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18(c) What operating rules will you adopt to eliminate or minimize social costs?

gTLDFull Legal NameE-mail suffixDetail
.artDadotart, Inc.deviantart.comView
18.3.1 What operating rules will you adopt to eliminate or minimize social costs (e.g., time or financial resource costs, as well as various types of consumer vulnerabilities)?

Dadotart believes the proposed operating rules that undertake to initially reserve key names including trademarks, as well as its proposed policies on eligibility, name selection and name use will provide clarity and predictability to name registration, thereby reducing social costs. In full operation the .ART gTLD will provide a trusted online environment for the arts community. There should be no need for other trademark and brand owners to defensively register in the gTLD. This verified eco-system also provides consumers with a single trusted source for arts information and communication. Dadotart also believes that the safeguards set forth in the Applicant Guidebook and the proposed business modeled outlined in Sections 18.1 and 18.1.2 and the policies planned and noted in 18.2.4 will minimize and potential negative social costs.


18.3.2 What other steps will you take to minimize negative consequences⁄costs imposed upon consumers?
Dadotart believes that the proposed operation of the .ART gTLD as set forth in this application has no known negative consequences or cost implications for consumers. To the contrary, the proposed operation of this registry will likely lead to direct and quantifiable benefits to consumers. Dadotart believes that by following the core values as identified in Section 18.2 it will be able provide real value to the consumer and minimize any potential negative consequences⁄costs.

More particularly, the three phases of PAB creation, pre-launch, and launch and ongoing registration of the .ART gTLD are designed to minimize social costs and negative externalities. They protect potential registrants and potentially affected parties while maximizing the value of the name space to its registrants and users.

This approach is based on the premise that extensive screening efforts by the registry in the early stages will create a fair and orderly name space with lower compliance costs in the long term.

18.3.3 How will multiple applications for a particular domain name be resolved, for example, by auction or on a first-come⁄first-serve basis?
In phases and areas where the first-come-first-served principle tends to yield perverse results, alternative modes will be used.

(1) In the PAB creation phase community research will identify names to be entered into reserved lists and the rules by which they will be allocated;
(2) In the pre-launch phase key portal names of use to the entire community will be registered and used for communication and outreach; and
(3) A launch phase led by protection for and registration by trademark holders and those eligible to hold names on reserved lists.


It is anticipated that the pre-launch portal development program identified in (2) above will involve key participants in the Art Community. The portal development program will allocate domain names based on an open and transparent project selection process. This process is highly economical in terms of social costs and yields substantial external benefits.

The portal development program is an essential part of .ART outreach. It begins before delegation of the TLD. In terms of workload and it mainly affects proposers who themselves are required to demonstrate support for their projects. Support will be required to come from the segment of the community concerned with the respective portion of the name space. Given the high value of the resulting on-line resources for the community and the public interest, and given the economic benefits that can be derived from their operation, the administrative effort is largely justified. To further protect affected parties, all adjudications in name space mandates have a safety-valve clause, allowing for later adjustments based on community input. The principle of the safety-valve is that affected parties can obtain adjustments to a component of a mandate if they propose (and commit to) an improved use of the underlying domain names from a public interest perspective.

The launch programs referred to in (3) above combine the so-called “sunrise” and “landrush” processes simultaneously in one phase. The use of domain applications instead of domain registrations means that the registry accepts multiple applications the same domain name. (By contrast, only a single registration can exist for a given domain.) In this way, contention resolution can take place without time pressure in a transparent, fair and orderly manner.


At the time of ongoing registration the first-come rule will be followed. Registrations will be checked in a post-validation process and subject to an enforcement program based on statistically targeted random investigation and complaint follow-up. This program minimizes both costs to registrants and third parties. In particular, it strongly diminishes the attractiveness of rights violations, abuse or malignant behavior. Having been preceded by a controlled launch phase, the validation and enforcement workload faces no resource bottleneck and thus achieves a high degree of credibility, further dissuading abuse from the start. This mode of operation has a strong positive side effect in the interest of trademark holders.


