Policy & Advocacy
The BRG promotes dotBrands’ interests with a strong, collective voice representing members as dotBrand owners. BRG members are among the leading advocates in initiating and supporting dotBrand top-level domain names.
​We help you make sense of the complex dotBrand process – “How can I understand ICANN and all those acronyms?”, “What is the policy process and how is it relevant to my dotBrand?”, “What are the upcoming issues I need to know about?” The BRG helps you and your organisation stay informed and successfully navigate the process from application to launch to operations.
“The BRG is a unique and strong advocate for dotBrands”
The BRG helps you follow the changing landscape of ICANN and related policies
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The ICANN process is not easy for organisations to follow and, given ICANN’s open and transparent methods of developing policy, it is not always possible for organisations to participate directly due to restrictions with their own communications. With a high frequency of ICANN meetings and calls, the variety of ICANN stakeholder groups and constituencies, and the three main ICANN meetings held globally, there is a high commitment of resources and budget required to stay well informed.
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The BRG offers its members the opportunity to keep track of and influence the areas that impact their dotBrand registries, without the commitment of significant resources and budget.
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The BRG Provides a Collective Voice for its Members
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The BRG is a strong voice for its members as an advocate for dotBrand registry operators and dotBrand applicants. We work to protect members’ interests in ICANN policy development and raise awareness of the distinct new model introduced by brands.
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The BRG is an Associate Member of ICANN’s Registries Stakeholder Group, where we directly raise issues and comment on operational concerns within ICANN’s Generic Names Supporting Organisation (GNSO).
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BRG advocacy is not limited to the boundaries of ICANN. We work with many domain-name organisations. The BRG is a legal entity outside of ICANN, so our influence carries to the broader domain industry and beyond.
“BRG members are experts in their field, they share information and I can ask questions”
ICANN Policy Developments Relevant to dotBrands
The ICANN policy development process involves a number of ICANN-community organisations as part of its “multistakeholder” policy development model.
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The Generic Name Supporting Organization (GNSO) is responsible for developing and recommending to the ICANN Board substantive policies relating to generic top-level domains. The BRG, as an Associate Member of ICANN’s Registries Stakeholder Group (RySG) and as a separate entity to ICANN, follows and directly comments on polices being developed within the GNSO.
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The BRG is particularly following the policy development process with relevance to dotBrands in these areas:
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New Generic Top-Level Domain Subsequent Procedures
Looking at new top-level domains, including future dotBrands.
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Next-Generation Registration Directory Service to Replace ‘WHOIS’
Looking at how domain name registration data is used and stored.
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Review of Rights Protection Mechanisms in All Generic Top-Level Domains
Looking at rights protection mechanisms and uniform dispute resolution policy.
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IGO and INGO Access to Curative Rights Protection Mechanisms
Looking at changes needed to curative rights protection mechanisms for International governmental and International non-governmental organisations.
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ICANN Groups You Need To Know About
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At the heart of ICANN operation and policy-making is its “multistakeholder model”. This decentralised governance model places individuals, industry, non-commercial interests and government on an equal level. Unlike more traditional, top-down governance models this multistakeholder approach allows for community-based consensus-driven policy-making. The idea is that Internet governance should mimic the structure of the Internet itself – borderless and open to all.
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The BRG and many of its members actively participate in ICANN groups and related community constituencies.
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Find out more about some key ICANN organisations for dotBrands like the Generic Names Supporting Organisation (GNSO), advisory committees like the Government Advisory Committee (GAC) and constituency groups like the Registries Stakeholder Group (RySG), of which the BRG is an Associate Member.
Internet governance, policy making and advocacy is complicated and full of acronyms. The BRG can help you make (a bit more) sense of it all.
Bite-Size Guide to Key ICANN Policies
ICANN’s numerous policies and processes can be hard to follow, to say the least. However as a dotBrand registry operator you will need to follow many of them.
We provide a summary of the key ones you need to know about as a dotBrand registry operator or future applicant.