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

Prototypical answer:

i. A high-carat environment: At the moment the internet is flooded with misleading information and in some cases doubtful commercial propositions around GOLD. A recent McKinsey study has found that 83% of web content on gold jewellery is SPAM, which makes it difficult for consumers to find relevant, truthful information. One of key activities of the World Gold Council Group is to produce or commission global research into gold and the World Gold Council Group is committed to developing a ‘high-carat’ environment for GOLD that disseminates this information and reflects gold’s value and standing in society. This will protect consumers and the reputation of GOLD.




ii. Recognition for partners and stakeholders:
The Wold Gold Council Group has active partnerships with and focuses on supporting early stage companies developing new gold based technologies, sometimes with direct capital investment. At present, they are supporting a number of research projects within academia, small start-up companies and large multi-national corporations, gold’s use in solar nanotechnology and an online gold exchange platform. These partners as well as other stakeholders will benefit from the availability of .GOLD domains, as .GOLD will bring a high degree of recognition and specialization to the currently existing name space. Where in most cases the specific connotation that has been initially given to the gTLDs (or even ccTLDs) has disappeared, the .GOLD top-level domain will be unambiguous as regards the identity of the Registry Operator, the source of the content and services offered under the .GOLD and⁄or the affiliation between the Registry Operator and the TLD;


iii. The authority on Gold across diverse audiences:
The World Gold Council Group engages regularly with national governments and legislators, as well as supranational bodies including the World Bank, OECD and the European Commission, Council and Parliament. They actively participate in key industry related initiatives, for example being a founding member of the U.S. Agency for International Developmentʹs Public-Private Alliance for Responsible Minerals Trade, as well as currently preparing a gold specific supplement for the OECD’s Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Supply Chains of Minerals from Conflict Affected and High-Risk Areas.

Working with Member companies the World Gold Council Group has developed a Conflict-Free Gold Standard and believes that this initiative represents a major advance towards eradicating gold that fuels conflict. The objective of the Standard is to create absolute trust that the gold produced under its guidelines neither fuels armed conflict, nor funds armed groups, nor contributes to human rights abuses associated with these conflicts. The Standard is designed to apply globally, for World Gold Council members and other companies involved in the extraction of gold.

The World Gold Council’s Director for Responsible Gold has recently been invited by the new Chair of the Kimberly Process (Ambassador Milovanic of the USA) to address the Kimberly Process Review Committee on our work related to the issue of “conflict definition and assessment”. This is the inter-government committee that oversees the Kimberly process.


A prominent internet presence on .GOLD will help to inform the wider community about such initiatives and allow them to become better educated consumers.

iv. Registration of domain names: The Applicant intends to implement the following policies and procedures with respect to the registration of domain names in the .GOLD top-level domain to include but not limited to:
1. Reservation of domain names in the name of the Applicant. These names include:

a) descriptive names, referring to the actual day-to-day business activities of the Applicant, the World Gold Council Group and⁄or its subsidiaries;
b) descriptive names, referring to the internal departments of the Applicant and the World Gold Council Group;
c) descriptive names, referring to the subsidiaries of the Applicant and the World Council Group;
d) product and service brands promoted by the Applicant, the World Gold Council lGroup and⁄or its subsidiaries now and in the future;
e) Brand names, referring to partners of the Applicant and⁄or the World Gold Council Group (as a seal of approval for partnerships)
f) descriptive words typically associated with the characteristics of GOLD.
The Applicant has already identified ~450 such domain names.

2. Launch of the TLD:

a) Sunrise: allow physical persons, organizations and entities that meet the eligibility requirements in force at that point in time to choose the domain names that are identical to their trademarks;
b) General availability: other available domain names may be registered by physical persons, organizations and entities that meet the eligibility requirements in force at that point in time to choose the domain names in accordance with the applicable terms and conditions.
c) Depending on the terms and conditions in force at the time of launch of the TLD, these domain names may or may not be registered in the name of the applicant for the domain name or in the name of the Applicant for the TLD (GOLD). In any case, the Applicant reserves the right to impose additional and other restrictions from time to time at its sole discretion;

v. Given the fact that the Applicant is a company that is established in the United Kingdom, it is subject to both national and European privacy and data protection rules and practices, to which the Applicant will comply.
Due to the international nature of the Applicant’s business it has different ways in order to make existing and future partners, visitors, communities and stakeholders aware of the .GOLD TLD, including but not limited to:
1. Digital campaigns such as Search marketing, Online advertising and Social Media;
2. having Internet traffic to its key domain names resolving into domain names registered in the .GOLD TLD;
3. CRM and email marketing campaigns; etc.

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