18.3.3 How will multiple applications for a particular domain name be resolved, for example, by auction or on a first-come⁄first-serve basis?
As described below, during pre-launch and launch phase, the first-come-first-served principle is NOT applied. Adjudication by auction is one of the solutions available to the parties in the context of the contention resolution process. In the phase of ongoing registrations the first-come⁄first-served basis of name allocation will be followed, unless the name is one that is on a reserved list, in which case the allocation rules applicable to that list will be followed.

In phases and areas where the first-come-first-served principle tends to yield perverse results, alternative modes will be used.

(1) In the PAB creation phase community research will identify names to be entered into reserved lists and the rules by which they will be allocated;
(2) In the pre-launch phase key portal names of use to the entire community will be registered and used for communication and outreach; and
A launch phase led by protection for and registration by trademark holders and those eligible to hold names on reserved lists.

It is anticipated that the pre-launch portal development program identified in (2) above will involve builders and users in the Art community. The portal development program will allocate domain names based on an open and transparent project selection process. This process is highly economical in terms of social costs and yields substantial external benefits.

The portal development program is an essential part of .Art outreach. It begins before delegation of the TLD. In terms of workload, it mainly affects proposers who themselves are required to demonstrate support for their projects. Support will be required to come from the segment of the community concerned with the respective portion of the name space. Given the high value of the resulting on-line resources for the community and the public interest, and given the economic benefits that can be derived from their operation, the administrative effort is largely justified. To further protect affected parties, all adjudications in name space mandates have a safety-valve clause, allowing for later adjustments based on community input. The principle of the safety-valve is that affected parties can obtain adjustments to a component of a mandate if they propose (and commit to) an improved use of the underlying domain names from a public interest perspective.

The launch programs referred to in (3) above combine the so-called “sunrise” and “landrush” processes simultaneously in one phase. The use of domain applications instead of domain registrations means that the registry accepts multiple applications the same domain name. (By contrast, only a single registration can exist for a given domain.) In this way, contention resolution can take place without time pressure in a transparent, fair and orderly manner.

At the time of ongoing registration the first-com rule will be followed. Registrations will be checked in a post-validation process and subject to an enforcement program based on statistically targeted random investigation and complaint follow-up. This program minimizes both costs to registrants and third parties. In particular, it strongly diminishes the attractiveness of rights violations, abuse or malignant behaviour. Having been preceded by a controlled launch phase, the validation and enforcement workload faces no resource bottleneck and thus achieves a high degree of credibility, further dissuading abuse from the start. This mode of operation has a strong positive side effect in the interest of trademark holders.

18.3.4 Explain any cost benefits for registrants you intend to implement (e.g., advantageous pricing, introductory discounts, bulk registration discounts).
The focus of the .ART gTLD is a competitive cost to registrants and stakeholders that takes into account the limited community nature of the gTLD. This takes into account all burdens, including the effort needed to register or the potential alternative cost to obtain a name on the secondary market. The direct per-unit cost is merely a component of the bottom-line cost.

The cost is greatly reduced by avoiding contention between legitimate community-based applicants and speculators. Community-specific promotion code programs will be used from time to time to offer registrations at low cost. This is a way to avoid perverse effects of low prices, such as speculation with ultimately high costs to registrants, large-scale confusion and waste of the name space, or cybersquatting.

The portal development program will have special terms in order ensure that key portions of name space are used in the public interest.

18.3.5 Note that the Registry Agreement requires that registrars be offered the option to obtain initial domain name registrations for periods of one to ten years at the discretion of the registrar, but no greater than ten years. Additionally, the Registry Agreement requires advance written notice of price increases. Do you intend to make contractual commitments to registrants regarding the magnitude of price escalation? If so, please describe your plans.

The .ART TLD will not be based on or otherwise involve contractual clauses regarding price escalation between the .ART Registry and its registrars.

