ICANN seems to have found a new manager for Lebanon’s ccTLD, just five months after its unprecedented decision to assume a “caretaker” role for the TLD.
The ICANN board of directors is set to vote tomorrow on whether to transfer .lb to the Internet Society Lebanon. If it’s on the agenda, it’s almost a shoo-in for a yay vote.
ICANN took over .lb from the American University in Beirut — which had no hands-on role in the ccTLD for a few years — in July, after the death of the registry’s founder and 30-year manager in January.
Nabil Bukhalid had died unexpectedly before he could find a successor to take over the registry, stymied at every turn by local politics and Lebanon’s horrific financial crisis.
ISOC Lebanon had been involved with his efforts to find .lb a new home, according to the complex potted history on the former registry’s web site, so it’s not coming in cold.
Several ccTLDs are already managed by their local ISOCs, including Israel, Sudan and Armenia.
ICANN created the new “caretaker” role in July to respond to “an extraordinary and temporary operational situation”. It seems to be a considerably faster process than the EBERO system used in gTLDs.
.lb is believed to have fewer than 5,000 domains under management.
The post ICANN finds new home for Lebanon’s TLD after founder’s death first appeared on Domain Incite.
