The second Applicant Auction is coming up on August 13, and after a great round of workshops at the ICANN Conference in Durban, we’ve started to finalize all of the details. Any applicants who haven’t indicated their intention to participate can still do so! We’ll be opening the sign-up system within the next week, and we’re expecting a large number of participants!

After the success of our first auction in June, we have made some important changes to the August auction.

First, we’re proud to announce that we’re working with two top firms to support the independence and transparency of the auction:

Credit Suisse will provide the escrow account used for our auction. We made the change to allow for more currency options. We will now be able to take payments in CAD, EUR, GBP, and USD, as well as most other currencies that are free of exchange restrictions.

As previously announced, Deloitte will serve as our neutral party. They have a significant amount of expertise serving as contract risk and compliance auditors for a number of organizations, including ICANN.

Also, we have made some other changes that we expect will move the auction along faster and make the process smoother; the latest version of the Applicant Auction Agreement and Bidder Instructions is available on our website.

The auction will take place starting on August 13. Signed participation agreements must be received by August 5, and bidding deposits must be received by Credit Suisse no later than August 12. We’ll also be hosting a mock auction, on either August 8 or 9, for registered participants to familiarize themselves with the software and bidding process. Participation is strongly encouraged.

If you’d like to join us, please indicate your interest here.