0pt;
border-right:solid #DEDEDE 1.0pt;mso-border-top-alt:solid #DEDEDE .25pt;
mso-border-left-alt:solid #DEDEDE .25pt;mso-border-alt:solid #DEDEDE .25pt;
padding:6.0pt 6.0pt 6.0pt 6.0pt">
<p>Jordan</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow:12;mso-yfti-lastrow:yes">
<td valign="top" style="border:solid #DEDEDE 1.0pt;border-top:none;mso-border-top-alt:
solid #DEDEDE .25pt;mso-border-alt:solid #DEDEDE .25pt;padding:6.0pt 6.0pt 6.0pt 6.0pt">
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"">12.
Webb Henderson </span></p>
</td>
<td valign="top" style="border-top:none;border-left:none;border-bottom:solid #DEDEDE 1.0pt;
border-right:solid #DEDEDE 1.0pt;mso-border-top-alt:solid #DEDEDE .25pt;
mso-border-left-alt:solid #DEDEDE .25pt;mso-border-alt:solid #DEDEDE .25pt;
padding:6.0pt 6.0pt 6.0pt 6.0pt">
<p>Australia</p>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<p><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Although the launch date of
the gTLD Program remains uncertain, ICANN is moving forward with securing
Evaluation Panelists, due to the critical nature of their involvement in the
process and the anticipated lead time required to train and integrate the
evaluation processes with each firm. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Over the next few months,
ICANN will identify a short-list of qualified candidates that demonstrate
sufficient expertise, resources and geographic diversity to meet program needs.
The short-listed candidates will be selected based on a scoring system
developed in line with vendor selection processes previously employed by ICANN
staff – a copy of the general criteria is included below. The short-listed
candidates will be invited to present their qualifications to ICANN staff and
subject matter experts for each area of assessment. The candidates will be
asked a series of process and technical questions that will enable staff to
better understand the candidate’s approach to evaluating applications in an
effective and efficient manner, technical competence, and maintaining an
acceptable level of quality and consistency of analysis and results. Each
candidate’s key team members will also be evaluated on responses to situations
they may encounter during the application evaluation process.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">For each area of assessment,
ICANN’s plan is to have primary and back up evaluation service providers. The
selection of back up panelists is to provide additional and necessary benefits,
such as, managing conflicts of interest between the evaluation and applicants,
promoting competition and accountability amongst the evaluation panelists to
promote a consistently high quality</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">of service, and to provide
additional services should the primary panelist have challenges with quality,
consistency, and/or scalability.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">As these steps are completed,
ICANN will share progress with the community as we move towards the selecting
the final evaluation panelist service providers. The retention of the service
providers is expected to occur in the first half of 2010.</span></p>
<p><span class="mediumtext"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""><a href="http://www.icann.org/en/announcements/announcement-25oct09-en.htm#criteria">General
Criteria Matrix</a></span></span><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""></span></p><br>