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18(b) How do you expect that your proposed gTLD will benefit registrants, Internet users, and others?

gTLDFull Legal NameE-mail suffixDetail
.rilReliance Industries Limitedril.comView
India has the second largest mobile user base in the world, next only to China. It also has the third largest Internet user base, after China & USA. But, currently India has only 10.2% Internet penetration. These two distinguished realities imply the fact there is tremendous opportunity that is well open for the future Internet market in India.
Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) wants to use this opportunity of owning “.RIL” gTLD to establish itself as a company which is at the forefront of Internet revolutions in the world and is aiming to bring the same to India. “.RIL” gTLD will primarily be used for corporate communication and to offer the visitors one-stop-shop, to learn about Reliance, its different businesses and offerings in the B2B and B2C arena.
RIL owns hundreds of brands, of which many are truly iconic Indian brands such as “Reliance”, “Vimal”, and “Reliance Retail”. Other brands are leaders in their category such as “Sudz”, “Mopz” and so on. We also partner with many international brands and bring them to India such as “Marks & Spencer”, “Vision Express”, “Hamleys” and the likes. All these brands are currently under different TLDs such as “.com”, “.in’, “.co.in”, “.net” and so on. RIL aims to consolidate these brands under one gTLD and offer consumers a superior, consistence and unique experience across all the business, departments, offerings and products.
There will be multiple benefits of the same:
The customers will be able to easily find the product⁄service and brand they are looking for, since all will exist under the common gTLD. The consistent look & feel, and a unique and superior web experience will provide impetuousness to the customer to spend more time on the web site and to visit again, thus improving the state of the Internet in India.
RIL will be able to protect its brands from domain squatters, phishing attacks and other forms of Internet malware by having a complete control over the second level domains. This will further help customers find the correct domain and the right web site they are looking for. With the trusted brand name of Reliance acting as gTLD for the web sites will instil confidence in the customer to consume information and conduct transactions without fear of any foul play.
With all the brands, products and services under the same gTLD, RIL will be successfully able to track consumer’s actions and behaviour across the multiple second-level domains and provide services and products which offer more value to the consumer that interact with our various brands.
As mentioned above, RIL owns hundreds of brands and it is not always possible to acquire the suitable domain name due to rampant cybersquatting and the domain ownership in developed markets which had the first mover advantage. By owning its own gTLD, RIL will be able to consolidate all its brands, products, services, under a common umbrella and replicate its offline brand strategy and architecture in the online and digital world as well. This will help streamline marketing communication to our audiences and customers since the information and structure will be similar in offline and online world. Customers will also find it easier to access information and conduct business, be it on a pamphlet in a store or on a web page online, since the brand structure and marketing communication will be similar in nature.
With similar brand architecture in the online world as the offline world, it will be easier for RIL to run marketing activities and promotions via our retail stores and other join venture branded stores. These activities will be used to drive traffic to our web sites under “.RIL” gTLD. This will generate interest in the new and improved web sites and will also educate people about the new gTLD system. By integrating our social media strategies with the new gTLD system we will be able to rapidly spread the word about the new gTLD and drive more traffic to our web sites which in turn will increase our brand reach.
RIL owns one India’s largest organized retail chains under the brand name ‘Reliance Retail’, which offers its customers multiple products and services under different retail formats for all their shopping needs. RIL also has brand partnerships with many international brands that offer provide their services in India in partnership with RIL. Since each format and brand attracts a large number of customers, each will be given a second-level domain under the new “RIL” gTLD such as ‘www.fresh.RIL’,’ www.super.ril’, ’www.digital.ril’. This structure will help the customer to easily locate the right format that she is searching for and make the necessary purchase. Plus the confidence of the RIL brand name as the gTLD will serve as the guarantee of quality and service. A customer shopping across multiple formats will be easily tracked and will receive benefits in terms of discounts, coupons and exclusive offers. The customer will also benefit from the superior service and consistent experience across all the different format websites and offerings under the same gTLD. RIL will benefit from better cross-sells and increasing customer retention.
India has one of the highest mobile penetrations in the world. More people in India have a mobile phone than 24⁄7 running water. With huge demand comes plethora of suppliers and India has over 15 separate telecom providers, some of whom are active on a pan India basis and some are regional players. As RIL enters in the telecom⁄digital space with its pan India 4G network, the gTLD will provide it with much needed differentiation in the market. RIL will be able to offer its multitude of 4G services under a single umbrella of “.RIL” gTLD which is much more recognizable and has a higher recall than a “.com” or “.net” gTLD.
Due to the deluge of web sites and brands that are present in the Indian and the world market, superior and delightful customer experience is becoming an essential part of any brand’s offering that wants to stand out of the crowd. By combining all our business and their offerings under the common gTLD “.RIL”gTLD, the consumer will not need to step-out of “.RIL” gTLD for accessing any product or service offered by RIL. This will give us the opportunity to provide a consistent, clear and comprehensive customer experience across all the web sites under “.RIL”. This will be in-line with our efforts to set a new standard in online consumer experience across the globe.
Registry Policies

RIL’s registry policies are designed to follow the highest of standards and meet the criteria for global
operations.

