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

gTLDFull Legal NameE-mail suffixDetail
.TELECITYTelecityGroup International Limitedhoganlovells.comView
The main goals of the .TELECITY TLD are specialisation, visibility, differentiation, innovation and enhancement of consumer recognition and trust.

Given the intended mission and purpose for the .TELECITY TLD, the volume of second level domain name registrations will not be a pertinent indicator to assess or measure its success. The Applicant will rather focus and strive to achieve a high level of consumer recognition and trust in the .TELECITY TLD.

Operating and overseeing this new dedicated Internet space in a transparent, fair and efficient manner will be a key factor in creating goodwill in the .TELECITY TLD that will match the reputation the Applicant has developed in its brand. As a result Internet users and customers of TELECITY will come to have the same levels of confidence and trust in the .TELECITY TLD.

The creation of a dedicated Internet name space which is indelibly associated with the TELECITY brand assurance of quality, will create a clear benefit to Internet users and to the Applicant and its Affiliates as it will establish certainty and trust as to the source of the content.

18(b)(1): What is the goal of your proposed gTLD in terms of areas of speciality, service levels, or reputation?

(a) Goals in terms of speciality

The creation and operation of the .TELECITY TLD will create specialisation by creating a segment of the Domain Name System solely dedicated to the Applicant and its Affiliates.

Currently there is no Top Level Domain that specifically corresponds to the Applicant and to its businesses, brands, trade marks, services and key customers. Thus no existing Top Level Domain could conceivably deliver the level of specialisation which could potentially be achieved by the .TELECITY TLD.

Based on the significant goodwill and consumer recognition that the Applicant has acquired and developed in the term TELECITY, it is anticipated that the .TELECITY TLD will, by association, clearly and visibly demonstrate the specialised nature of the .TELECITY TLD resulting in consumer recognition and trust. Internet users will know that they are getting genuine information and be able to access content, information and services relating to the Applicant by virtue of the .TELECITY TLD.

Specialisation is a key element for the Applicant and for the proposed creation and operation of the .TELECITY TLD. It is anticipated that this drive for specialisation will in the future become the standard for Internet users, key customers and other third parties. As such the .TELECITY TLD will provide a defined, unique and clear indication to Internet users that the .TELECITY domain name space is one that is dedicated to the Applicant.

Therefore, the .TELECITY TLD will be designed as a single source dedicated segment of the Internet and the Domain Name System where it will be possible to locate and access data in an efficient manner relating to the products and services of the Applicant and its Affiliates with the same level of trust which the Applicantʹs customers place in the Applicantʹs brand, all within a secure environment.

(b) Goals in terms of service levels

The Applicant is fully committed to providing the highest levels of service in the course of the operation of the .TELECITY TLD. Security is one of the cornerstones of the Applicantʹs business and as a result of this the Applicant and its Affiliates have extensive experience in data related and online security issues and would seek to deploy this experience in the .TELECITY TLD.

Given the Applicantʹs commitments in terms of service levels associated with the .TELECITY TLD, the Applicant has entered into contractual agreements for the provision of services by third party service providers who are all leaders in their respective fields of activity. Thus the Applicant is seeking to ensure that both its internal resources and third party service providers have the capacity to achieve the highest levels of service performance in the course of the operation of the .TELECITY TLD.

A key goal of the Applicant in the operation of the .TELECITY TLD will be to provide services in a highly secure environment so as to significantly reduce opportunities for malicious conduct. As the Applicant intends to operate the .TELECITY TLD following the single registrant⁄single user registry model, the Applicant will be able to fully control operation of the .TELECITY TLD and to ensure that services will be provided through the TELECITY TLD in a secured, reliable and trusted manner.

(c) Goals in terms of reputation

The Applicant will use best endeavours to ensure that it operates the .TELECITY TLD in a manner that furthers its excellent reputation in terms of quality of content and service, security and compliance.

Since its formation in 1998, the Applicant has acquired and constantly developed reputation and goodwill in its TELECITY brand and services through continuous and significant investment, use and effort.

