GlossaryTerms Applicable to the gTLD Application Process
A-LabelThe ASCII form of an IDN label. All operations defined in
the DNS use A-labels exclusively.

ApplicantAn entity that has applied to ICANN for a new gTLD bysubmitting its application form during the application
submission period.

Applicant Guidebook

The gTLD Applicant Guidebook currently in effect,
describing the requirements of the application andevaluation processes.

Application

An application for a new gTLD lodged in connection withthe terms and conditions of the Applicant Guidebook. Anapplication includes the completed Application Form,any supporting documents, and any other informationthat may be submitted by the applicant at ICANN’srequest.

Application form

The set of questions to which applicants provide
responses, included as an attachment to Module 2 of the
Applicant Guidebook.

Application roundThe complete succession of stages for processing theapplications received during one application submission
period for gTLDs. The terms and conditions of theApplicant Guidebook are for one application round. Any
subsequent application rounds will subject to updated
guidebook information.

Application submission
periodThe period during which applicants may submit gTLD
applications to ICANN.

Applied-for gTLD string

A gTLD string that is subject of an application.

American Standard Codefor Information Interchange(ASCII)

A character encoding based on the English alphabet.

AuctionA method for allocating property or goods to the highest
bidder.

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GlossaryTerms Applicable to the gTLD Application Process

Auction round

Within an auction, the period of time commencing withthe announcement of a start-of-round price andconcluding with the announcement of an end-of-round
price.

AXFR

Asynchronous full transfer, a DNS protocol mechanism
through which a DNS zone can be replicated to a remote
DNS server.

Bidder

An applicant who participates in an auction.

Business ID

A number such as a federal tax ID number or employer
information number.

ccTLD

A class of top-level domain only assignable to represent
countries and territories listed in the ISO 3166-1 standard.
See http://iana.org/domains/root/db/.

Community-based gTLD

A community-based gTLD is a gTLD that is operated forthe benefit of a clearly delineated community. Anapplicant designating its application as communitybased must be prepared to substantiate its status asrepresentative of the community it names in theapplication.

Community objection

An objection made on the grounds that there issubstantial opposition to a gTLD application from asignificant portion of the community to which the gTLD
string may be explicitly or implicitly targeted.

Community Priority
evaluation

A process to resolve string contention, which may beelected by a community-based applicant.

Consensus policy

A policy created through the GNSO policy development
process listed in Annex A of the ICANN Bylaws. See
http://www.icann.org/en/general/bylaws.htm#AnnexA.
A list of current consensus policies is available at
http://www.icann.org/en/general/consensuspolicies.htm.

Contention set

A group of applications containing identical or similar
applied-for gTLD strings.

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GlossaryTerms Applicable to the gTLD Application Process

Country-code TLD

See ccTLD.

Declared Variants List

A list maintained by ICANN recording variant TLD strings
listed by applicants in gTLD applications.

Delegation

The process through which the root zone is edited toinclude a new TLD, and the management of domainname registrations under such TLD is turned over to theregistry operator.

Digit

Any digit between “0” and “9” (Unicode code points
U+0030 to U+0039).

Dispute Resolution Service
Provider (DRSP)An entity engaged by ICANN to adjudicate dispute
resolution proceedings in response to formally filed
objections.

Domain name

A name consisting of two or more (for example,john.smith.name) levels, maintained in a registrydatabase.

Domain Name System (DNS)

The global hierarchical system of domain names.

Domain Name System
Security Extensions (DNSSEC)DNSSEC secures domain name lookups on the Internet byincorporating a chain of digital signatures into the DNS
hierarchy.

EPP

See Extensible Provisioning Protocol.

Existing TLD

A string included on the list at
http://iana.org/domains/root/db.

Extended Evaluation

The second stage of evaluation applicable forapplications that do not pass Initial Evaluation, but areeligible for further review.

Extended Evaluation period

The period that may follow the Initial Evaluation period,
for additional review of eligible applications which do notpass the Initial Evaluation.

Extensible ProvisioningProtocol

A protocol used for electronic communication betweena registrar and a registry for provisioning domain names.

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GlossaryTerms Applicable to the gTLD Application Process

Evaluator

The individuals or organization(s) appointed by ICANN toperform review tasks within Initial Evaluation, Extended
Evaluation, and Community Priority Evaluation under
ICANN direction.

