20(e) Provide a description of the applicant's intended registration policies in support of the community-based purpose of the applied-for gTLD

Prototypical answer:

• Eligibility: who is eligible to register a second-level name in the gTLD, and how will eligibility be determined?

FRS takes its responsibilities to the global banking community seriously and it is essential that registrations only be permitted by verified members of the banking sector. Therefore, registrations may initially be made by the following for-profit and not-for-profit businesses or organizations:

- State or regionally chartered and regulated banks
- Nationally chartered and regulated banks
- Associations whose members are comprised of chartered and regulated banking entities
- Organizations that are predominantly controlled by chartered and regulated banks or financial holding companies
- Entities whose operations are principally dedicated to serving banks (if approved by the FRS Board)
- Specialized organizations (e.g., research or risk coordination) (if approved by the FRS Board)

To ensure strict compliance with its policies, the .bank TLD will develop and implement a Registrant Eligibility Criteria and Evaluation Process. This process requires .bank accredited registrars to collect registrant information that will be used by FRS or its designated third-party service provider to authenticate that the registrant is a member of the global banking community. This requirement will be hard coded into FRS’ Registry-Registrar Agreement (RRA).

As part of the registration process for the .bank gTLD, potential applicants must provide the registrar with the following information:

- Full legal name
- Business address
- Professional title of representative of the administrative contact of the potential registrant
- Business name
- Point of contact within the business who can verify their representation of the business
- Phone
- Email
- Another proof of identity necessary to establish that the registrant is an eligible member of the appropriate .bank gTLD community
- For banking companies, the regulatory agency issuing its charter or license
- For organizations that are predominantly controlled by chartered and regulated banks or financial holding companies, list and proof of its owner(s)
- For entities whose operations are principally dedicated to service banks (if approved by the FRS Board), corporate operating agreement
- For specialized organizations (e.g., research or risk coordination) (if approved by the FRS Board), a copy of its corporate operating agreement if for-profit or its mission statement if non-profit

Applicants who meet the eligibility requirements and have been authenticated as a legitimate member of the community will then be able to register their domains in .bank provided that the name to be registered complies with appropriate name selection and use measures outlined below.

Domain names that pass the vetting process will enter a 5-day Add Grace Period (AGP) or Pending Create before becoming valid. Applicants rejected for either a non-eligibility criteria or use of domain evaluation can appeal the decision to FRS.

FRS will audit all approved registrants and their strings to ensure compliance with eligibility and use requirements.

• Name selection: what types of second-level names may be registered in the gTLD?

Domains initially registered in the .bank gTLD must be registered trademarks, trade names or other service marks owned by the registrant. All other registrations (e.g., geographic, generic, etc.) will initially not be allowed. FRS will reserve a set of domain names prior to launch that will either be used in its capacity as Registry Operator as set forth in Specification 9 of the template Registry Agreement, or will be equitably allocated to members of the community upon approval of FRS’ Board of Directors. The subset of domain names reserved for use by the FRS will be commonly used words and phrases and or geographic terms. FRS will extend an enhanced Rights Protection Mechanism that will provide trademark owners with the ability to challenge the registration or potential use of these domain names. This challenge process will be modeled after the highly successful dotAsia Pioneering Program.

• Content⁄Use: what restrictions, if any, the registry operator will impose on how a registrant may use its registered name.

FRS will have an Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) that will govern how a registrant may use its registered name. A DRAFT version of the policy (which may be amended from time to time) follows:

All .bank domains must be used to serve the needs of the global banking community or an individual bank. By registering a name in a gTLD operated by FRS, you agree to be bound by the terms of this Acceptable Use Policy (AUP). In using your domain, you may not:

1. Use your domain for any purposes prohibited by the laws of the jurisdiction(s) in which you do business or any other applicable law. For banking companies specifically, use your domain name for any purposes prohibited by the bank’s charter or license.

2. Use your domain for any purposes or in any manner that violates a statute, rule or law governing use of the Internet and⁄or electronic commerce (specifically including “phishing,” ʺpharming,ʺ and⁄or distributing Internet viruses and other destructive activities).

3. Use your domain for the following types of activity:

- Violating the privacy or publicity rights of another member of the global financial services community or any other person or entity, or breaching any duty of confidentiality that you owe to another member of the .bank gTLD community or any other person or entity;
- Promoting or engaging in hate speech, hate crime, terrorism, violence against people, animals, or property, or intolerance of or against any protected class;
- Promoting or engaging in defamatory, harassing, abusive or otherwise objectionable behavior;
- Promoting or engaging in pornography;
- Promoting or engaging in any spam or other unsolicited bulk email, or computer or network hacking or cracking;
- Promoting or engaging in any money laundering or terrorist financing activity;
- Infringing on the intellectual property rights of another member of the .bank gTLD community or any other person or entity;
- Engaging in activities designed to impersonate any third party or create a likelihood of confusion in sponsorship;
- Interfering with the operation of .bank gTLD or services offered by FRS;
- Distributing or installing 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;
- Disseminating content that contains false or deceptive language, or unsubstantiated or comparative claims, regarding FRS;
- Licensing your domain to any third party during the period of your registration; or
- Engaging in behavior that is anti-competitive, boycotts or otherwise violates anti-trust laws.

You are responsible for the usage of your domain at all times during the period of your registration.

Proxy registrations are prohibited for all gTLDs operated by FRS.

By “use,” “usage” or “using” your domain name, we mean any use involving the Internet, including, but not limited to, website(s) and⁄or any pages thereof resolving at your domain, either directly or indirectly (including redirection, framing, pop-up windows⁄browsers, linking, etc.) and email distribution and⁄or reception.

As part of the AUP, FRS will have complete enforcement rights over registrants’ use of domain names.



• Enforcement: what investigation practices and mechanisms exist to enforce the policies above, what resources are allocated for enforcement, and what appeal mechanisms are available to registrants?

FRS proposes the use of both active and passive enforcement mechanisms to enforce the policies outlined above. As part of the AUP, FRS will have complete enforcement rights over registrants’ use of .bank domain names. An excerpt follows:

If Registrant violates this AUP, Registrant will be subject to a rapid domain name compliance action, be in material breach of the Agreement, and along with all other rights and remedies under this Agreement with respect to such a breach, FRS reserves the right to revoke, suspend, terminate, cancel or otherwise modify Registrant’s rights to the domain name.

On a regular basis, FRS will audit domain names registered in the .bank gTLD to ensure compliance with all eligibility and use criteria. If a violation is discovered, an investigation will immediately begin to rectify the violation.

If a registrant chooses to appeal, FRS will review the appeal to determine if there are any material changes to the action or activity. FRS will retain the right to assign the dispute to an ombudsman if necessary. This appeal or referral process will operate on a cost-recovery basis.

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