Thus, the creation, delegation and operation of the .TELECITY TLD will be consistent with the Applicantʹs continuously increasing use of its TELECITY brand and will allow the Applicant to further promote the Applicant and its Affiliates’ reputation for excellence, technological advancement, innovation and specialisation.

Given the increasing importance of the Internet as part of the Applicantʹs business and services, for instance as a result of the development of cloud computing, creating and operating a dedicated segment of the Internet is of utmost importance to the Applicant, its Affiliates and their credibility and reputation.

As the Applicant intends to operate the .TELECITY TLD following the single registrant⁄single user registry model, the Applicant will be able to fully control and oversee operation of the .TELECITY TLD. As a result, the .TELECITY TLD will by its very nature be associated with trusted and genuine content which will help the Applicant furthering the development of its reputation and consumer recognition in its TELECITY brand. Whilst the very nature of the .TELECITY TLD will help avoiding abuse and infringements, the Applicant is fully committed to address potential abuses and infringements in a timely and efficient manner if and when they occur.

18(b)(2): What do you anticipate your proposed gTLD will add to the current space, in terms of competition, differentiation, or innovation?

(a) Goals in terms of competition

The .TELECITY TLD will contribute to the creation of a more competitive Domain Name System by operating a Top Level Domain dedicated to a particular commercial entity and thus incentivising competitors to position themselves on this new market in order not to lose ground to the Applicant and its Affiliates and to potentially provide new services or content or existing services or content in new ways.

Thus the Applicant will contribute by its .TELECITY TLD initiative to the development of dedicated and specialised segments of the Domain Name Space and the diversification of content and services available on the Internet.

The .TELECITY TLD initiative, the specialisation, innovation and high level of consumer recognition and trust that the Applicant and its Affiliates anticipate to achieve through the .TELECITY TLD will likely trigger a reaction from other economic agents and thus indirectly lead to the creation and availability of new and improved resources, products, services, and contents on the Internet.
Thus, the creation and operation of the .TELECITY TLD will benefit consumers by fostering innovation, competition, diversity of content and availability of specialised choices for consumers.

(b) Goals in terms of differentiation

The .TELECITY TLD will be operated on a single registrant⁄single user registry model and second level domain names will be reserved for exclusive registration by the Applicant for the exclusive use of the Applicant and its Affiliates.

The .TELECITY TLD will, by its very nature, be highly distinctive and differentiated from all other Top Level Domains currently available and likely to be available in the future because it will be comprised of the Applicantʹs renowned and distinctive TELECITY brand.

Thus the .TELECITY TLD will clearly and officially indicate to users the source of the TLD.

The .TELECITY TLD and all second level domain name registrations under it will act as a clear corporate identifier of the source of the dedicated services or contents.

Therefore, differentiation will be achieved in three ways:

• At the Top Level
• At the second level
• Through dedicated content

(c) Goals in terms of innovation

The Applicant and its Affiliates have established a reputation as a leading company in the field of technological innovation and the Applicantʹs purpose in applying for the .TELECITY TLD is to pursue further innovation and technological advancement through a new dedicated platform based on the creation of the .TELECITY TLD.

The .TELECITY TLD will serve as a base for allowing the Applicant and its Affiliates to provide their products and services to each other, their key customers and Internet users in innovative and diverse ways.

The .TELECITY TLD will be a new technological ecosystem for the Applicant and its Affiliates to take their mission of innovation further.

18(b)(3): What goals does your proposed gTLD have in terms of user experience?

Given that the Applicant will operate and oversee the .TELECITY TLD on a single registrant⁄single user registry model, user experience will in this context refer to two types of use:

(a) Exclusive use by the Applicant and its Affiliates

The Applicant will design a platform within the .TELECITY TLD which will allow the Applicant and its Affiliates to use this dedicated segment of the Internet in rationalised and unprecedented ways and allow access, experience, exchange, provision and updating of content and information.

Only the Applicant and its Affiliates will have the possibility to alter content with respect to domain names, to manage domain names and to take other actions necessary for the maintenance of domain names under the .TELECITY TLD.

(b) Passive use by third parties

Whilst the exclusive use of the .TELECITY TLD will be reserved for the Applicant and its Affiliate, other users such as key customers will be able to access content, information and services within the .TELECITY TLD.

