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18(a) Describe the mission/purpose of your proposed gTLD

gTLDFull Legal NameE-mail suffixDetail
.rocksRuby Moon, LLCdonuts.coView
Q18A CHAR: 7985

ABOUT DONUTS
Donuts Inc. is the parent applicant for this and multiple other TLDs. The company intends to increase competition and consumer choice at the top level. It will operate these carefully selected TLDs safely and securely in a shared resources business model. To achieve its objectives, Donuts has recruited seasoned executive management with proven track records of excellence in the industry. In addition to this business and operational experience, the Donuts team also has contributed broadly to industry policymaking and regulation, successfully launched TLDs, built industry-leading companies from the ground up, and brought innovation, value and choice to the domain name marketplace.

DONUTS’ PLACE WITHIN ICANN’S MISSION
ICANN and the new TLD program share the following purposes:
1. to make sure that the Internet remains as safe, stable and secure as possible, while
2. helping to ensure there is a vibrant competitive marketplace to efficiently bring the benefits of the namespace to registrants and users alike.

ICANN harnesses the power of private enterprise to bring forth these public benefits. While pursuing its interests, Donuts helps ICANN accomplish its objectives by:

1. Significantly widening competition and choice in Internet identities with hundreds of new top-level domain choices;
2. Providing innovative, robust, and easy-to-use new services, names and tools for users, registrants, registrars, and registries while at the same time safeguarding the rights of others;
3. Designing, launching, and securely operating carefully selected TLDs in multiple languages and character sets; and
4. Providing a financially robust corporate umbrella under which its new TLDs will be protected and can thrive.

ABOUT DONUTS’ RESOURCES
Donuts’ financial resources are extensive. The company has raised more than US$100 million from a number of capital sources including multiple multi-billion dollar venture capital and private equity funds, a top-tier bank, and other well-capitalized investors. Should circumstances warrant, Donuts is prepared to raise additional funding from current or new investors. Donuts also has in place pre-funded, Continued Operations Instruments to protect future registrants. These resource commitments mean Donuts has the capability and intent to launch, expand and operate its TLDs in a secure manner, and to properly protect Internet users and rights-holders from potential abuse.

Donuts firmly believes a capable and skilled organization will operate multiple TLDs and benefit Internet users by:

1. Providing the operational and financial stability necessary for TLDs of all sizes, but particularly for those with smaller volume (which are more likely to succeed within a shared resources and shared services model);
2. Competing more powerfully against incumbent gTLDs; and
3. More thoroughly and uniformly executing consumer and rights holder protections.

THIS TLD
This TLD is attractive and useful to end-users as it better facilitates search, self-expression, information sharing and the provision of legitimate goods and services. Along with the other TLDs in the Donuts family, this TLD will provide Internet users with opportunities for online identities and expression that do not currently exist. In doing so, the TLD will introduce significant consumer choice and competition to the Internet namespace – the very purpose of ICANN’s new TLD program.

This TLD is a generic term and its second level names will be attractive to a variety of Internet users. Making this TLD available to a broad audience of registrants is consistent with the competition goals of the New TLD expansion program, and consistent with ICANN’s objective of maximizing Internet participation. Donuts believes in an open Internet and, accordingly, we will encourage inclusiveness in the registration policies for this TLD. In order to avoid harm to legitimate registrants, Donuts will not artificially deny access, on the basis of identity alone (without legal cause), to a TLD that represents a generic form of activity and expression.

DONUTS’ APPROACH TO PROTECTIONS
No entity, or group of entities, has exclusive rights to own or register second level names in this TLD. There are superior ways to minimize the potential abuse of second level names, and in this application Donuts will describe and commit to an extensive array of protections against abuse, including protections against the abuse of trademark rights.

We recognize some applicants seek to address harms by constraining access to the registration of second level names. However, we believe attempts to limit abuse by limiting registrant eligibility is unnecessarily restrictive and harms users by denying access to many legitimate registrants. Restrictions on second level domain eligibility would prevent law-abiding individuals and organizations from participating in a space to which they are legitimately connected, and would inhibit the sort of positive innovation we intend to see in this TLD. As detailed throughout this application, we have struck the correct balance between consumer and business safety, and open access to second level names.