As described above, “.RIL” gTLD will be used for RIL group of companies and will only be available to the registrants of RIL (including the Sunrise period).

In general, domains will be offered for periods of one to ten years, but no greater than ten years. Registrations made in the Sunrise period may have an established minimum number of required years.

The roll-out of our TLD is anticipated to feature the following phases:

Reservation of reserved names and premium names, which will be distributed through special mechanisms as is detailed in the policies for reserved names section below.

Sunrise period – This is the required period for trademark owners to secure their domains before availability to the general public. This phase will feature applications for domain strings, verification of trademarks via Trademark Clearinghouse and a trademark verification agent, auctions between qualified parties who wish to secure the same string, and a Trademark Claims Service.

General Availability period – In this period real-time registrations are made on a first-come first-served basis. Trademark Claims Service will be in use for the first 60 days of the general availability period. The registration of domain names in the “.RIL” gTLD will follow standard practices, procedures and policies, which including;
- Domain registration polices (for example, grace periods, transfer policies, etc.) are defined in response question 27 of the application for gTLD.
- Abuse prevention tools and policies, for example, measures to promote WHOIS accuracy and efforts to reduce Phishing and Pharming, are discussed in detail in our response 28 of the application for gTLD
- Rights protection mechanisms and dispute resolution mechanism policies (for example, UDRP, URS) are detailed in 29 of the application for gTLD

Other detailed policies for this domain include policies for reserved names

Reserved names
There are two categories of reserved names for this TLD: registry reserved names and premium names.

Registry reserved names
For registry reserved names we will reserve the following classes of domain names, which will not be made generally available to registrants either during the Sunrise period or any subsequent period:
- All of the reserved names required in Specification 5 of the new gTLD Registry Agreement
- The geographic names required in Specification 5 of the new gTLD Registry Agreement
- The registry operator’s own name and variations thereof, and registry operations names (such as registry.tld, and www.tld), for internal use
- Names related to ICANN and Internet standards bodies (iana.tld, ietf.tld, w3c.tld, etc.), for delegation of those names to the relevant organizations upon their request
- The list of reserved names will be published publicly before the Sunrise period begins, so that registrars and potential registrants will know which names have been set aside

Premium names

As mentioned above in purpose .RIL will be used for Reliance and its subsidiaries⁄departments. Although the policy for premium names is defined, the same will not be applicable due to the defined TLD purpose.
The registry will also designate a set of premium domain names, set aside for distribution via special mechanisms. The list of premium names will be published publicly before the Sunrise period begins, so that registrars and potential registrants will know that these names are not available. Premium names may be distributed via mechanisms such as requests for proposals, contests, direct sales, and auctions.
For the auctioning of premium names, we intend to contract with an established auction provider that has successfully conducted domain auctions. This will ensure that there is a tested, trustworthy technical platform for the auctions, auditable records, and reliable collection mechanisms. With our chosen auction provider, we will create and post policies and procedures that ensure clear, fair, and ethical auctions. As an example of such a policy, all employees of the registry operator and its contractors will be strictly prohibited from bidding in auctions for domains in the TLD. The auction rules will cover all possible scenarios, such as how domains will be awarded if the winning bidder does not make payment.

Privacy and confidential information protection
As per the New gTLD Registry Agreement, we will make domain contact data (and other fields) freely and publicly available via a Web-based WHOIS server. This default set of fields includes the mandatory publication of registrant data. Our Registry-Registrar Agreement will require that registrants consent to this publication.
We shall notify each of our registrars regarding the purposes for which data, about any identified or identifiable natural person (“Personal Data”) submitted to the Registry Operator by such registrar, is collected and used, and the intended recipients (or categories of recipients) of such Personal Data (the data in question is essentially the registrant and contact data required to be published in the WHOIS). We will require each registrar to obtain the consent of each registrant in the TLD for the collection and use of such Personal Data. The policies will be posted publicly on our TLD web site. As the registry operator, we shall not use or authorize the use of Personal Data in any way that is incompatible with the notice provided to registrars.

