"It is very important that deserving applicants, such as those from emerging economies, be included in the new gTLD program," said Rod Beckstrom, President and Chief Executive Officer. "It is necessary to encourage diverse participation in this new program and to broaden the scope of our multi-stakeholder model."
The ICANN Board of Directors also made clear today that it wants to enhance the organization's policies relating to conflicts of interest, ethics, confidentiality and an overall code of conduct.
"We want to achieve a Gold Standard in terms of conflicts and ethics practices," said Steve Crocker, Chair of the ICANN Board. "Specifically we are working on a system which will lay out how Directors interested in specific new generic Top Level Domain applications will be restricted from participation in the deliberations and decisions regarding the new gTLD Program."
In closing ICANN's 42nd public meeting in Dakar, Senegal, the Board passed a resolution stating that, "ICANN will treat decisions relating to approving any single new gTLD application in an ethical manner and with care to avoid even the appearance of a conflict of interest."
ICANN's next public meeting will occur March 11-16 in San Jose, Costa Rica.
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