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Base Registry Agreement

As part of the New gTLD Program: 2026 Round, ICANN is preparing the 2026 Base gTLD Registry Agreement (2026 Base RA), outlining the rights and obligations of new gTLD registry operators. Once the ICANN Board approves the form of 2026 Base RA, it will serve as the form of contractual document between successful applicants in the New gTLD Program: 2026 Round and ICANN and will be available before the application window opens in April 2026.

Consistent with the outputs of the Final Report on the new gTLD Subsequent Procedures Policy Development Process (Final Report), the 2026 Base RA is based on the existing Base gTLD RA (approved by the ICANN Board 21 January 2024), incorporates changes from Board-approved policy recommendations, and includes other operational updates based on ICANN's experience since launching the 2012 round of the New gTLD Program.

The latest draft of the 2026 Base RA and redline against the existing Base gTLD RA (approved by the ICANN Board 21 January 2024) are available below:

  1. Draft 2026 Base RA – February 2026 (Clean) [PDF, 807 KB]
  2. Draft 2026 Base RA – February 2026 (Cumulative Redline) [PDF, 1.1 MB]
  3. Draft 2026 RA – February 2026 (Incremental Redline against December 2025) [PDF, 872 KB]

For additional information, please refer to the list of FAQs developed for the 2026 Base RA.

Public Comment Proceedings

ICANN opened two Public Comment proceedings on the 2026 Base RA to seek input from the community, including potential 2026 gTLD applicants. The Public Comment Summary and Analysis Reports can be found at the links below.

  1. Public Comment Summary and Analysis Report #1
  2. Public Comment Summary and Analysis Report #2

Update to Public Comment Summary and Analysis Report #2 (February 2026)

Please note that following the posting of the Public Comment Summary and Analysis Report #2, the Registries Stakeholder Group (RySG) notified ICANN that it believed its comment regarding the removal of the new requirement to register EPP Extensions in the IANA EPP registry in Section 1.2 of Specification 6 was not fully addressed, in light of the ongoing discussions within the IETF. Given these ongoing discussions within the IETF and unknown implications to this new requirement, ICANN org removed this language. Please refer to following incremental redline against the last version shared with the Public Comment Summary and Analysis Report #2 in December 2025 to see the update. As there are no further Public Comment proceedings on the proposed 2026 Base RA, ICANN is providing this update here and revising the second Public Comment Summary and Analysis Report page to ensure full transparency.

Two additional documents were posted for public comment:

  1. Specification 14 (the Specification for Variant TLDs) – following the ICANN Board's resolution adopting the Internationalized Domain Names Expedited Policy Development Process (IDN EPDP) Phase 1 Recommendations 7.4 and 7.5, ICANN initiated a separate Public Comment proceeding on proposed updates to Specification 14 (the Specification for Variant TLDs) of the 2026 Base RA. The Public Comment Summary and Analysis Report for this proceeding can be found here.
  2. Trademark Clearinghouse (TMCH) Requirements – ICANN opened a separate Public Comment proceeding on proposed updates to the TMCH Requirements that included changes to implement Sunrise Final Recommendation #8 from the first phase of a Policy Development Process (PDP) on a Review of All Rights Protection Mechanisms in All gTLDs, as well as revisions to account for the next expansion of the gTLD space. The TMCH Requirements is an ancillary document referenced in Section 1 of Specification 7 of the 2026 Base RA. The Public Comment Summary and Analysis Report for this proceeding can be found here.

Update to Public Comment Summary and Analysis Report (February 2026):

As noted in the Public Comment Summary and Analysis Report, ICANN org considered revisions in coordination with the SubPro IRT to sections 2.3.6 and 2.3.7 of the TMCH Requirements. Please refer to the following incremental redline against the last version shared with the Public Comment proceeding in December 2025 to review the updates.

  1. Draft TMCH Requirements – February 2026 (Clean) [PDF, 172 KB]
  2. Draft TMCH Requirements – February 2026 (Cumulative Redline) [PDF, 197 KB]

ICANN will submit the draft 2026 Base RA to the ICANN Board of Directors for consideration in advance of ICANN85. The anticipated review of the proposed 2026 Base RA by the ICANN Board will be in March 2026 at ICANN85.

The 2026 Base RA will be added to the Applicant Guidebook as Appendix 4 following its adoption by the Board prior to the opening of the application submission round.