The .TELECITY TLD will provide a single, genuine, secure and trusted ecosystem where users worldwide will be able to experience and access content, information and services relating to the Applicant and its Affiliates. The specialisation and visibility of the .TELECITY TLD as the dedicated Top Level Domain of the Applicant and its Affiliates will provide considerable legitimacy and recognition to the .TELECITY TLD and thus be an online landmark for users worldwide.

By virtue of operating its own dedicated TLD registry this will enable the Applicant to ensure a high degree of content quality and integrity which should result in an optimal user experience within the new .TELECITY dedicated segment of the Internet name space.

18(b)(4): Provide a complete description of the Applicant’s intended registration policies in support of the goals listed above.

The Applicant intends to create and operate the .TELECITY TLD as a single registrant⁄single user registry and will reserve domain names under the .TELECITY TLD for exclusive registration by the Applicant to the exclusion of other parties. Thus it will not be possible for individuals or entities who are not the Applicant to register domain names under the .TELECITY TLD.

In addition, the Applicant does not intend to sell, distribute or transfer control or use of any second level domain name registrations in the .TELECITY TLD to any party that is not an Affiliate of the Applicant as defined in the Draft New gTLD Registry Agreement in section 2.9 (c) version 2012-01-11.

As a result, rules and regulations aiming at protecting the public interest in the event of the opening of a TLD to general registration will not be relevant.

Accordingly the intended registration policies in support of the goals set out in the Applicantʹs .TELECITY TLD application will not contain provisions relating to registration by parties that are not the Applicant who will solely and wholly control and maintain registrations under the .TELECITY TLD.

Such policies will be consistent with all applicable ICANN’s Consensus Policies and Temporary Policies and the Applicant is committed to ensure that said policies are strictly complied with.

18(b)(5): Will your proposed gTLD impose any measures for protecting the privacy or confidential information of registrants or users? If so, please describe any such measures.

Given that the Applicant will operate the .TELECITY TLD on a single registrant⁄single user registry model, confidential information relating to the sole registrant (the Applicant) and exclusive users (the Applicant and its Affiliates) will be the responsibility of the Applicant and its Affiliates and will be addressed by existing internal policies implemented within the Applicantʹs organisation.

As Europe’s leading provider of premium carrier-neutral data centres, the Applicant and its Affiliates have extensive experience in data related and online security issues. The Applicant and its Affiliates have stringent policies and procedures in place in relation to access to their data centres, individual customerʹs racks and to security and protection of such data. The Applicant and its Affiliatesʹ policies, procedures and infrastructures help ensuring the protection of their customers business-critical data and that their business is fully compliant with industry regulations for data retention. The Applicantʹs data centres are certified to several international standards including ISO 27001:2005 standard for security management which ensures best practice for security controls to protect information assets. Detail of the Applicantʹs standards accreditation is available at http:⁄⁄www.telecitygroup.com⁄data-centre-industry-standards-accreditations.htm.

In addition, in relation to third party users who will visit the websites associated with domain names under .TELECITY, the Applicant will implement policies and procedures in line with its current policies contained in Telecityʹs website privacy policy available at the following URL http:⁄⁄www.telecitygroup.com⁄privacy-policy.htm. In relation to the information on users who will access content, information and services within the .TELECITY TLD, the Applicant will ensure that the operation of the .TELECITY TLD is at all times consistent with the Applicantʹs privacy policies as well as applicable laws and regulations.

The Applicant will seek to deploy this experience in the .TELECITY TLD with a view to protecting the privacy and confidential information of users.

18(b)(6): Describe whether and in what ways outreach and communications will help to achieve your projected benefits.

It is anticipated that the use made of the .TELECITY TLD will continuously evolve so as to ensure adaptation and innovation mirroring market trends, consumer demand and fostering technological advancement.

As the Applicant identifies new demands, needs, innovative and beneficial types of uses, the Applicant may implement new types of use of the .TELECITY TLD.