By applying our array of protection mechanisms, Donuts will make this TLD a place for Internet users that is far safer than existing TLDs. Donuts will strive to operate this TLD with fewer incidences of fraud and abuse than occur in incumbent TLDs. In addition, Donuts commits to work toward a downward trend in such incidents.

OUR PROTECTIONS
Donuts has consulted with and evaluated the ideas of international law enforcement, consumer privacy advocacy organizations, intellectual property interests and other Internet industry groups to create a set of protections that far exceed those in existing TLDs, and bring to the Internet namespace nearly two dozen new rights and protection mechanisms to raise user safety and protection to a new level.

These include eight, innovative and forceful mechanisms and resources that far exceed the already powerful protections in the applicant guidebook. These are:

1. Periodic audit of WhoIs data for accuracy;
2. Remediation of inaccurate Whois data, including takedown, if warranted;
3. A new Domain Protected Marks List (DPML) product for trademark protection;
4. A new Claims Plus product for trademark protection;
5. Terms of use that prohibit illegal or abusive activity;
6. Limitations on domain proxy and privacy service;
7. Published policies and procedures that define abusive activity; and
8. Proper resourcing for all of the functions above.

They also include fourteen new measures that were developed specifically by ICANN for the new TLD process. These are:

1. Controls to ensure proper access to domain management functions;
2. 24⁄7⁄365 abuse point of contact at registry;
3. Procedures for handling complaints of illegal or abusive activity, including remediation and takedown processes;
4. Thick WhoIs;
5. Use of the Trademark Clearinghouse;
6. A Sunrise process;
7. A Trademark Claims process;
8. Adherence to the Uniform Rapid Suspension system;
9. Adherence to the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy;
10. Adherence to the Post Delegation Dispute Resolution Policy;
11. Detailed security policies and procedures;
12. Strong security controls for access, threat analysis and audit;
13. Implementation DNSSEC; and
14. Measures for the prevention of orphan glue records.

