I’m back from ICANN’s 34th international meeting, held this week in Mexico City. Every ICANN meeting is a busy one, and this one was no exception. Among the ‘hot button’ topics which were discussed at length:

• New gTLD applications will likely not be accepted until late 2009 or early 2010. The gTLD applicant guidebook, which describes the process of applying for and securing a new gTLD, is going to undergo another revision based on community feedback.
• Paul Twomey, ICANN’s President and CEO, announced he will move on from ICANN at the end of 2009. He has been President and CEO since 2003.
• A wide range of amendments to the Registrar Accreditation Agreement (RAA) were approved by the Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO) council. The RAA binds registrars like Tucows to various terms and conditions outlined by ICANN. We had a great deal of input on the revisions to the RAA, particularly as they applied to resellers. Stay tuned for more information on how and when these revisions will be implemented.

You can also check out ICANN’s briefing note from the meeting.

I expect there will be further review and discussion of all these topics and much more at the next ICANN international meeting, to be held in June in Sydney, Australia. You can find more information on June’s meeting at http://syd.icann.org.