In preparation for the ICANN meeting in New Delhi, they have informed the community that ICANN is exploring a potential plan for the certification of backend registry operators for new gTLDs. ICANN has identified registry operator certification as an area that may improve the application process for new gTLDs and improve security and stability by creating a pool of available and pre-qualified registry operators in the event of registry failure.

ICANN is an international non-profit organization that administrates certain features of the Internet for example unique identifiers. As a private-public partnership, ICANN is dedicated to maintaining the operational stability of the Internet.

The concept of creating a certified registry operations provider program is not new. In March 2003, ICANN released criteria for stable registry operation to be used in the selection of new sponsored TLDs.

Since the March 2003 ICANN meeting in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, a wide range of community members have encouraged ICANN to proceed with the creation of an Accredited Registry Services Provider program (or similar program). As an example, the 15 March 2006 GNSO Issues Report on Technical Criteria for new gTLDs referenced the idea of creating an accredited registry operator’s system. The topic was also raised in the GNSO Public Forum in Lisbon, Portugal in March 2007 and during the November 2007 ICANN meeting in Los Angeles, California.

Additional research and discussions on this potential initiative is expected to take place as staff move towards the introduction of new gTLDs and the implementation of the gTLD registry failover plan in the near future.