gTLD	Full Legal Name	E-mail suffix	Detail
.BING	Microsoft Corporation	microsoft.com	View

We expect that customers and users of our Bing search engine services will benefit if the .bing gTLD registry allows us to lay the ground work for a more secure, globally recognized platform to complement our on-going efforts to enhance the security, stability, and reliability of these services. We hope that a .bing gTLD may provide us with the opportunity to deliver more secure, stable and reliable search engine services.

What is the goal of your proposed gTLD in terms of areas of speciality, service levels or reputation?

The goals of the proposed .bing gTLD are to lay the ground work to provide customers and users who interact with Microsoft through the .bing gTLD with an increased sense of security and authenticity, to protect the Bing brand, and to promote Bing search engine services. Because the .bing gTLD is the gTLD counterpart to our famous Bing brand, the importance of maintaining and strengthening this brand dictates that we operate the .bing registry to the highest service levels.

We anticipate that the operation of the .bing gTLD may provide us with the opportunity to use the gTLD as a globally recognized and more secure platform to give customers and users choice and flexibility and an easy-to-use interface through which we can continue to provide our innovative and user-friendly Bing search engine services.

What do you anticipate your proposed gTLD will add to the current space in terms of competition, differentiation or innovation?

Our proposed .bing gTLD will add differentiation to the current space because it has the potential to provide customers and users with an increased sense of security and authenticity, to protect the well-known Bing brand, and to promote Bing search engine services. We anticipate that the opportunity to operate a .bing gTLD will provide an authentic and secure platform through which we can continue our commitment to innovation in search.

What is the goal of your proposed gTLD in terms of areas of user experience?

The goals of the .bing gTLD are to provide users who interact with Microsoft through the .bing gTLD with an increased sense of security and authenticity for their search needs, to protect the Bing brand, and to promote Bing search engine services.

Provide a complete description of the applicants intended registration policies in support of the goals above

The Microsoft Domain Name Management team is responsible for the development, maintenance and enforcement of the .bing Domain Management Policy (bDMP). The bDMP defines the rules for eligibility and domain name allocation, sets out the terms governing the use of a .bing domain name, and describes the dispute resolution policies for the .bing TLD. We intend to update and revise the bDMP as appropriate to reflect Microsoft’s commercial and strategic interests as well as ICANN Consensus Policy and Temporary Policy developments. We summarize below the bDMP.

Registration of a .bing domain name is a four-step process: Eligibility Confirmation, Naming Convention Check, Acceptable Use Review, and Registration.

Registration of a .bing domain name will be restricted to Microsoft Corporation and its wholly owned subsidiaries.

All domains in the .bing registry will be registered to Microsoft Corporation or one of its wholly owned subsidiaries.

Checks will be performed to ensure that each applied-for domain name satisfies the .bing Naming Conventions. Each .bing domain name must:

• not be a prohibited label such as “example”;

• be at least 3 characters and no more than 63 characters long;

• not contain a hyphen on the 3rd and 4th position (tagged domains);

• contain only letters (a-z), numbers (0-9) and hyphens or a combination of these;

• start and end with an alphanumeric character, not a hyphen;

• not match any character strings reserved by ICANN; and

• not match any protected country or territory name identified in the internationally recognized lists set forth in Specification 5 to the New gTLD Agreement, unless Microsoft reaches agreement regarding release of such names with the applicable government or pursuant to a proposal reviewed by the ICANN Governmental Advisory Committee and approved by ICANN.

The .bing registry may support Internationalized domain names (IDN) at the second level.

.bing domain names must be used solely for purposes that, in Microsoft’s sole discretion and judgment, enhance its strategic or commercial interests .bing domains shall not be used to knowingly infringe, violate, or misappropriate the intellectual property rights of any third party.

Registrants may not assign any rights in .bing domains to any third party.

Microsoft will require that the WHOIS data for all .bing domains is accurate and complete.

Will your proposed gTLD impose any measures for protecting the privacy of confidential information of registrants or users?

Microsoft is committed to protecting the privacy of employee and customer data.

The .bing registry will be operated by the Microsoft Corporation, a corporation organized under the laws of the State of Washington; data will be processed in accordance with applicable data protection requirements. We intend to comply with the Personal Data obligations set forth in Section 2.10 of the Registry Agreement.

Describe whether and in what ways outreach and communications will help to achieve your projected benefits?

