One of the expert witnesses for Donuts is Kurt Pritz, the former Chief Strategy Officer of ICANN, who has also been called the architect of ICANN's new gTLDs program.
In his "expert witness statement" filed on behalf of Donuts, Mr. Pritz states:
“…. Prior to joining the DNA [Domain Name Association], I served as Chief Strategy Officer and Senior Vice President of Stakeholder Relations for ICANN for nearly ten years, where one of my primary responsibilities was to lead the introduction of the New gTLD Program, preparing and presenting many policy and implementation position papers to the ICANN Community and Board…. There is no doubt that that New gTLD Program objection results are inconsistent, and not predictable…. Compounding the problem is applicants’ used [sic] of the objection as an anti competitive weapon….” (emphasis added)
Mr. Pritz concludes his statement with the following "expert opinion:"
Domain Mondo has called the ICANN new gTLDs program dysfunctional for a long time. Now the architect of ICANN's new gTLDs program, former ICANN Chief Strategy Officer Kurt Pritz, apparently agrees.
You can follow the progress of Donuts Inc vs. ICANN here.
Follow @DomainMondo