Our privacy and data use policies are as follows:
- As registry operator, we do not plan to sell bulk WHOIS data. We will not sell contact data in any way. We will not allow, enable, or otherwise support the transmission by e-mail, telephone, or facsimile of mass unsolicited, commercial advertising or solicitations
- DNS query data will never be sold in a way that is personally identifiable
- We may from time to time use the demographic data collected for statistical analysis, provided that this analysis does not disclose individual Personal Data and provided that such use is compatible with the notice provided to registrars regarding the purpose and procedures for such use

As the registry operator, we shall take significant steps to protect Personal Data collected from registrars from loss, misuse, unauthorized disclosure, alteration, or destruction. In our responses to Question 30 of the application for gTLD (“Security Policy”) and Question 38 of the application for gTLD (“Escrow”) we detail the security policies and procedures we will use to protect the registry system and the data contained therefrom from unauthorized access and loss.

Please see our response to Question 26 of the application for gTLD (“WHOIS”) regarding “searchable WHOIS” and rate-limiting. That section contains details about how we will limit the mining of WHOIS data by spammers and other parties who abuse access to the WHOIS.

In order to acquire and maintain accreditation for our TLD, we will require registrars to adhere to certain information technology policies designed to help protect registrant data. These will include standards for access to the registry system and password management protocols. Our response to Question 30 of the application for gTLD, “Security Policy” provides details of implementation.

We will allow the use of proxy and privacy services, which can protect the personal data of registrants from spammers and other parties that mine zone files and WHOIS data. We are aware that there are parties who may use privacy services to protect their free speech rights, or to avoid religious or political persecution.
gTLDFull Legal NameE-mail suffixDetail
.LLPmyLLP GmbHafilias.infoView
i. General goals
.LLP will be an open TLD, generally available to all registrants (except in the Sunrise period). The domains can be used for any purpose, including for business use, for personal use and by organizations. There are no content or use restrictions for this TLD.

myLLP GmbH will design and position the .LLP TLD to be known as one of the premiere professional resources on the Internet. The company will engage in marketing and branding, as well as outreach and marketing support to registrars to establish this idea in the minds of the public. .LLP will be designed to be user friendly, easy to use, interesting, and professionally relevant.

While the LLP designation is only used in certain countries in the world, there are no location nexus requirements associated with this TLD, because registrants will want to have global reach with their chosen domains.

ii. How .LLP adds to the current space
The current TLD space is becoming saturated with company names. At the end of 2011, there were 95.5 million registered .com domain names and 220 million total registered domain names (Source: http:⁄⁄royal.pingdom.com⁄2012⁄01⁄17⁄internet-2011-in-numbers⁄), affording decreasing ability for a company to establish a meaningful and contextually relevant Internet identity.

The .LLP TLD not only opens up more options for companies seeking to establish an Internet identity, but also allows them an option to create an identity more in line with their existing name. Thus, a company called Company LLP could acquire a web address that reads “www.company.llp,” more closely matching the registered name of the business than current options allow.

iii. User experience goals
One of the primary benefits to registrants of participation in the .LLP TLD is that they can build clear, easily accessible identities that will facilitate potential clientele to be more likely to find the information they are seeking. Limited liability companies will be able to establish Internet identities which are more closely aligned with their existing identities and branding, rather than modifying their name or brand to adapt to the current choices available, making it easier to be searched for and discovered by customers and Internet users. This will help to build confidence and reduce ambiguity for users, since a company’s Internet identity will more closely match its registered name.

iv. Registry policies
.LLP will be an open TLD, generally available to all registrants (except in the Sunrise period).

In general, domains will be offered for periods of one to ten years, but no greater than ten years. Initial registrations made in the Sunrise period may have a minimum number of years required. For example, there may be a policy that all Sunrise names must be registered for an initial term of at least one year.

The roll-out of our TLD is anticipated to feature the following phases:
• Reservation of reserved names and premium names, which will be distributed through special mechanisms (detailed below).
• Sunrise — the required period for trademark owners to secure their domains before availability to the general public. This phase will feature applications for domain strings, verification of trademarks via Trademark Clearinghouse and a trademark verification agent, auctions between qualified parties who wish to secure the same string, and a Trademark Claims Service.
• General Availability period — real-time registrations, made on a first-come first-served basis. Trademark Claims Service will be in use at least for the first 60 days after General Availability applications open.
The registration of domain names in the .LLP TLD will follow the standard practices, procedures and policies Afilias, the back-end provider of registry services, currently has in place. This includes the following:
• Domain registration policies (for example, grace periods, transfer policies, etc.) are defined in response #27.
• Abuse prevention tools and policies, for example, measures to promote WHOIS accuracy and efforts to reduce phishing and pharming, are discussed in detail in our response #28.
• Rights protection mechanisms and dispute resolution mechanism policies (for example, UDRP, URS) are detailed in #29.

