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

Prototypical answer:

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

THE BENEFITS
The benefits of .LONDON will be tangible and wide reaching and the goal of .LONDON is to provide an innovative, relevant and trusted TLD. .London will add the following to the current space:

CHOICE AND TRUST
.LONDON domains will benefit Londoners and the wider digital community by promoting competition and consumer choice. Individuals, communities, organisations and business will be able to uniquely associate themselves with the city by using domain names for web sites and email addresses ending in .LONDON. Registrants of .LONDON domains will attain a sense of alignment with the city which will inspire trust and community pride.

BRANDING AND PROMOTION FOR LONDON
.LONDON will contribute to London & Partners’ objective to showcase the London brand worldwide and the Mayor of London’s objective to enhance London’s global image and reputation. Businesses and organisations will also generate enhanced promotional and branding opportunities for themselves and the city by using .LONDON domains.

REPUTATION AND PROTECTION
DLD are fully aware that artistic, political, economic and social issues, all of which could be associated with .London domains, may provoke controversy. We recognise and support the free speech rights of both registrants and Internet users and believe that allowing these rights will be important to the success of Dot London. Any effort to prevent free speech would be more harmful to Dot Londonʹs reputation and success than an attempt to govern speech. However, to protect Dot Londonʹs reputation and the benefits it offers registrants and consumers, we will actively promote and enforce our Acceptable Use and Abuse Prevention policies and procedures, which we believe will effectively combat improper or unlawful unprotected speech and online conduct. We believe that these mechanisms will be effective in assuring the good reputation of Dot London domains and protect its registrants, Internet users, as well as the Internet using public in general.

COMPETITION AND DIFFERENTIATION
At present registrants’ opportunities to register relevant domain names are extremely limited due to ‘full’ registries such as .COM and .CO.UK and the high prices charged for the acquisition of meaningful names. The new gLDs will create competition in the marketplace, reduce purchase prices and .LONDON domains will allow differentiation. .LONDON will increase the opportunity for registrants who require a domain name that clearly and effectively associates them with London, as well as for those registrants who want to reach Internet users who identify with or reside in London.

AN EXCELLENT USER EXPERIENCE
The .LONDON registry will provide an excellent user experience. Londoners have welcomed the idea of .LONDON domains and we have concluded that they prefer the local nature of the Internet addresses. .LONDON domains will allow users to identify that the registrant has chosen a second-level domain name in order to associate themselves, their information and services with London. We believe this will be of substantial benefit to Internet users as it will allow them to easily understand the purpose of the registrant’s website or email, allow effective searches for relevant information and make better use of their time online.

PROTECTED THIRD PARTY RIGHTS
The .LONDON registry policies and procedures will protect third-party rights and prevent abusive uses of .LONDON domain names. DLD and Minds + Machines Ltd. intend to achieve this by developing our Naming Policy, Acceptable Use Policy and other policies that will be easy to understand and accessible - and by ensuring the mechanisms for enforcing rights and preventing abuse (such as our complaint resolution service) operate effectively, efficiently, and fairly, as well as by ensuring that the processes work symbiotically with other ICANN-mandated rights protection mechanisms such as the UDRP.

FRAMEWORK TO SUPPORT STATED BENEFITS
DLD and Minds + Machines Ltd. have developed a draft framework for the registration of .LONDON domains that fully supports the goals, mission and purposes described above. Our draft registration framework is based on advice from ICANN, WIPO, applicable laws, and a variety of other expert sources. Specifically, the .LONDON draft framework includes these related sets of agreements setting forth our policies and regulations, all of which registrants must agree to be bound by.

- The Registrar⁄registrant agreement, which registrars contracted with .LONDON must present to registrants is a collateral agreement to the Registrar Registry Agreement (detailed below), and will bind registrants to Dot Londonʹs Acceptable Use Policy (detailed below); Dot Londonʹs Privacy & Whois Policy (detailed below); ICANN-mandated rights protection mechanisms (including the Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy (“UDRP”);
- The Complaint Resolution Service, an alternate dispute resolution process, including recourse to an Ombudsman;
- The Acceptable Use Policy (“AUP”), which details the proper use of domain names that end in .LONDON which is incorporated by reference in the Registrant Agreement that registrants must agree to;
- The Privacy and Whois Policy, which describes how a registrant’s personal data is to be used, which is also incorporated by reference in the Registrant Agreement;
- The Registry-Registrar Agreement, which is the contract between .LONDON Registry and its ICANN-accredited registrars which sets forth, inter alia, the duties and obligations of the registrar with respect to .LONDON registrants and the .LONDON registry; and
- The Naming Policy, which sets out Dot Londonʹs policies governing prohibited, blocked or reserved domain names.

These agreements and policies are designed to ensure transparent and non-discriminatory policies for the registration of Dot London names; fair and competitive pricing; protection of personal data and privacy; adherence by registrars and registrants to the AUP; protection of trademarks, the names of natural and juristic persons and other property rights; prevention of the registration of illegal terms; and the prevention violations of the law. Moreover, our policies promote competition among registrars, combat abuse of the DNS, address cybercrime, protect intellectual property rights, and align .LONDON with applicable regulatory and legislative environments and Internet registry best practices.

These policies will effectively support the key mission, purposes and goals of Dot London and allow registrants to associate themselves with London while at the same time protecting third-party rights and preventing abuse.

In regard to protecting registrant privacy and confidential information, we will comply with the applicable ICANN rules, including Whois policies, and all relevant laws, rules and regulations of appropriate jurisdictions. Registrant privacy and use of confidential information are set forth in our Privacy & Whois Policy. Information concerning updates and changes to the Privacy & Whois Policy will be promptly and prominently displayed on the Dot London website.

Dot Londonʹs back-end registry services provider Minds + Machines Ltd. will be required to employ industry standard procedures to prevent the unauthorised or illegal access of registrant privacy or confidential information.

With respect to users, Dot Londonʹs Registration Agreement will require that all registrants must comply with any and all applicable laws, rules or regulations concerning user privacy and confidential information for applicable jurisdictions and that failure to do so may result in suspension or loss of their Dot London domain name - and may in addition result in legal action by the appropriate authorities.

PROMOTION TO POTENTIAL REGISTRANTS
Promotional activity and outreach that communicates the potential benefits of .LONDON domains to registrants will be vital to Dot Londonʹs success and DLD will cost-effectively and quickly market to the target audiences most likely to engage. DLD intends to leverage existing relationships with groups that are associated with and interested London - as well as third party advertising, promotion, social media engagement and other communications methods.

DLD believes outreach to people and organisations that already identify with London will provide the best opportunity to launch the top-level domain, giving .LONDON long-term viability and the best opportunity to promote the benefits of a positive association with LONDON, while at the same time promoting Dot London.

Communications channels will enable Dot London keep in touch with its registrants, to understand how they would like Dot London to develop and to understand how we can improve our policies, registration rules and other aspects of our operations or administration.

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