There are a number of conditional or elective evaluations that are string and/or applicant dependent. Fees for these evaluations will be charged separately and have been determined using a cost-recovery approach. Conditional evaluation fees will be invoiced separately and will be due prior to the evaluation being carried out. The invoice for any applicable conditional evaluation is expected to be sent as close as possible to the evaluation taking place.
The conditional evaluations are presented in the table below.
| Conditional Evaluations | Expected Fee (in US dollars) |
|---|---|
.Brand TLD Eligibility Evaluation (Specification 13) Specification 13 TLDs, known as Brand TLDs, are top-level domains exclusively operated by brand proprietors. This designation permits a brand to operate a TLD with certain standardized modifications to the Registry Agreement that are tailored for brand proprietors or similar. For a brand to secure this classification, the applicant must establish that the TLD is aligned with a registered trademark and used in its business. Note: TLDs that are applied for and are granted Specification 13 are exempt from complying with the requirements of Code of Conduct (CoC) Exemption (Specification 9). Brand TLD applicants do not need to apply separately for a CoC exemption. | USD 500 |
Code of Conduct Exemption Evaluation (Specification 9) The Code of Conduct (CoC) (Specification 9) of the gTLD Registry Agreement (RA) includes certain operational requirements for a registry operator, such as registering domains itself and working with registrars. All registry operators are subject to the CoC unless an exemption is granted to the registry operator by ICANN. The purpose of the CoC is to protect the registrants of a TLD. The rationale to allow for exemptions is that there is no need for such protection if all of the domain names in a TLD are registered exclusively to the registry operator or its affiliates. Exemption may be granted by ICANN if the applicant can demonstrate to ICANN's reasonable satisfaction that it meets the exemption criteria. | USD 400 |
Community Priority Evaluation (CPE) A Community Priority Evaluation (CPE) is a voluntary, conditional evaluation designed to determine whether a community-based application fulfills the CPE criteria and should receive priority in a contention set, thereby eliminating other contention set members. | Estimated between USD 50,000 - USD 80,000 (fixed fee representing actual costs incurred from the vendor will be charged. This fixed fee will be communicated as soon as a vendor has been contracted.) |
Geographic Names Review The Geographic Names Determination and Evaluation Panel examines whether each applied-for gTLD string represents a Geographic Name as defined in the Applicant Guidebook. Applications for country and territory names will not be approved. Geographic Names include: 1) capital city names, 2) city names with the intention to use the gTLD for purposes associated with that city, 3) sub-national place names, or a 4) UNESCO/Geographic region. Applications for Geographic Names must provide documentation of support or non-objection from relevant governments or public authorities. Applications identified as Geographic Names during initial string review undergo a more substantive evaluation by the evaluation panel during application evaluations. | Estimated between USD 18,000 - USD 25,000 (fixed fee representing actual costs incurred from the vendor will be charged. This fixed fee will be communicated as soon as a vendor has been contracted.) |
Name Collision High-Risk Mitigation Plan Evaluation An applicant for a string on the Collision String List may amend its application to add a High-Risk String Mitigation Plan. | Estimated between USD 100,000 - USD 150,000 (fixed fee representing actual costs incurred from the vendor will be charged. This fixed fee will be communicated as soon as a vendor has been contracted.) |
Registry Commitments Evaluation (Specification 11 for Registry Voluntary Commitments (RVCs) and/or Specification 12 for Community Registration Policies) Registry Commitments Evaluation (RCE) is used for reviewing both Registry Voluntary Commitments (RVCs) and Community Registration Policies (Specification 12). RVCs were previously referred to as voluntary public interest commitments in the 2012 Round of the New gTLD Program. RVCs are specific commitments from a new gTLD applicant that are embedded in Specification 11 of the Registry Agreement. Applicants may propose RVCs with their initial application or through an Application Change Request (ACR), which may be in response to feedback from the public in the form of an objection, or from the Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) via a GAC Member Early Warning, GAC Consensus Advice, or an objection. Separately, an entity that has designated its application as a Community Application is required to provide registration policies as part of its application and execute a Registry Agreement with Specification 12 that conforms with its application. This must include specifying naming conventions and requirements for registration. Both RVCs and Community Registration Policies are contractual obligations, meaning that the registry operator must adhere to all commitments captured in the executed Registry Agreement. ICANN enforces these commitments, which are subject to designated dispute resolution processes. | USD15,000 (note, for Community TLD applications that proceed to CPE, the fee paid for RCE will be deducted from the CPE fee, if CPE occurs) |
Re-evaluations as a result of change requests Certain change requests may result in a need to carry out a re-evaluation in whole or in part. In such cases, additional fees may be applicable and will be communicated as part of the change request process. Note: this would only be applicable in circumstances where the evaluation was carried out before the change request was made. ICANN will only charge the actual costs of carrying out the re-evaluation by a third party. | Dependent on area(s) requiring re-evaluation. |