Other detailed policies for this domain include policies for reserved names.


Reserved names

There are two categories of reserved names for this TLD: registry reserved and premium names.

Registry reserved names
We will reserve the following classes of domain names, which will not be made generally available to registrants via the Sunrise or subsequent periods:
• All of the reserved names required in Specification 5 of the new gTLD Registry Agreement;
• The geographic names required in Specification 5 of the new gTLD Registry Agreement, and may be released to the extent that Registry Operator reaches agreement with the government and country-code manager;
• The registry operator’s own name and variations thereof, and registry operations names (such as registry.tld, and www.tld), for internal use;
• Names related to ICANN and Internet standards bodies (iana.tld, ietf.tld, w3c.tld, etc.), and may be released to the extent that Registry Operator reaches agreement with ICANN.

The list of reserved names will be published publicly before the Sunrise period begins, so that registrars and potential registrants will know which names have been set aside.

Premium names
The registry will also designate a set of premium domain names, set aside for distribution via special mechanisms. The list of premium names will be published publicly before the Sunrise period begins, so that registrars and potential registrants will know that these names are not available. Premium names may be distributed via mechanisms such as requests for proposals, contests, direct sales, and auctions.

For the auctioning of premium names, we intend to contract with an established auction provider that has successfully conducted domain auctions. This will ensure that there is a tested, trustworthy technical platform for the auctions, auditable records, and reliable collection mechanisms. With our chosen auction provider, we will create and post policies and procedures that ensure clear, fair, and ethical auctions. As an example of such a policy, all employees of the registry operator and its contractors will be strictly prohibited from bidding in auctions for domains in the TLD. We expect a comprehensive and robust set of auction rules to cover possible scenarios, such as how domains will be awarded if the winning bidder does not make payment.

v. Privacy and confidential information protection
As per the New gTLD Registry Agreement, we will make domain contact data (and other fields) freely and publicly available via a Web-based WHOIS server. This default set of fields includes the mandatory publication of registrant data. Our Registry-Registrar Agreement will require that registrants consent to this publication.

We shall notify each of our registrars regarding the purposes for which data about any identified or identifiable natural person (“Personal Data”) submitted to the Registry Operator by such registrar is collected and used, and the intended recipients (or categories of recipients) of such Personal Data (the data in question is essentially the registrant and contact data required to be published in the WHOIS). We will require each registrar to obtain the consent of each registrant in the TLD for the collection and use of such Personal Data. The policies will be posted publicly on our TLD web site. As the registry operator, we shall not use or authorize the use of Personal Data in any way that is incompatible with the notice provided to registrars.

Our privacy and data use policies are as follows:
• As registry operator, we do not plan on selling bulk WHOIS data. We will not sell contact data in any way. We will not allow, enable, or otherwise support the transmission by e-mail, telephone, or facsimile of mass unsolicited, commercial advertising or solicitations.
• We may use registration data in the aggregate for marketing purposes.
• DNS query data will never be sold in a way that is personally identifiable.
• We may from time to time use the demographic data collected for statistical analysis, provided that this analysis will not disclose individual Personal Data and provided that such use is compatible with the notice provided to registrars regarding the purpose and procedures for such use.

As the registry operator we shall take significant steps to protect Personal Data collected from registrars from loss, misuse, unauthorized disclosure, alteration, or destruction. In our responses to Question 30 (“Security Policy”) and Question 38 (“Escrow”) we detail the security policies and procedures we will use to protect the registry system and the data contained therein from unauthorized access and loss.

Please see our response to Question 26 (“WHOIS”) regarding “searchable WHOIS” and rate-limiting. That section contains details about how we will limit the mining of WHOIS data by spammers and other parties who abuse access to the WHOIS.

In order to acquire and maintain accreditation for our TLD, we will require registrars to adhere to certain information technology policies designed to help protect registrant data. These will include standards for access to the registry system and password management protocols. Our response to Question 30, “Security Policy” provides details of implementation.

We will allow the use of proxy and privacy services, which can protect the personal data of registrants from spammers and other parties that mine zone files and WHOIS data. We are aware that there are parties who may use privacy services to protect their free speech rights, or to avoid religious or political persecution.