ICANN asks governments for new info on .amazon

The Board of Directors of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has issued a new resolution concerning the applications for the .amazon generic top-level domain (gTLD), asking for additional information from the Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC). In the resolution, the Board asks the GAC ‘if it has: (i) any information to provide to the Board as it relates to the “merits-based public policy reasons,” regarding the GAC’s advice that the Amazon applications should not proceed; or (ii) any other new or additional information to provide to the Board regarding the GAC’s advice that the Amazon applications should not proceed’. The GAC is invited to provide any such information by the conclusion of the ICANN61 meeting, to be held in March 2018. The GAC is discussing the .amazon issue at its meeting in Abu Dhabi (in the context of the ICANN60 meeting), and the discussion is expected to be reflected in the committee’s communique, to be issued at the end of the meeting.