Communication on the .TELECITY TLD and the services that it will offer will be crucial and the Applicant and its Affiliates will make extensive use of its in-house capabilities and experience. In addition, the Applicant and its Affiliates will use preferred third party service providers if necessary to ensure efficient and visible communication, promotion and public information on the .TELECITY TLD and on the content, information and services available within this dedicated segment of the Internet.
gTLDFull Legal NameE-mail suffixDetail
.dayCharleston Road Registry Inc.google.comView
18.b. Benefits to Registrants, Internet Users, and Others

18.b.i.1 Specialty

The goal of the proposed gTLD is to create a new Internet environment that provides registrants, Internet users, and the public with the opportunity to associate with a meaningful term. Specialization will arise from this environment through market dynamics as entities align their offerings with the term.

The specialization goal of the proposed gTLD is to offer a new Internet environment that allows users to create and organize events that have or will occur on a particular day. The proposed gTLD will provide a single domain name hierarchy for Internet users globally to promote celebrations, such as a holi.day, wedding.day, or birth.day.

18.b.i.2 Service Levels

Through its association with Google, Charleston Road Registry is uniquely positioned to enable and support the proposed gTLD by providing its service reliability and speed of delivery as a part of its services. Google brings unique expertise and a proven record of excellence in infrastructure operations: Google now runs the largest DNS system in the world, has industry-leading uptime on its services, such as web search, and offers enterprise services on which governments and businesses depend.

Google is known for its high level of quality and speed, and Charleston Road Registry’s service level goal for the proposed gTLD is to extend that high level of quality, speed, and service to registrars. Indeed, two of Google’s core principles in providing Internet search and related goods and services are “focus on the user and all else will follow” and that “fast is better than slow.”

Charleston Road Registry is committed to using the most technologically advanced, secure, and reliable registry services for all of the domain names in the gTLD so as to not compromise the service levels, security, and stability of the gTLD to users worldwide.

Charleston Road Registry will provide both Engineering and Customer Service support to registrars. All registrars will also have the same level of access to Charleston Road Registry resources to resolve disputes and technical and⁄or administrative customer service issues.

Charleston Road Registry will provide all registrars with 24-hours-a-day, 7-days-a-week Customer Support in the form of telephone, email, and⁄or web chat for technical and non-technical issues relating to the operation of the gTLD system. Charleston Road Registry will provide all registrars with the same level of access to customer support via telephone, email, and Charleston Road Registryʹs website; email and web-based interactions will be the primary method of provisioning customer service support to registrars.

Additionally, Charleston Road Registry will implement strict policies and procedures to minimize abusive domain name registrations and uses and other activities that have a negative impact on Internet users. It will dedicate ample resources for the purpose of responding promptly to abuse complaints from government, judicial and⁄or law enforcement.

18.b.i.3 Reputation

Google has a proven record of providing high-quality, secure online services. Charleston Road Registry seeks to enhance Google’s reputation for excellence, superior quality, and high level of security and become known as an exemplary domain name services provider. When registrants assess opportunities in the marketplace to obtain a name, they will have confidence in Charleston Road Registry’s ability to meet ongoing needs as the registry operator for the proposed gTLD. When Internet users visit a domain name in the proposed gTLD environment, they will be able to reliably expect and experience the high level of security and quality on which Google’s reputation has been built.

The registry will be structured so that Charleston Road Registry allows registrars to register and oversee second-level domain names in the proposed gTLD; that registrars develop and deploy a reasonable process for ensuring that those domain names are used for gTLD-relevant purposes as specified in the registry-registrar agreement; and per Specification 4 that the WHOIS is thick and reliable; and that the registry is responsive to legal rights owners (if applicable) who may have complaints about potentially abusive registrations.

In addition, Charleston Road Registry’s operation of the new gTLD will provide the opportunity for registrars and registrants to build and⁄or bolster their unique brands and brand reputation in association with the proposed gTLD.

18.b.ii.1 Competition

Charleston Road Registry supports the advancement of registry operators as a whole and the diffusion of gTLDs amongst diverse stakeholders to generate increased competition for the benefit of the Internet public. Increased competition will result in more competitive prices for consumers, generate efficiencies and increase productivity in enterprises, and spur innovation in the gTLD space.

