ICANN released the Name Collision Study it commission, which suggests the the applications for the new gTLD’s .Corp and .Home be indefinitely delayed and that 20% of all new gTLD applied for strings be delayed for at least 3-6 months as additional studies are conducted.
“ICANN commissioned and today releases the results of a study that considers the likelihood and impact of name space collisions between applied-for new gTLD strings and non-delegated TLDs.
ICANN contracted with Interisle Consulting Group, LLC to collect and analyze the necessary data on all applied-for strings.The resulting study, Name Collision in the DNS [PDF, 3.34 MB], identifies three categories of strings by the potential risk of name space collision:
- Low Risk: 80% of applied-for strings.
- Uncalculated Risk: 20% of applied-for strings.
- High Risk: 2 strings (.home, .corp).
To minimize the likelihood of any impact, ICANN proposes to the community several mitigation measures to be taken as described in an accompanying staff recommendation paper, New gTLD Collision Risk Management [PDF, 166 KB]. They include:
- Proceeding with contracting and delegation of those strings categorized as “low risk” (80%) but recommending additional mitigation measures which should not materially impact their timeline for delegation.
- Conducting further study on those strings categorized as “uncalculated risk” (20%) anticipated to take 3-6 months to complete.
- Delaying contracting and delegation of the two “high risk” strings until mitigation efforts can place them in the “low risk” category.
ICANN has opened a formal process for soliciting public comment. The form for submitting public comment and the calendar for doing so is available here.
