Summary

  • ICANN’s Board Accountability Mechanisms Committee (BAMC) has recommended that the Board deny Request 26-3, which challenges staff’s refusal to grant additional time to submit an application for the 2026 New gTLD Round.
  • The recommendation is not a final decision. An urgent track was unavailable because the request concerned staff action, but the same filing continued under the ordinary process.

The case turned first on which clock could hear it. ICANN staff declined on 3 August to give LaToya Hopelyn Johnson-McKenzie more time to submit an application after the 12 August deadline. She filed Reconsideration Request 26-3 on 7 August. The request was about additional time to submit; it was not an application filed after the deadline, and the public record reviewed here does not explain why she sought an extension.

On 11 August, BAMC rejected urgent treatment. The committee read Bylaws §4.2(s) as covering urgent challenges to Board action or inaction, while this request challenged a staff decision. That procedural ruling did not decide whether the staff decision was correct. Under §4.2(t), the requestor could file again within the ordinary period. Instead, staff continued processing the request as filed on the standard timeline, avoiding a restart while preserving the merits review.

On 24 August, BAMC found the request sufficiently stated to move to the next standard-process steps. At its 5 October review, the committee said ICANN had followed relevant policies and processes, had enough information, and had not relied on false or inaccurate information in declining more time. Staff said the requestor had been informed about available resources, including pro bono assistance, and encouraged to contact ICANN. The Ombuds recommended denial. Two members, Greg DiBiase and Wes Hardaker, recused themselves from discussion but remained present. BAMC recommended that the Board deny the request.

The sequence leaves a clear distinction between recommendation and authority. The requestor has 15 days from receiving the recommendation to submit a rebuttal; the matter then goes to the Board. As of 10 October, ICANN’s docket lists the request and recommendation, but no final Board determination. The application itself has not been adjudicated through this process.

Sources: 5 October BAMC minutes; recommendation docket; Request 26-3 docket; 11 August minutes; 24 August minutes; ICANN Bylaws, Article 4; reconsideration docket.