The .ART business plan is designed to avoid any future necessity to increase registry price in real terms. The fundamental principle is prudence: starting from conservative price levels that allow self-sustainability at the registration levels projected and gradually lowering prices as registration volumes increase beyond the minimum necessary for self-sustained operation. This method ensures sufficient financial reserves, favors optimal allocation of domain names, helps prevent misuse and supports an orderly registration process.

gTLDFull Legal NameE-mail suffixDetail
.网络Computer Network Information Center of Chinese Academy of Sciences (China Internet Network Information Center)cnnic.cnView
18 c Operating Rules to Eliminate or Minimize Social Costs

18.c.1 Definition and Category of Social Costs

It is predicted that most of ʺ.网络ʺ domain names will be used within the Chinese language community, where a majority of the registrants is expected as emerging small and medium-sized organizations in developing countries. Therefore, it would be difficult to achieve the targets of ʺ.网络ʺ if the social costs are too high. To achieve the goals of ʺ.网络ʺ, CNNIC will minimize the following time or financial resource costs of registrants, registrars and end-users via policies and operations of ʺ.网络ʺ as far as possible. As predicted by CNNIC, the operation of ʺ.网络ʺ will mainly produce the following costs:

18c.1.1 For Registrants:

(1)costs for registration of ʺ.网络ʺ domain names

(2)costs for renewal of ʺ.网络ʺ domain names

(3)costs for trademark infringement dispute and defensive registration under ʺ.网络ʺ domain

(4)additional advertising costs incurred from the promotion of the ʺ.网络ʺ domain name

18c.1.2 For Registrars:

(1) service costs to be paid to the CNNIC

(2) costs for the promotion and marketing of ʺ.网络ʺ domain names

(3) costs for the operation and maintenance of ʺ.网络ʺ registration services

18c.1.3 For End-users:

(1) time costs for searching, inputting and memorizing the ʺ.网络ʺ domain name

(2) losses incurred to the consumer as a result of ʺ.网络ʺ domain name abuse


18c.2 Rules on ʺ.网络ʺ to minimize social costs

18c.2.1 For Registrants:

18c.2.1.1 Reasonable Pricing Model of Registration

(1). A unified pricing model including the price of registration and that of renewal will be formulated for ʺ.网络ʺ based on its market demand and operating costs (see Question 46 for details), and the prices will be maintained reasonable and stable to compete fairly with other IDN gTLD, so as to ensure that registrants, especially those with relatively weak economic capability are able to register the ʺ.网络ʺ domain name.

(2). As the registration of”.网络” increases, the unit operating cost for every domain will keep decreasing, and CNNIC will, based on the decrease in its operating costs, adjust the prices accordingly, and provide each ICANN accredited registrar that has executed registry-registrar agreement for “.网络” advance notice of any price change according to the regulations of ICANN.

(3). CNNIC will handle multiple applications for the same domain name on the basis of uniform price and first-come⁄first-serve to effectively reduce the bidding costs spent by registrants and enable more small and medium-sized enterprises to obtain high value domain names with relatively low prices.

(4). CNNIC forbids registrars to register domain names with false information, occupy domain name resources in a disguised form or drive up domain name prices.

(5)Because Chinese variants have the same pronunciation and the same meaning as its official form, Chinese users regard them as interchangeable. Thus a variant IDN, derived from an IDN by replacing some characters with their variants, should match the original IDN. It is a consensus within the Chinese language community that the Chinese internationalized domain label(IDL) and itʹs variants labels should be belong to the same registrant⁄applicant, and the Simplified and Traditional Chinese forms of the applied-for should be resolvable simultaneously or non-resolvable at all in ʺ.网络ʺ domain. Our policy will mandate that when an IDL is registered, all variant IDLs in the IDL package are unavailable to other name holders. In addition to the registered IDL, the registry will activate Simplified whole string and Traditional whole string IDLs to the same registrant⁄applicant for free.

18c.2.1.2 Effectively Reduced Costs for the Renewal of Domain Names

(1). Registrants are free to choose, at their own discretion, a registration period of 1-10 years (to a maximum of 10 years) and free to renew their registration based on their own will, and CNNIC will provide in its agreement with registrars that to buy or sell under coercion, sale with treats or selling bundled services on the part of registrars are prohibited.

