Initial Report of the TSG on gTLD Integrations with Alternative Naming Systems

What We Received Input On

ICANN org seeks input on the initial report of the Technical Study Group (TSG) on gTLD Integrations with Alternative Naming Systems. ICANN has received several inquiries from gTLD registry operators and potential New gTLD Program: 2026 Round applicants regarding integrating global DNS gTLDs with the same string in alternative naming systems. A thorough assessment of the potential impact to the security and stability of the Domain Name System (DNS) must be conducted before ICANN can approve this new type of registry service. The TSG was convened to answer a threshold question: can this be done in a secure and stable manner, and if so, under what technical requirements?

ICANN welcomes feedback on whether the technical requirements proposed in the report are sufficient to protect the security and stability of the DNS and on all other aspects of this initial report.

Background

Since 2022, several gTLD registry operators and potential 2026 Round applicants have indicated that they would like to offer registry services that associate global DNS gTLDs with the same string in an alternative naming system. Each registry operator seeking to offer this type of service must proceed individually through the Registry Services Evaluation Policy (RSEP) process. Absent clear criteria to evaluate this type of service, these requests would likely be referred to the Registry Service Technical Evaluation Panel (RSTEP), at significant cost to the registry operator. Because many of the underlying technical questions are common to multiple registry operators, ICANN determined that convening a Technical Study Group (TSG) to study the topic once, in general terms, would be more productive than requiring repeated, separate evaluations.

ICANN President and CEO Kurtis Lindqvist convened the TSG in June 2026. The TSG is coordinated by Andrew Sullivan, with appointed members from the Security and Stability Advisory Committee (SSAC), the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) community, registry operators, and alternative naming system operators. In parallel, ICANN org is tracking the TSG's work to inform related contractual amendments for registry agreements, which will be addressed in a later Public Comment proceeding.

Next Steps

Following the close of this comment period, the TSG will review all comments received and revise the report as appropriate. A summary report responding to the comments received will be prepared and published.

While the TSG continues its work, ICANN org will closely track its progress and deliberations to establish the contractual amendment language that would be added to a registry agreement after a registry is approved to offer this Registry Service (through the RSEP process or as part of a New gTLD Program application process). Once finalized, the TSG report would serve as the basis for ICANN’s approach to evaluating future RSEP requests for this type of integration service.

The TSG's draft final report will be published together with proposed contractual language for registry agreements in a later Public Comment proceeding.

Supporting Information