We anticipate engaging in the types and scope of outreach and communications appropriate to the operation of a .brand registry in which the brand owner and its wholly owned subsidiaries are the registrants of all second-level domain names.

gTLD	Full Legal Name	E-mail suffix	Detail
.MICROSOFT	Microsoft Corporation	microsoft.com	View

At Microsoft, we are motivated and inspired every day by how our customers use our software, services, and hardware to find creative solutions to business problems, to develop breakthrough ideas, and to stay connected to whatʹs most important to them.

Based on the information provided by ICANN, we expect that our customers will benefit if our new gTLD helps us to deliver a more secure, private computing experience.

i. What is the goal of your proposed gTLD in terms of areas of speciality, service levels or reputation?

The goal of the proposed .microsoft gTLD is to promote Microsoft’s products, services and brand. Because the .microsoft gTLD is the gTLD counterpart to our world-famous Microsoft brand, the importance of maintaining and strengthening this brand dictates that we operate the .microsoft registry to the highest service levels.

ii. What do you anticipate your proposed gTLD will add to the current space in terms of competition, differentiation or innovation?

Our proposed .microsoft gTLD will add differentiation to the current space because there is no .brand registry operated by the brand owner – let alone a .brand registry for a brand as widely known as the MICROSOFT brand, with connections to billions of customers, millions of developers, and hundreds of thousands of partners.

iii. What goals does your proposed gTLD have in terms of user experience?

We believe that the most engaging digital experiences will grow out of the combination of four things: smart devices, cloud-based services, natural forms of interaction between people and technology, and peopleʹs imaginations.

The opportunity to operate a new gTLD that exactly matches our primary brand – one of the most globally recognized brands in the world -- may help us to assist our customers in interacting securely across devices and services.

iv. Provide a complete description of the applicants intended registration policies in support of the goals above

The Microsoft Domain Name Management team is responsible for the development, maintenance and enforcement of the .microsoft Domain Management Policy (Msft DMP). The Msft DMP defines the rules for eligibility and domain name allocation, sets out the terms governing the use of a .microsoft domain name, and describes the dispute resolution policies for the .microsoft TLD. We intend to update and revise the Msft DMP as appropriate to reflect Microsoft’s commercial and strategic interests as well as ICANN Consensus Policy and Temporary Policy developments. We summarize below the Msft DMP.

Registration of a .microsoft domain name is a four-step process: Eligibility Confirmation, Naming Convention Check, Acceptable Use Review, and Registration.

Registration of a .microsoft domain name will be restricted to Microsoft Corporation and its wholly owned subsidiaries.

All domains in the .microsoft registry will be registered to Microsoft Corporation or one of its wholly owned subsidiaries.

Checks will be performed to ensure that each applied-for domain name satisfies the .microsoft Naming Conventions. Each .microsoft domain name must:
• not be a prohibited label such as “example”
• be at least 3 characters and no more than 63 characters long;
• not contain a hyphen on the 3rd and 4th position (tagged domains);
• contain only letters (a-z), numbers (0-9) and hyphens or a combination of these;
• start and end with an alphanumeric character, not a hyphen;
• not match any character strings reserved by ICANN; and
• not match any protected country or territory name identified in the internationally recognized lists set forth in Specification 5 to the New gTLD Agreement, unless Microsoft reaches agreement regarding release of such names with the applicable government or pursuant to a proposal reviewed by the ICANN Governmental Advisory Committee and approved by ICANN.

The .microsoft registry may support Internationalized domain names (IDN) at the second level.

.microsoft domain names must be used solely for purposes that, in Microsoft’s sole discretion and judgment, enhance its strategic or commercial interests. .microsoft domains may not be used to knowingly infringe, violate, or misappropriate the intellectual property rights of any third party.

Registrants may not assign any rights in .microsoft domains to any third party.

Microsoft will require that the WHOIS data for all .microsoft domains is accurate and complete.

v. Will your proposed gTLD impose any measures for protecting the privacy of confidential information of registrants or users?

Microsoft is committed to protecting the privacy of employee and customer data.

The .microsoft registry will be operated by the Microsoft Corporation, a corporation organized under the laws of the State of Washington; data will be processed in accordance with applicable data protection requirements. We intend to comply with the Personal Data obligations set forth in Section 2.10 of the Registry Agreement.

vi. Describe whether and in what ways outreach and communications will help to achieve your projected benefits?

We anticipate engaging in the types and scope of outreach and communications appropriate to the operation of a .brand registry in which the brand owner and its wholly owned subsidiaries are the registrants of all second-level domain names.