The Applicant Guidebook contains separate provisions concerning private resolution of string contention and certain communications and activities between applicants.
Section 5.2.3 provides that "[t]he New gTLD Program processes leading up to and including, where applicable, a New gTLD Auction… provide the only permissible path to contention resolution." It further provides that other resolution methods, including private auctions, joint ventures, or other arrangements designed to resolve contention privately, are strictly prohibited. (See AGB Sec. 5.2.3, "Prohibition of the Private Resolution of String Contention by Applicants").
Section 5.2.3.1 separately prohibits specified communications and activities during defined periods. For applications in the same contention set, those communications restrictions begin on Reveal Day. (See AGB Sec. 5.2.3.1, "Prohibited Communications and Activities"; see also Sec. 3.4, "Reveal Day").
Section 5.2.3.2 identifies circumstances in which the communications restrictions in Section 5.2.3.1 do not prohibit communications, including communications occurring outside the defined periods in which communications are prohibited. (See AGB Sec. 5.2.3.2, "Exceptions").
Reveal Day is expressly identified as the commencement of the communications restrictions described in Section 5.2.3.1. The Applicant Guidebook does not identify Reveal Day as the commencement date of the separate prohibition described in Section 5.2.3.
Applicants should consider all applicable provisions of the Applicant Guidebook when evaluating their conduct. The fact that a particular communication is not prohibited by the timing provisions of Section 5.2.3.1 does not itself determine whether other Applicant Guidebook requirements may apply to the underlying conduct or arrangement.
The authoritative English version of the Applicant Guidebook, as adopted and published, is the definitive source for the requirements of the 2026 Round. Draft language, statements or discussions during development of the Applicant Guidebook should be considered in that context and do not replace the requirements stated in the adopted Applicant Guidebook.