Evaluation fee

The fee due from each applicant to obtain considerationof its application. The evaluation fee consists of a partial
deposit and payment of the full fee amount for eachapplication submitted. A deposit allows the applicant
access to the TLD Application System.

GAC

See Governmental Advisory Committee.

GAC Advice on New gTLDs

Advice provided to the ICANN Board of Directors by theGAC in relation to one or more gTLD applications.

GAC Early Warning

A notice issued by the GAC concerning a gTLD
application indicating that the application is seen as
potentially sensitive or problematic by one or moregovernments.

Geographic Names Panel(GNP)

A panel of experts charged by ICANN with reviewing
applied-for TLD strings to identify, and confirm required
documentation for, geographic names.

Generic Names Supporting
Organization (GNSO)ICANN’s policy-development body for generic TLDs andthe lead in developing the policy recommendations forthe introduction of new gTLDs.

Generic top-level domain

See gTLD.

Glue record

An explicit notation of the IP address of a name server,placed in a zone outside of the zone that would ordinarily
contain that information.

Governmental AdvisoryCommittee

The Governmental Advisory Committee was formed toconsider and provide advice on the activities of ICANN
as they relate to concerns of governments, particularly
matters where there may be an interaction between
ICANN’s policies and various laws and internationalagreements or where they may affect public policy
issues.

G-4

GlossaryTerms Applicable to the gTLD Application ProcessgTLD

A TLD that does not correspond to any country code.

HyphenThe hyphen “-” (Unicode code point U+0029).

Internet Assigned Numbers
Authority (IANA)

The IANA is the authority originally responsible foroverseeing IP address allocation, coordinating theassignment of protocol parameters provided for inInternet technical standards, and managing the DNS,
including delegating top-level domains, and overseeing
the root name server system. Under ICANN, the IANA
distributes addresses to the Regional Internet Registries,
coordinates with the IETF and other technical bodies toassign protocol parameters, and oversees DNS operation.

ICANNInternet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers

ICANN-accredited registrar

An entity that has entered into a Registrar Accreditation
Agreement with ICANN. The registrar has access to makechanges to a registry by adding, deleting, or updating
domain name records.

Internationalized Domain
Name (IDN)

A domain name including characters used in the local
representation of languages not written with the basic
Latin alphabet (a - z), European-Arabic digits (0 - 9), andthe hyphen (-).

Internationalizing Domain
Names in Applications(IDNA)The technical protocol used for processing domainnames containing non-ASCII characters in the DNS.

IDN ccTLD Fast Track

The process for introducing a limited number of IDN
ccTLDs associated with the ISO-3166 two-letter codes. See
http://www.icann.org/en/topics/idn/fast-track/.

IDN table

A table listing all those characters that a particular TLD
registry supports. If some of these characters are
considered variant characters, this is indicated next tothose characters. The IDN tables usually hold characters
representing a specific language, or they can becharacters from a specific script. IDN tables may bealternately referred to as “language variant tables”,“language tables,” or “script tables.”

IGO

Inter-governmental organization.

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GlossaryTerms Applicable to the gTLD Application Process

Internet Engineering Task
Force (IETF)

The IETF is a large, open international community ofnetwork designers, operators, vendors, and researchers
concerned with the evolution of the Internet architecture
and the smooth operation of the Internet.

Initial Evaluation period

The period during which ICANN will review an applied-for
gTLD string, an applicant’s technical and financial
capabilities, and an applicant’s proposed registry
services.

International PhoneticAlphabet

A notational standard for phonetic representation in
multiple languages. See
http://www.langsci.ucl.ac.uk/ipa/.

IP address

A unique identifier for a device on the Internet, used toaccurately route traffic to that device.

IPv4

Internet Protocol version 4. Refers to the version of theInternet protocol that supports 32-bit IP addresses.

IPv6

Internet Protocol version 6. Refers to the version of theInternet protocol that supports 128-bit IP addresses.

IXFR

Incremental Zone Transfer, a DNS protocol mechanism
through which a partial copy of a DNS zone can be
replicated to a remote DNS server.

LDH (Letter Digit Hyphen)

The hostname convention defined in RFC 952, as
modified by RFC 1123.

