During 36th International Public ICANN Meeting presently being held in Seoul, Korea, ICANN announced that there will be another delay in the launch of new generic TLD extensions.  While ICANN did not provide a timeline for when the applications will begin, it is expected that the launch will be delayed until at least the later half of 2010.  The four overarching issues of security/stability, registry-registrar separation, IP community concerns on trademark protections and root zone scalability remain at the core reasons for the delay. 
 
If you are interesting in submitting an application for a new TLD or have questions about this issue, please contact us at http://www.safenames.net/AboutUs/ContactUs.aspx