(2). At the initial operating period of ʺ.网络ʺ, incentive measures will be taken to encourage new registrants to register ʺ.网络ʺ for a longer term of registration. Consumers of newly registered domain names will be exempted for paying certain term of registration period depending on the length of registration period, so as to expedite the popularization and lower the costs of domain names.

(3). To ensure reasonable price of renewal for consumers, CNNIC will take efforts to stabilize the price and propose to undertake in the registration agreement that the registration and renewal price will be kept as stabilized during an effective term of the Registry Contract. Certain price adjustment may take place at the contract renewal point with respect to the Consumer Price Index, labor cost and tax rate change in China and the market condition change. Therefore consumers do not need to worry about low price trap.

(4). CNNIC customer service group will conduct monitoring over consumers’ renewal of domain names, investigate cases where renewal fails to take place, and make improvement in services to the point in cooperation with registrars to make it more convenient for consumers to renew their domain names or change registrar and reduce costs for registrants.

18c.2.1.3 Guaranteed Trademark Rights and Reduced Costs for Domain Name Dispute

(1). A Sunrise Period of 30 days will be launched in accordance with relevant policies of ICANN on Trademark Clearing House Mechanism to allow qualified right holders of validated national recognized trademarks to register ʺ.网络ʺ domain names with priority. Trademark Claim Service will also be provided in the first 60 days of general registration period, for the registration of domain names that match with corresponding trademarks included in the Trademark Clearing House, so as to allow trademark holders to protect their trademark rights through registration and reduce costs resulting from domain name disputes.
 
(2). The UDRP, PDDRP and RRDRP provided by ICANN and relevant URS policies will be abided by in respect of ʺ.网络ʺ and accessibility of 99% information in Whois will be assured to ensure that domain name abuse. Dispute under ʺ.网络ʺ can be resolved in a timely manner and that losses incurred to domain name holders as a result of domain name abuse and trademark infringement can be reduced to the greatest extent possible.
 
(3) Efforts will be made to introduce the Chinese domain names to the software vendors in order to expedite applications Chinese ʺ.网络ʺ domain name. This will enable consumers to get to know the use value of Chinese domain names, increase the level of activity of domain names, reduce investments in domain name registration purely for defensive purposes, and upgrade the practical value of domain names.

(4) CNNIC will undertake to treat all registrants equally, and except for domain names reserved or restricted from registration as prescribed by national laws and relevant provisions of ICANN, all holders of trademark rights will be entitled to the same registration right. CNNIC will not set any priorities in the protection of specific trademarks and guarantees to treat each registrant in a fair manner.

18c.2.1.4 Reduced Costs for the Promotion of Domain Names

(1) ʺ.网络ʺ supports various combinations of Chinese characters, and a ʺ.网络ʺ domain name can be made exactly match the Chinese name of a corresponding Internet service products or brands, which makes it convenient for consumers to read and memorize, improves effectiveness in the publicity of the name of the organization, and makes it easy for itself to be accepted by most of the Chinese language end-users without too much costs for publicity.

(2) CNNIC will reinforce in its publicity plans the promotion of typical cases of the application of ʺ.网络ʺ domain names and boost publicity among registrants from sideways, and concurrently increase acceptance of Chinese domain names by consumers to save publicity costs.

18c.2.2 For Registrars:

18c.2.2.1 Reasonable Registry Fee

(1) CNNIC will provide all registrars accredited by ICANN with uniform policies on prices, preferential treatments and discounts to ensure that registrars can engage in fair competition.

(2) The pricing of ʺ.网络ʺ domain names in registrars is relatively low as compared to other IDN gTLDs of the same category, therefore there is a room with competitive advantage for surrendering part of the profits on the part of the registrars.

18c.2.2.2 Reduced Costs for the Promotion and Marketing of ʺ.网络ʺ

(1) CNNIC will be engaged in active cooperation with registrars in carrying out diversified marketing activities, including advertising and news release, and designate staffs to attend sales conferences organized by registrars and promote their sale.