Legal Rights objection

An objection made on the grounds that the applied-for
gTLD string infringes existing legal rights of the objector.

LetterAny character between “a” and “z”(Unicode code
points U+0061 to U+007A or U+0041 to U+005A).

Limited Public Interestobjection

An objection made on the grounds that the applied-for
gTLD string is contrary to generally accepted legal normsof morality and public order that are recognized underprinciples of international law.

NS record

A type of record in a DNS zone that signifies that part ofthat zone is delegated to a different set of authoritative
name servers.

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GlossaryTerms Applicable to the gTLD Application Process

Objection

A formal objection filed with a Dispute Resolution Service
Provider in accordance with that provider’s procedures.

Objection filing period

The period during which formal objections may be filed
concerning a gTLD application submitted to ICANN.

Objector

A person or entity that has filed a formal objection
against a new gTLD application with the appropriate
DRSP.

PDDRP

See Post-Delegation Dispute Resolution Procedure.

Post-Delegation DisputeResolution Procedure

The Trademark Post-Delegation Dispute Resolution
Procedure (PDDRP) provides trademark holders
opportunity to seek redress from new gTLD registry
operators exhibiting a bad faith intent to profit from thesystemic registration of infringing domain names.
Remedies vary and may include termination.

Pre-delegation test

A technical test required of applicants before delegationof the applied-for gTLD string into the root zone.

Primary contact

The person named by the applicant as the main contact
for the application, and having authority to executedecisions concerning the application.

Principal place of business

The location of the head office of a business ororganization.

Registrant

An entity that has registered a domain name.

Registrar

See ICANN-accredited registrar.

Registry

The authoritative master database of all domain names
registered in each top-level domain. The registry operator
keeps the master database and also generates the zone
file that allows computers to route Internet traffic to andfrom top-level domains anywhere in the world.

Registry Agreement

The agreement executed between ICANN and successful
gTLD applicants, which appears as an attachment toModule 5 of the Applicant Guidebook.

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GlossaryTerms Applicable to the gTLD Application Process

Registry operator

The entity entering into the Registry Agreement withICANN, responsible for setting up and maintaining theoperation of the registry.

Registry services(1) Operations of the registry critical to the following tasks:(i) the receipt of data from registrars concerning
registrations of domain names and name servers; (ii)provision to registrars of status information relating to thezone servers for the TLD; (iii) dissemination of TLD zone files;(iv) operation of the registry zone servers; and (v)dissemination of contact and other information
concerning domain name server registrations in the TLD
as required by the registry agreement; and (2) otherproducts or services that the registry operator is required
to provide because of the establishment of a consensus
policy; and (3) any other products or services that only aregistry operator is capable of providing, by reason of its
designation as the registry operator. See
http://icann.org/en/registries/rsep/rsep.html for a fulldefinition of Registry Services.

Registry Services Technical
Evaluation Panel (RSTEP)The Registry Services Technical Evaluation Panel is agroup of experts in the design, management, andimplementation of the complex systems and standardsprotocols used in the Internet infrastructure and DNS.
RSTEP members are selected by its chair. All RSTEP
members and the chair have executed an agreement
requiring that they consider the issues before the panel
neutrally and according to the specified definitions ofsecurity and stability.

Reserved Name

A string included on the Top-Level Reserved Names List
(Refer to Module 2 of the Applicant Guidebook).

Request for Comments (RFC)

The RFC document series is the official publication
channel for Internet standards documents and otherpublications of the IESG, IAB, and Internet community.

Rightsholder

The person or entity that maintains a set of rights to acertain piece of property.

Root Zone

The root zone database represents the delegation detailsof top-level domains, including gTLDs and ccTLDs. As
manager of the DNS root zone, IANA is responsible forcoordinating these delegations in accordance with its

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GlossaryTerms Applicable to the gTLD Application Process
policies and procedures.
Round

See application round.

ScriptA collection of symbols used for writing a language. There
are three basic kinds of scripts. One is the alphabetic (e.g.
Arabic, Cyrillic, Latin), with individual elements termed“letters.” A second is ideographic (e.g. Chinese), theelements of which are “ideographs.” The third is termed asyllabary (e.g. Hangul), with its individual elements
representing syllables. The writing systems of mostlanguages use only one script but there are exceptions
such as for example, Japanese, which uses four different
scripts, representing all three of the categories listed here.

