Melbourne IT has submitted recommendations for improving the ICANN process in the following areas.

•    “closed” gTLD – ICANN should identify a separate class of new gTLD where the applicant does not offer second level domains to third parties.

•    Application fees – provide a discount for applicants that apply for multiple names that are trademarks for the same legal entity (e.g product names)

•    Annual registry fees – for “closed” gTLD, allow brand owners to pay a lower annual fee for reserving the name as a brand protection mechanism (e.g $5,000).   For “closed” gTLDs reduce the annual fee for names that are trademarks for the same legal entity, and also reduce the fees as the volume of approved “closed” gTLDs increases.

•    Trademark protection at the second level – improve the protection for trademark holders at the second level, and match the level proposed to be offered at the top level.

•    Timeframe for the second round – announce a date for the start of the second round to be 6 months later than the date of publication of the applications for the first round.

Read Melbourne IT’s full submission to ICANN.