Platform helps top level domain applicants resolve contention sets before applications are revealed.

Early Warning Report, a system to help top level domain applicants navigate potential contention sets, officially launched today.

This new TLD round has a major difference from the 2012 round: applicants can no longer negotiate with each other to settle contention sets when they apply for the same string. They can only participate in auctions in which ICANN keeps all the proceeds.

But this prohibition only takes effect after ICANN discloses who applied for each string.

Enter Early Warning Report. The platform allows applicants (and potential applicants) to submit their strings and be notified if they match any other users’ submitted strings. When there’s a match, the applicants will be able to communicate with each other.

With this advance notice, parties can try to settle their contention sets before applications are revealed. This could be through trades, buyouts, or Early Warning Report’s proprietary auction method.

Pricing starts at $1,000 per string. Early Warning Report is offering launch pricing of $100 per string until 100 strings are submitted. The launch price is limited to ten strings per user.

For more details, listen to DNW Podcast #584.

Disclosure: I submitted a string I am considering applying for.