<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-24nov09-en.htm">http://www.icann.org/en/announcements/announcement-24nov09-en.htm</a></span></p>
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<h2 style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-family:
"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"">New Registrar
Agreement Covers Most Registrations</span></h2>
<p style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Over
88 percent of domain names covered by new protections</span></p>
<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"">24
November 2009</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Less than six months after
new registrant protections were approved by the ICANN Board, over 88 percent of
all generic domain names are now covered.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The protections include
improved ways of storing data that require registration companies to submit to
more stringent rules. These are included in a revised contract between ICANN
and registrars, called the Registrar Accreditation Agreement (RAA).</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Since the revised RAA was
approved on <span class="mediumtext">21 May 2009</span>, 650 registrars have
voluntarily agreed to be bound by the new agreement; collectively they
represent 88 percent of all generic top-level domains registered. In return,
those that have signed the new agreement are recognized by ICANN on its listing
of accredited companies.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Under their existing
contract, registrars are not required to sign up to the new RAA until their
existing agreement ends, but they can voluntarily sign up early. The high level
of coverage achieved to date is due primarily to these voluntary early
adopters.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">ICANN CEO and President Rod
Beckstrom said of the high sign-up rate: “The fact that the vast majority of
generic domain names are now covered by these protections is a clear sign of
the industry’s goodwill and its commitment to effective self-regulation -
especially since some of these protections come at a cost to the companies
themselves. It is an extraordinary achievement in a very short time.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Some of the additional
protections afforded registrants under the new contract include:</span></p>
<ul type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;tab-stops:list .5in"><span style="font-family:
"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"">Enhanced
enforcement tools to assure registrar compliance with ICANN policies</span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;tab-stops:list .5in"><span style="font-family:
"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"">Enhanced
data escrow requirements to protect registrants that use privacy or proxy
services</span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;tab-stops:list .5in"><span style="font-family:
"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"">A
Registrant Rights & Responsibilities document</span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;tab-stops:list .5in"><span style="font-family:
"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"">New
requirements placed on resellers</span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;tab-stops:list .5in"><span style="font-family:
"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"">Improved
contact information requirements</span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;tab-stops:list .5in"><span style="font-family:
"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"">Registrar
required training program</span></li>
</ul>
<p><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">“Registrars and the ICANN
community successfully collaborated to make sure consumers are well protected
while respecting the competitive marketplace ICANN has made part of its
mandate,” said Mason Cole, Vice President of Oversee.net and chair of the
Registrar Stakeholder Group. “It’s encouraging to see how quickly and
assertively registrars have adopted the terms of the new agreement.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">As an aid to potential
registrants, ICANN has added an indicator on each of our public lists of
registrars to show which registrars have adopted the 2009 RAA. See:</span></p>
<ul type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
mso-list:l1 level1 lfo2;tab-stops:list .5in"><span style="font-family:
"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman""><a href="http://www.internic.net/regist.html">http://www.internic.net/regist.html</a></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
mso-list:l1 level1 lfo2;tab-stops:list .5in"><span style="font-family:
"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman""><a href="http://www.icann.org/en/registrars/accreditation-qualified-list.html">http://www.icann.org/en/registrars/accreditation-qualified-list.html</a></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
mso-list:l1 level1 lfo2;tab-stops:list .5in"><span style="font-family:
"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman""><a href="http://www.icann.org/en/registrars/accredited-list.html">http://www.icann.org/en/registrars/accredited-list.html</a></span></li>
</ul>
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