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

Prototypical answer:

As we have seen with the success of BuildaBazaar.com, brick-and-mortar retailers benefit when they can expand their sales to millions of online customers. The Internet is a magnificent medium for e-commerce, as the success of infibeam.com attests. This new gTLD will expand this impact, as with it, registrants can compete for online sales with any e-commerce outlet while ensuring their continued physical presence in their communities.

As the gTLD is adopted by more retailers, Internet users benefit directly through an increase in choice, and a concurrent increase in competition for their business. The Internet as a whole will expand due to an increase in the number of trusted sites providing privacy and security for consumers.

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

Any conceivable product or service available in e-commerce form would be suitable for this proposed gTLD. We anticipate that initial adoption patterns would follow what we have seen with the growth of BuildaBazaar.com sites. Popular items such as books, beauty supplies, apparel, jewelry and other common consumer goods would be among the first to be offered by gTLD registrants.

Given that the gTLD permits a smooth and easy extension of brick-and-mortar retail operations to the Internet, it is perhaps easiest to imagine your favorite physical area of commerce, and mentally project those retail options online. Infibeam takes pride in its superlative customer service to its infibeam.com customers, as well as its service to BuildaBazaar.com retailers. Those retailers, meanwhile, uphold the highest standards of customer service for their own customers. The same approach would apply for gTLD registrants and their customers.

Due to the standards that will be applied in permitting gTLD registration, the gTLD will become synonymous with trust and consumer choice, ensuring a solid reputation among Internet consumers, as well as retailers.

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

The positive impact this new gTLD will bring to the Internet cannot be understated:

Competition:

As stated above, the proposed gTLD will increase competition in the e-commerce space by virtualizing brick-and-mortar stores. It will increase the reach of all specialty stores to an always growing customer base, while allowing small stores to generate extra profit from online sales. Local goods will be made readily available to an unlimited number of Internet users.

True competition will also emerge, however, among TLDs. As stated above, BuildaBazaar.com retailers currently have to market themselves online with a .COM domain, with build a bazaar as part of their second-level designation. The launch of e-commerce options under this new gTLD will provide direct competition to .COM. In fact, the new gTLD will increase competition to any TLD that includes e-commerce providers among its registrants.

Differentiation:

As with increased competition, the new gTLD will permit retailers to differentiate themselves and their offerings from other retailers. Unique product offerings reflecting differing cultures, geographic regions, and local traditions will be readily available in the virtual marketplace, side by side with more traditional offerings currently found online. The gTLD will act as an enabler, handing over unique web identities to many retailers. We will facilitate the entire process, as we are doing now with great success. Differentiation in the e-commerce market will increase due to the simplicity with which individuals can set up their own stores. Individuals will be able to compete with the major players, as they design their own websites. Their ideas will act as catalyst for the web as a whole and e-commerce specifically.

Along those lines, increased differentiation in the e-commerce space--facilitated by the domains issued under the new gTLD--will lead to increased differentiation across the TLD landscape.
Innovation:

Infibeam.com is a leader in innovation, from online retailing to the development of electronic devices such as the Pi ebook reader. That innovation is reflected in BuildaBazaar.com, a user-friendly way to marry brick-and-mortar stores to the Internet. As the operator of this new gTLD, Infibeam.com will continue to innovate to serve its registrants.

It must be noted, however, that innovation is not limited to large technology companies such as Infibeam.com. As we have seen with our BuildaBazaar.com retailers, innovative thinking abounds among retailers of all shapes and sizes, from a rapidly growing brick-and-mortar franchise to the individual with a great idea and a passion to promote it. The new gTLD will provide an entry-point to the Internet for these innovative individuals and businesses, enriching the e-commerce marketplace.

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

Infibeam.com’ focus in its operation of the gTLD will be on superlative user experiences for our registrants and for Internet end-users. The first established goal is to give a clear web identity for each retailerʹs brand, minimizing the chance of confusion on the side of the user. Online consumers will be aware that stores under our gTLD will primarily be local retailers with a physical address. In the event of a conflict, we will make sure users are able to understand which firm they are dealing with. Each and every store will be bound to a unique physical address, displayed on the main screen. Hence, the identity of the store a consumer is dealing with will be readily available.

By the same token, we will rely on our expertise to assist registrants in offering consumers a comfortable shopping experience with secure payments. Our built-in websites with SKUs, readily available from Infibeam.com, ensure an optimal user experience, while our pre-set payment gateways are a pledge for safe shopping. In addition, a Cash-on-Delivery option will reassure wary customers.

iv. Provide a complete description of the applicant’s intended registration policies in support of the goals listed above.

As the operator of the proposed gTLD, Infibeam.com takes its responsibilities to its registrants and the greater Internet as a whole extremely seriously. As a longtime leader in ecommerce, Infibeam.com understands the critical role trust and security play in online transactions. The new gTLD will succeed due to its reputation as a safe place for Internet users to shop.

Infibeam.com offers tools and processes to ensure safe transactions for its BuildaBazaar.com retailers. Those offerings would be available to new gTLD users. But we would also ensure compliance with the highest standards of consumer trust from our registrants.

Applicants who pass these eligibility tests will then be able to register their applied-for name. Applicants who do not pass the eligibility test will have the opportunity to appeal to the registry, but determination of eligibility rests solely with Infibeam.com.

v. 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.

All transactions involving the private or confidential information of existing Infibeam customers are governed by our corporate privacy policy. For the .ooo gTLD, the only requirements we would have for public display of information would be a physical address, a brand⁄store name, and a phone number. Otherwise the privacy offered will be total.

The .ooo gTLD will be governed by strict guidelines and policies to ensure the privacy of information for registrants as well as users. The policies will be transparent and rigorous; modeled after successful policies implemented by other operators of TLDs; and accompanied by vigilant technological steps to prevent unauthorized access to information. This is a manifestation of the larger goal of the new gTLD, that of a trusted source of safe online transactions, as stipulated in 18(a).

Privacy and security will be key elements of our Acceptable Use Policy (AUP). The AUP will govern how a registrant may use its registered name, with a specific focus on protecting Internet users. AUP language would specifically address privacy by prohibiting a registrant from using a domain for any activity that violates the privacy or publicity rights of another person or entity, or breaches any duty of confidentiality owed to any other person or entity. The AUP also would prohibit spam or other unsolicited bulk email, or computer or network hacking or cracking, as well as the installation of any viruses, worms, bugs, Trojan horses or other code, files or programs designed to, or capable of, disrupting, damaging or limiting the functionality of any software or hardware. We would maintain complete enforcement rights over the use of the domain name. Should a registrant find itself in breach of the AUP, we would reserve the right to revoke, suspend, terminate, cancel or otherwise modify their rights to the domain name.

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

The momentum around the new gTLD will build upon our own success with BuildaBazaar.com. Already highly successful, that serviceʹs online reach will be even greater by the time the new extension becomes widely available. We are currently planning a campaign for our platform that will be launched at the time of the release of the gTLDs. We will unveil a specific marketing campaign around that time, based on our existing customers and Infibeam.com’s very own network.

Our biggest customers are already using a .com and⁄or .in domain, and we would include the new gTLD in their portfolio. As for small retailers, we will stoke their interest through a targeted campaign aimed at convincing them to invest in the premium package, which would open the new gTLD to them. Most are already aware of the benefits of having their own internet space, and are in fact expecting us to provide such a service. Were a new gTLD to be included in the package, many more will be likely to launch their own e-commerce sites.

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