The Road to Wellington (III)
Literally. I'm in LA for an hour on my way to New Zealand.
Another key objective for this meeting (for me) is making discernable progress on new gTLDs.
It's essential that ICANN move towards a (stately, okay, but deliberate, regular, and predictable) process of accrediting new TLDs. Such a process is required by ICANN's MOU with the U.S. Department of Commerce. Competition in the gTLD space is needed, and this need was further supported by ICANN's entry into the recent VeriSign settlement.
Not uncontrolled introduction of new gTLDs — that's not what's called for — but a standardized, non-beauty-contest process. My recent (completely unreliable as an indicator) request for information about pent-up desires to open up new ones tells me that if ICANN could accredit tens of these things a year appetite for them might be satiated.
Vertigo-inducing: it is 9pm here in LA, midnight in NYC, and 5pm tomorrow in Wellington.