The proposed gTLD, .day, will provide new web spaces dedicated to planning and organizing events or promoting traditions related to a particular day. As an alternative to existing second-level domains, Charleston Road Registry anticipates that the .day gTLD will increase competition among registrars by increasing consumer choice and creating new opportunities for registrar pricing differentiation. Charleston Road Registry also anticipates the .day gTLD will grow the volume of online events and will encourage the public to provide more content related to special celebrations. Charleston Road Registry further anticipates the .day gTLD may contribute to an increase in online advertising given the specific nature of the domain. Entities will compete to advertise their goods and services that are specific to a particular .day second-level domain.

Managing this Internet space will allow Charleston Road Registry to provide to registrars and registrants the high level of technical operations quality and service for which Google is known, which in turn will incent other existing and new gTLDs to improve the quality of their offerings.

Charleston Road Registry will facilitate a fair and equitable registrar process, providing open access to any registrar who meets ICANN accreditation guidelines by fully complying with the Registry Operator Code of Conduct. Charleston Road Registry is committed to treating all registrars equitably and will not offer preferential treatment to Google in its capacity as registrar.

18.b.ii.2 Differentiation

Charleston Road Registry believes in the commercial viability of alternatives to existing gTLDs such as .com and .net. The proposed gTLD will provide the marketplace with opportunities for differentiation not currently available in the gTLD space.

The .day gTLD will provide a new mechanism whereby businesses and individuals can differentiate their content by signifying that their information is in relation to a special day. This signification is not currently available in the gTLD space.

Given its association with Google, Charleston Road Registry offers a unique value proposition to registrars resulting from the strength of Google’s trusted brand, technical leadership, and support for free speech on the Internet. Registrars will have the opportunity to leverage this brand in devising their own market positions.

18.b.ii.3 Innovation

The proposed gTLD will foster innovation by creating a new space for the categorization and classification of online content. It will therein provide a mechanism by which registrars and registrants can better brand and manage their online presence by associating it with the .day namespace. This namespace delivers value to the public through the provision of new and differentiated content, goods, and services to Internet users.

The proposed gTLD, .day, will promote innovation among registrars by providing for the sale of a second-level domain in a gTLD that will attract a specific segment of registrants. This provides registrars with the opportunity to create and offer tailored new products and services that benefit registrants and⁄or improve user experience in association with the registration of a second-level domain in the .day gTLD. In addition, .day will cater to a global registrant user base and allow innovation in planning, promoting, and organizing events or traditions online. This will encourage second-level domain registrants to provide new features and service innovation, such as birthday reminders, e-cards or event mass emails, as a point of differentiation.

In addition, the proposed gTLD will promote innovation in the marketplace by providing additional second-level domain options for the public’s use. This will invite new entrants to establish a domain name presence, facilitating innovation in their offerings, and their interactions with Internet users.

Charleston Road Registry considers the proposed gTLD to be a platform for innovation with existing and future Google products and services. Charleston Road Registry, therefore, may incorporate these new offerings into future registry service options (subject to the ICANN approval process), infusing new ideas into the gTLD for the betterment of the public.

Google consistently aims to improve upon technologies that connect people with information, as demonstrated by a proven record of innovation and iteration. Charleston Road Registry strives to offer its constituents this same level of continuous development in advancing its management and operation of the gTLD, engendering benefits to registrars, registrants, and end users.

18.b.iii User Experience

Charleston Road Registry will strive to provide the highest level of user experience through operational stability, security, and performance to serve the interest of registrants in the proposed gTLD. Charleston Road Registry is uniquely positioned to provide this level of experience given its relationship with Google; Google invested over $3 billion in its IT infrastructure in 2011 and maintains a record of excellence in infrastructure operations.

The proposed gTLD will provide registrants with the opportunity to differentiate their dedicated domain space such that the end users are able to discern the type of content intended to be found within the proposed gTLD. This will enable increased user visibility of registrants’ offerings, as well as provide registrants with the opportunity to enhance their respective content offerings and innovate in new ways.

The proposed gTLD will provide a more trusted and user-friendly environment where domain names and content related to the .day gTLD can flourish. Charleston Road Registry seeks to have users deem the gTLD trustworthy and reliable and recognize it as an aggregated source of targeted goods, services, and information.

