Steve Crocker (chair of the ICANN board) said the following:

The IETF has a special names list, a reserved names list, but my understanding is that that’s not a definitive list in the following sense. It takes a while before a name gets onto that list. So, it tends to be on the conservative side. There are other names that are in use but have not gone through an IETF process. From where we’re sitting over at ICANN, if we want to be conservative, we would take into account not only the names on the reserve list from the IETF but also other names where it’s evident there is usage but nobody has come along and said we’re going to – you should reserve this and reserve this and so forth. So, I would think that our obligation is to have a somewhat wider field of view, including not only the official list but also what’s actually happening in the real world. And I can anticipate arguments that say well, there’s no official reason to reject this name [for ICANN issuance, e.g. someone buying the .bit TLD for non-Namecoin use], therefore you must accept it. I would say just the opposite, that we have an obligation to be careful, and if we see reasons why a name should not be allocated, then we have that authority, we have that obligation to do that and to err on the side of caution there.