(2) CNNIC will institute a rebate program during each year of operation. Through this rebate program, ICANN-accredited registrars that have registered domain names in the new TLD will be eligible to receive a rebate based on the registration increase and renewal rate. This policy will be provided to each registrar equally. CNNIC will conduct annual appraisal of its licensed registrars. If an increase in new registration and renewal rate is found compared to the benchmark value of the last year’s performance, CNNIC will grant a certain amount of rebates with respect to the newly registered domain names, which shall be used as marketing funds for ʺ.网络ʺ to encourage registrars to develop markets especially in areas with a relatively low market penetration rate.
 
18c.2.2.3 Reduced Costs for the Operation of ʺ.网络ʺ

(1). Registrars will not be charged with any certification cost, and any registrar that qualifies for the provision of ʺ.网络ʺ registration services may apply to become a ʺ.网络ʺ registrar.

(2) The registry architecture will automate several functions. These include the ability to track, in real-time, status updates of customer registrars, custom reports for registrars, near real-time zone file updates, and over the medium term, real-time updates of the DNS zone files. By automating these processes, registrars can expect meaningful operational cost savings. As such, CNNIC, through its technological solutions, will provide indirect business opportunities to its customer registrars through lower operational costs.

(3). There are relatively mature registrar support staffs and secure and reliable registration service platform and client which are ready to help registrars to establish ʺ.网络ʺ domain name registration services with the lowest costs.
 
18c.2.3 For End-Users:

18c.2.3.1 Reduced Costs for Searching, Inputting and Memorizing the ʺ.网络ʺ Domain Name

(1) With the efforts of CNNIC and the Chinese language community, currently most of the browsers support the input of Chinese domain names, which has reduced costs resulting from incompatibility.

(2) CNNIC is also actively cooperating with such Chinese language search engines and software vendors for promoting applications of Chinese domain names to make it convenient for consumers to accept Chinese domain names.

(3)The form of the ʺ.网络ʺ domain name also fit neatly with the reading and memory habits of Chinese language users and reduces additional time costs incurred from domain name confusion.

18c.2.3.2 Reduced Losses Resulting Domain Name Abuse

(1). CNNIC’s experience in domain name management will be utilized to impose punishment with respect to such acts of domain name abuse as phishing websites and virus transmission in a timely manner to reduce consumers’ costs, and CNNIC undertakes that the percentage of ʺ.网络ʺ domain name abuse will not exceed 5%.

(2). Accredited registrars will be required to verify the accuracy of information in Whois, so as to ensure that law enforcement agencies can find the person who has committed act of domain name abuse and relieves can be obtained in time with respect to the rights of consumers.

(3) Chinese variants have the same pronunciation and the same meaning as its official form, Chinese users regard them as interchangeable. The Chinese internationalized domain label(IDL) and itʹs variants labels will be mandated by CNNIC’s policy following the rules as the Simplified and Traditional Chinese forms of the applied-for should be resolvable simultaneously for the same registrant⁄applicant or non-resolvable at all in ʺ.网络ʺ domain. This will reduce the chance of string confusion caused by Chinese variant domain names.

18c.3 Specific Measures to Minimize Social Costs

18c.3.1 Domain Name String Contention Resolution

 CNNIC will, based on the right protection mechanism of ICANN, make Sunrise registration services available for holders of valid trademark rights during the 30-day Sunrise Period prior to the official launch of the general public registration of the ʺ.网络ʺ domain name. All trademark right holders will be entitled to equal priority in registration, the principle of first-come⁄first serve shall apply in case of domain name string contention, and uniform prices will be used. This measure will reduce the costs of domain name registration to the greatest extent possible comparing with the method of auction.

 After the Sunrise Period, CNNIC will continue to resolve domain name string contention on the first-come⁄first serve basis. Where any domain name dispute occurs, UDRP shall apply. Besides, either party may resort to arbitration or judicial decision, or consumers may file complaints with URS providers in view of domain name use with bad faith.

18c.3.2 Cost Benefits Measures

To drive the stable development of ʺ.网络ʺ, CNNIC plans to adopt a two-stage promotion scheme based on the principle of providing fair and consistent preferential policies for all registrants and registries. The first stage will be consumer incentives, during which domain name registrants will be stimulated to enhance the popularity and acceptability of domain names; and the second stage will be channel incentives, during which further support will be provided for registrars to conduct marketing on the basis of consumers’ recognition in the first stage.