Second level nameA domain name that has been registered in a given toplevel domain. For example, <icann.org> is a second-level
name. “ICANN” is the second-level label.

Security

In relation to a proposed registry service, an effect on
security by the proposed Registry Service means(1) unauthorized disclosure, alteration, insertion, ordestruction of registry data, or (2) unauthorized access toor disclosure of information or resources on the Internet bysystems operating in accordance with all applicablestandards.

Shared Registry System (SRS)

A system that allows multiple registrars to make changes
to a registry simultaneously.

Slot request

A step within the application submission period in which
the applicant submits a deposit for each requested slot in
the TLD Application System. One slot is designated perapplication.

Stability

In relation to a proposed registry service, an effect onstability means that the proposed registry service (1) does
not comply with applicable relevant standards that areauthoritative and published by a well-established,recognized, and authoritative standards body, such as
relevant standards-track or best current practice RFCs
sponsored by the IETF; or (2) creates a condition thatadversely affects the throughput, response time,consistency, or coherence of responses to Internet servers
or end systems, operating in accordance with applicablerelevant standards that are authoritative and published

G-9

GlossaryTerms Applicable to the gTLD Application Processby a well-established, recognized and authoritative
standards body, such as relevant standards-track or best
current practice RFCs and relying on registry operator’sdelegation information or provisioning services.
Standard application

An application that has not been designated by theapplicant as community-based.

StringThe string of characters comprising an applied-for gTLD.

String confusion objection

An objection made on the grounds that the applied-for
gTLD string is confusingly similar to an existing TLD or toanother applied-for gTLD.

String Similarity Algorithm

An algorithmic tool used to help identify applied-for gTLD
strings that may result in string confusion.

String Similarity Panel

A panel charged with assessing whether applied-for gTLD
strings create a probability of user confusion due tosimilarity with other specified strings.

String contention

The scenario in which there is more than one qualified
applicant for the same gTLD or for gTLDs that are sosimilar that they create a probability of user confusion if
more than one of the strings is delegated into the rootzone.

SunriseA pre-launch phase providing mark holders theopportunity to register domain names in a TLD before
registration is generally available to the public.
Mandatory in all new gTLDs.

TAS

See TLD Application System.

TLD

See Top-Level Domain

TLD Application System

The online interface for submission of gTLD applications toICANN.

Top-Level Domain

Top-Level Domains (TLDs) are the names at the top of theDNS naming hierarchy. They appear in domain names as
the string of letters following the last dot, such as “NET” in
www.example.net. The TLD administrator controls what
second-level names are recognized in that TLD. The
administrators of the root domain or root zone control

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GlossaryTerms Applicable to the gTLD Application Process
what TLDs are recognized by the DNS.
Trademark Claims

Generates real-time notice to someone attempting toregister a domain name if it matches a trademark in theClearinghouse. Also notifies trademark holders whendomain names are registered that match marks in theClearinghouse. Mandatory in all new gTLDs.

Trademark Clearinghouse

A repository for trademark data supporting rightsprotection services offered by new gTLD registries.

U-LabelThe Unicode form of an IDN label, i.e., the string which auser expects to see displayed in applications.

UnicodeA standard describing a repertoire of characters used torepresent most of the world’s languages in written form.
The Unicode standard contains tables that list the "codepoints" (unique numbers) for each local character
identified. The collection of scripts used to do this is
maintained by the Unicode Consortium.

Uniform Domain Name
Dispute Resolution Policy(UDRP)A policy for resolving disputes arising from alleged abusive
registrations of domain names (for example,cybersquatting), allowing expedited administrative
proceedings that a trademark rights holder initiates byfiling a complaint with an approved dispute resolution
service provider.

Uniform Rapid Suspension(URS)

Provides trademark holders with a rapid and efficientmechanism to "take down" undeniably infringing domainnames. A successful proceeding will result in suspension of
the domain name. Compliance with results mandatory
for all new gTLD operators.

Variant characters

Variant characters occur where two or more characters
can be used interchangeably.

Variant TLDs

TLD strings resulting from the substitution of one or morecharacters in a string with variant characters from an IDNtable.

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GlossaryTerms Applicable to the gTLD Application Process

Whois

Records containing registration information about
registered domain names.

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