The proposed gTLD, furthermore, facilitates an improved online user experience through greater structure and categorization on the Internet.

18.b.iv Registration Policies

Charleston Road Registry believes that given its wide variety of uses, the .day gTLD will best add value to the gTLD space by remaining purely open and unencumbered by registrant restrictions. There will, therefore, be no restrictions on second-level domain name registrations in the proposed gTLD, .day.

Charleston Road Registry will make access to Registry Services, including the shared registration system, available to all ICANN-accredited registrars. Domain names within the proposed gTLD will be available to the general public for registration and use.

Charleston Road Registry is committed to implementing strong and integrated intellectual property rights protection mechanisms. Doing so is critical to Google’s goals of model Internet citizenship and fostering Internet development, especially in emerging regions. Accordingly, Charleston Road Registry intends to offer a suite of rights protection measures, which builds upon ICANNʹs required policies while fulfilling our commitment to encouraging innovation, competition and choice on the Internet.

18.b.v Protection of Privacy and Confidential Information

Charleston Road Registry will strive to ensure the appropriate level of privacy and security will be met for its users. Charleston Road Registry and its provider of registry services, Google, have imposed measures to achieve this protection; additional specifics regarding the practices for the registry include but are not limited to the following:

- All data transmitted from registrars to the registry will be encrypted using transport layer security (TLS) or other similar data protection schemes to ensure that third parties cannot access personally identifying information or other sensitive data as it crosses the Internet.

- Charleston Road Registry will attempt to prevent the misuse of WHOIS data for improper purposes such as spam, intellectual property theft, or phishing. Charleston Road Registry will attempt to identify patterns of abusive usage of the WHOIS and will appropriately use CAPTCHA, query throttling or other techniques to prevent information scraping.

- Google will restrict access to data and information systems maintained by the registry to a specific list of individuals involved with supporting the Google Registry system in production. Google will review this list on a periodic basis to ensure that the level of access granted to individuals is appropriate. Google uses two-factor authentication and other mechanisms to ensure that staff with access to user information are properly identified prior to using registry systems.

- Google data backups stored offsite are encrypted with passwords that are securely managed on Google’s internal systems. Google can effectively remove the ability to access this data by destroying the relevant encryption password.

- Supplying Google account information will be optional for registrants unless the domain registration is directly associated with another Google product offering. Google will not disclose Google account information except for any contact information provided by the user that is required by ICANN (per Specification 4) to be displayed in response to a WHOIS query.

- Registrar billing and payment information will not be stored alongside domain name registration information. All registrar billing and payment information will be stored in a payment card industry (PCI)-compliant billing system similar to that used by Google Ads.

- Data will not be shared with third parties without the permission of registrants, except as required for registry operations or as required under the law, such as in response to a subpoena, other such court order, or demonstrated official need by law enforcement.

Beyond these specific mechanisms, both Charleston Road Registry and Google will govern its approach to privacy by the Google Privacy Policy. This policy applies to registrars, registrants and end users of registry services such as DNS zone publication and WHOIS data publication. The Privacy Policy is located at http:⁄⁄www.google.com⁄policies⁄privacy⁄.

18.b.vi. Outreach and Communications Efforts

Once Charleston Road Registry begins developing public-facing resources in its gTLD, it intends to inform the public about the gTLD and the opportunity to obtain domain space there through investments in marketing and public relations.

Charleston Road Registry intends to promote gTLDs in its portfolio, such that the public gains an awareness and understanding of new gTLDs and the availability of new second-level domain space on the Internet. Charleston Road Registry believes that this approach will make the strongest impact in modifying consumer behavior and is the best path to achieving success for all new gTLDs collectively.

Charleston Road Registry will reach out to the Internet community via a number of different outreach and communications methods and venues to deliver its mission and message to the public, including but not limited to: press briefings, videos posted on various Internet sites, blogs and other social media, and paid advertising. In addition, when developing resources for localized Internet registrars in different global regions, Charleston Road Registry will use local marketing and communications platforms as needed.