18c.3.2.1 First Stage

18c.3.2.1.1 Period

The period of the first stage will be the first calendar year after the initial launch of ʺ.网络ʺ for registration.

18c.3.2.1.2 Targets

(1) Enhance the popularity and acceptability of domain names among consumers, and increase market attention.

(2) Increase the average term of registration of newly registered domain names and ensure the stability of domain name users.

18c.3.2.1.3 Measures

CNNIC will take incentive measures directly targeted at consumers to encourage them to register ʺ.网络ʺ for a longer term of registration. Specifically, CNNIC will grant price concession for one-time domain name new registration with a certain length of period , so as to expedite the popularization and increase the average new registration of domain names:

(1)An one-year exemption will be granted to the users who register one time for four to six years ;

(2)A two-year exemption will be granted to the users who register one time for seven to nine years;

(3)A three-year exemption will be granted to the users who register one time for ten years.

18c.3.2.2 Second Stage

18c.3.2.2.1 Period

The period of the second stage shall be 12 natural months since the end of the first stage, and appraisement will be conducted on a yearly basis.

18c.3.2.2.2 Targets

(1) Encourage registrars to increase the new registration of the ʺ.网络ʺ domain name.

(2) Encourage registrars to increase renewals of historical ʺ.网络ʺ domain names.

(3) Encourage registrars to increase the proportion of their ʺ.网络ʺ domain name business.

18c.3.2.2.3 Measures

If during the appraisal of the first year, a certain percentage of growth is seen in the newly registered domain names in any registrar as compared to the benchmark value and a certain rate of renewal is achieved, CNNIC will grant a certain amount of rebates with respect to the newly registered domain names as a marketing fund for the domain name promotion in the lower market penetration area, as is shown in the attached table in 48(a)_attachement_1_schedule_2.

18c.3.3 Provisions on Price Increase

18.3.3.1 Limit on price increase

Based on the expected increasing amount of the registration of ʺ.网络ʺ, the single unit service cost for each registration is expected to be reduced. CNNIC will take efforts to stabilize the price and propose to undertake in the registration agreement that the registration and renewal price will be kept as stabilized during an effective term of the Registry Contract. Some price adjustment may take place at the contract renewal point with respect to the following conditions:

(1)economic environment change with higher inflation rate in China

(2)tax increase

(3)labor cost increase

(4)other market variation and technical evolution that may lead to cost change

Due to uncertainty of the market environment at the time of delegation, the actual contractual terms of annual price increase magnitude within the registry agreement shall be further discussed based on the above conditions at the time of delegation.

18.3.3.2 Notice of Price Increase

With respect to initial domain name registrations, CNNIC will provide ICANN and each ICANN accredited registrar that has executed the RRA for the TLD advance written notice of any price increase (including as a result of the elimination of any refunds, rebates, discounts, product tying or other programs which had the effect of reducing the price charged to registrars, unless such refunds, rebates, discounts, product tying or other programs are of a limited duration that is clearly and conspicuously disclosed to the registrar when offered) of no less than thirty (30) calendar days. CNNIC will offer registrars the option to obtain initial domain name registrations for periods of one to ten years at the discretion of the registrar, but no greater than ten years.

With respect to renewal of domain name registrations, CNNIC will provide ICANN and each ICANN accredited registrar that has executed the registry-registrar agreement for the TLD advance written notice of any price increase (including as a result of the elimination of any refunds, rebates, discounts, product tying, Qualified Marketing Programs or other programs which had the effect of reducing the price charged to registrars) of no less than one hundred eighty (180) calendar days.

In addition, CNNIC will have uniform pricing for renewals of domain name registrations (“Renewal Pricing”). For the purposes of determining Renewal Pricing, the price for each domain registration renewal will be identical to the price of all other domain name registration renewals in place at the time of such renewal, and such price must take into account universal application of any refunds, rebates, discounts, product tying or other programs in place at the time of renewal.