DONUTS’ INTENTION FOR THIS TLD
As a senior government authority has recently said, “a successful applicant is entrusted with operating a critical piece of global Internet infrastructure.” Donuts’ plan and intent is for this TLD to serve the international community by bringing new users online through opportunities for economic growth, increased productivity, the exchange of ideas and information and greater self-expression.
gTLDFull Legal NameE-mail suffixDetail
.kfhKuwait Finance Housecentralnic.comView
Kuwait Finance House (“KFH” or “Applicant”) has chosen to apply for the TLD to promote awareness of KFH’s services and products and facilitate the digital growth and physical expansion of KFH. The TLD will control and protect KFH and its Trademarks by providing an official digital hub for consumers worldwide as well as fostering consumer trust by creating a secure and technically stable zone. KFH is confident that the TLD will allow the company not only to achieve its own goals of expansion, risk reduction, improved performance and efficiency, and technological development, but also contribute to ICANNʹs commitment to innovation, consumer protection, security, and stability across new markets.
Headquartered in Kuwait City, Kuwait, KFH provides Islamic Finance or Shari’a compliant services covering banking, real estate, trade finance, investment portfolios, and corporate, commercial, and retail financial markets. KFH was the first Islamic bank established in the State of Kuwait and is today one of the foremost Islamic financial institutions in the world. From its inception in 1977, KFH has grown into a robust banking and financial institution that is a market leader not only in the Islamic banking industry but also in the banking sector as a whole (both in terms of profitability and total assets). KFH has strong affiliations with leading international institutions and in the past has successfully launched a number of products in alliance with other major global banks such as Citi, Deutsche Bank, JP Morgan, Chase, BNP Paribas, ABN Amro, and HSBC.
Although KFH’s core market remains Kuwait (where it holds a 30% retail market share and the largest customer and retail base of any bank in Kuwait), the bank also cultivates a strong and growing international presence. KFH has established fully owned, independently functioning banks in Turkey (1989), Bahrain (2002), and Malaysia (2005, extended into Australia in 2008) while establishing significant stakes in other Islamic banks regionally and worldwide. As at December 2011, KFH also held subsidiaries in the Cayman Islands, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia. KFH actively seeks to expand its customer base both in Kuwait and internationally, quantitatively and qualitatively, by increasing the number of branches, developing communications channels with customers, developing innovative new products to meet evolving requirements, and continuously improving customer service to achieve the highest standards of quality and efficiency (as benchmarked against international standards). In its constant pursuit of excellence and bringing quality, secure banking products to new markets, KFH’s expansion program directly mirrors ICANN’s commitment to the extension of choice and the promotion of secure and stable technology across new and emerging markets.
KFH is a multi-award winning organization, and it has received recognition and accolades from industry organizations and counterparts in every field – from Banking to Real Estate and Technology. In 2010, KFH won Global Finance’s award for Best Islamic Finance Bank in the GCC and was selected among the same organization’s Safest Banks in the Middle East. It is rated A+ by Fitch and Capital Intelligence, Aa3 by Moody’s, and A- by Standard and Poor’s. Its excellent ratings reflect the bank’s high degree of flexibility and resistance to market shocks. But perhaps the best gauge of the bank’s success and reliability is the trust consumers have placed in it: KFH ranks first in the banking deposit segment in Kuwait.
KFH was rated Best Consumer Internet Bank in Kuwait by Global Finance in 2010. The bank has an active internet presence, with the most-followed Twitter account (@KFHGroup) of any bank in the region (allowing for real-time customer feedback and service) as well as a Facebook page (www.facebook.com⁄KuwaitFinanceHouse). Most significantly, however, KFH’s website allows for the execution of 140 different banking services; KFH Online was the top rated application among customer testimonies. Throughout the past few years, KFH has targeted the best solutions and banking applications, matching the best international practices and standards in order to upgrade business efficiency and achieve the highest standards of quality. The establishment of quality control measures and increasing the capacity of equipment, systems, and network throughout KFH’s digital infrastructure further ensure KFH has the resources necessary to match the service requirements of the future. The decision to launch the TLD thus falls squarely within KFH’s digital strategy by providing access to unprecedented levels of technical security and innovation.
In addition to its commitment to stability, security, and its consumers, KFH takes its mission of corporate social responsibility very seriously. The bank supports various initiatives in the fields of education, healthcare, youth empowerment and development, special needs assistance, and caring for needy families. In 2011, KFH donated significant funds toward the elimination of famine and the provision of drought relief in the Horn of Africa as well as contributed to local efforts to combat diabetes.
The TLD will provide a digital home for information about all the previously-mentioned services as well as facilitate the future expansion of KFH’s web and market presence while simultaneously contributing to the bank’s technical improvement and innovation. As KFH actively expands into new markets and service categories, the TLD will serve as a platform for innovation as well as technical security and stability. It will provide a digital hub for all entities and subsidiaries within the KFH aegis and will provide a badge of authenticity, stability, and security designed specifically to protect KFH’s customers and infrastructure.
The term “KFH” is associated with a vast array of products and services related to Kuwait Finance House. As a result, millions of internet users and consumers associate the term “KFH” with Kuwait Finance House, and this number is only projected to increase with the forecast expansion of KFH. KFH holds Trademarks for the brand, ensuring not only the protection of the brand but also its public recognition. KFH will retain domains for internal use, educating consumers about KFH’s diverse service offerings as the bank expands internationally and within Kuwait. The expansion of KFH itself will simultaneously extend the outreach of the TLD – ensuring not only the promotion of KFH but also the effective organization of its domain name structure and the technical security and stability of its internet presence. The TLD will allow KFH to continue innovating and bringing new products to an emerging consumer base without compromise – thereby exceeding customer expectations and reaching new horizons.