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

Prototypical answer:

gTLDFull Legal NameE-mail suffixDetail
.incGTLD Limitedtld.asiaView

The .inc Registry understands that there may be concerns about the use of the string “inc” as a TLD because the string is often used as a short form for “incorporated”, and is committed to put in place strong measures to mitigate against abusive usage that exploit and⁄or infringe upon the names of registered “incorporations”.

It is also important to understand that beyond the use of the string “inc” as a short form for legally incorporated companies, the string “inc” (leveraging its connotations from such uses) is used in the names of many other works, such as book and movie titles. For example, a quick search on Amazon.com for book titles containing “inc” returned about 10,000 entries, including: Creative Inc, Food Inc, Healing Inc, Villains Inc, Mom Inc, You Inc, etc., and of course the Inc magazine. There are also movie titles that use the word “inc”, such as the popular documentary “Food Inc.” and the Disney and Pixar feature film “Monsters Inc”.

The .inc Registry aspires to be the platform for creative uses of domain names and therefore intends to manage an open registration process. At the same time, the Registry believes in strong measures to protect intellectual property rights and rights of others to create an environment conducive to creativity. Abuse Prevention & Mitigation (#28) measures as well as Rights Protection Mechanisms (#29) are therefore put in place especially to curb abusive and infringing activities.

1. Goals of the TLD

The .inc Registry aims to provide an open platform for creative uses of “.inc” domains, leveraging the ideas and connotations that the string “inc” evokes and integrating it into the creative process for new initiatives looking for a domain name. We believe that the string “inc” is not exclusive to registered “incorporations”, just as “com” is not exclusive to “commerce”. Through the promotion of the utilization of domain names as an expression of identity and ideas, the Registry aspires to promote a renewed mindset to domain names with TLDs that represent style and character beyond categorization or purely technical functions.

With the full support of ARI as the registry back-end services provider, the TLD aims to operate at world class service levels delivering registry services to its registrars, registrants as well as general internet users a high capacity and high availability platform.

The Registry, through the support from its Registry Front-End Services Provider, Namesphere, which is a spin-off of the DotAsia Organisation, sets a noble goal in building itself as a reputable initiative that is economically viable, sensitive to the cultural aspects of the community it serves, and one which participates in the global community as a responsible netizen, upholding a high level of integrity and respecting the rights of others.

2. Differentiation and Innovation

The .inc Registry believes that a name makes a difference and that the core differentiator would be in the creative uses of “.inc” domains.

The .inc Registry also believes in differentiating itself with innovative and effective policy and abuse prevention measures, especially targeted towards the prevention of exploitation of duly registered “incorporations” with the designation “inc”. Further discussions about the Sunrise, Landrush and special reservation processes are discussed in below, as well as in #18c and #29.

The Registry believes in operating a secure and stable platform from which innovations could take root and prosper. As a TLD registry, the Registry will focus its efforts on innovations that improve the security, stability and user experience of Internet users by providing high availability and seamless advancement of technologies. The Registry considers itself successful if users are oblivious of its operations.

3. Improving User Experience

The .inc Registry believes in the improvement of user experience through the promotion of the diverse and flexible use of TLD names for users and registrants to express themselves online. The .inc Registry aspires to be an open canvas supported by a socially responsible and technologically advanced policy and technology platform which provides a best user experience for registrars, registrants and end users.

The substantial security, stability and anti-abuse measures put in place that is above and beyond the basic ICANN requirements help assure a seamless user experience for the TLD. As mentioned above, the Registry considers itself successful if users are oblivious of its operations, and that includes a user experience where the registry systems and processes are not necessarily obtrusively presented to the user.

4. Registration Policies Supporting the Goals to Drive User Benefits

Upon Go Live of the registry, the TLD will be an open registry accepting registrations from individuals and businesses around the world on a first-come-first-served basis. To uphold its reputation as a socially responsible TLD, beyond the basic ICANN requirements, the Registry is committed to put in place a comprehensive Sunrise and Startup process (Q29) as well as effective Abuse Prevention (Q28) and Rights Protection Mechanisms (Q29) to strengthen the orderly and stable introduction of the TLD.

Most importantly, special priority registration and reservation periods along with claims and notification processes will be implemented to mitigate against abusive behaviours, especially the exploitation of names of duly registered legal entities with the “INC.” designation. This includes:

a. special policies to allow registered legal incorporations to register names corresponding to their registered incorporation name during the Sunrise process;

b. special reservation processes during Landrush and initial period into Go Live; and,

c. ongoing claims and notice processes, as well as a special challenge process to be put in place for duly registered “incorporations” to protect their names.

Furthermore, the Registry is committed to developing supportive policies to promote the goals stipulated, including policies to strengthen the rights of registrants while balancing other interests to avoid abuse.

Nevertheless, it is important to understand that only a minority of jurisdictions recognize the designation of “INC.” as a special type of legal entity. Otherwise, the string “inc” is generally understood to have the following different meanings:
- incorporation (business), an abbreviation of Incorporated
- incoming
- include, included, or including
- increment, a short form in computer programming languages, particularly assembler mnemonics
- incīsus (Latin for engraved)
- inclosure

5. Privacy and Confidentiality Protection

As a socially responsible operator, the Registry is dedicated to ensuring that the privacy users and confidentiality of information is protected. The Registry, leveraging the infrastructure supported by its Registry Back-End Services provider, ARI, maintains a highly secure environment physically and technically to ensure that confidential information are not leaked.

The Registry is also committed to developing and implementing policies that complies with privacy laws in the locality it operates out of and can be compatible with privacy laws of registrars and registrants of the registry. The Registry understands that there is no guarantee of compatibility of such laws especially given the global nature of the DNS and of the Internet at large, and is committed to dedicate itself, especially through its partner DotAsia (through Namesphere, as the Registry Front-End Services Provider for the Registry), to participate in the global Internet Governance discourse on the subject.

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gTLDFull Legal NameE-mail suffixzDetail