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18(a) Describe the mission/purpose of your proposed gTLD

gTLDFull Legal NameE-mail suffixDetail
.statebankSTATE BANK OF INDIAsbi.co.inView
State Bank of India (SBI) is the largest banking and financial services company in India by revenue, assets and market capitalization. It is a state-owned corporation with its headquarters in Mumbai, Maharashtra (India). SBI is ranked # 292 globally in the Fortune Global 500 list in the year 2011. SBI and its thirty subsidiaries provide a wide range of financial products and services through its physical presence in more than 35 countries and through web presence such as its Corporate web site (www.sbi.co.in), Internet Banking and other transactional web sites.
SBI as an acronym has been in use since the time SBI came into existence in the year 1955. SBI being a short, easy to remember and easy to pronounce acronym is used very widely to refer to SBI and its group members.
Mission of .statebank
Currently, the web sites of SBI are registered under several existing TLDs like “.com”, “.in” and “.net” etc. The customer has to search and locate the various products⁄ services by navigating through all the web sites of SBI and its subsidiaries. Widespread possible naming conventions⁄ Cybersquatting in the existing TLDs may mislead any financial institutional customers to various phishing⁄ malicious web sites, leading to online fraud. SBI wants to have an exclusive ownership of a TLD, as it intends to have complete control on the second-level domain names to have “worldwide Uniform presence for the Brand SBI” and provide “Huge comfort level to customers”, web site by consolidating and simplifying their online identity.
Purpose of .statebank
SBI values the Internet as a strong medium to reach out to its customers. SBI believes that owning a TLD (.statebank) for brand purpose exclusively, can lead to the following benefits:
• Increased global brand visibility
• Efficient brand and domain name protection
• Deeper customer engagement and increased long-term brand loyalty
• Easy navigation for customers
• Enhanced security thereby increasing the customer’s confidence for online banking⁄ virtual banking
• Intuitive Internet navigation (product.statebank, service.statebank, campaign.statebank)
• Effective tool to avoid cybersquatting⁄ phishing related costs
• Reputation Management
• Search Engine Marketing⁄ Optimization cost reductions
• Greater level of control over Internet presence with regards to costs, intellectual property and technical control
• Enhancement of both internal and external communication as the chosen gTLD could become the focal point of SBI’s Internet presence for internal and external users
• Rationalize our online presence (including our portfolio of domains and trademarks) by existing online through our own gTLD domain name
• Reduction of Search Marketing Costs
• Ownership of a “Piece of the Internet” Representing the organization’s Identity and What We Do
• Increase in the value of the Company
• Own- brand online community building
• Complete control over second level registration and use
• New business models⁄ opportunities
• Social Media Optimization
• Simplification of online identity to mirror existing offline identity
• Minimization of Online Fraud
• Stronger marketing tool for creation of online campaigning
• Branded Top-Level Domains are like a warranty seal, thereby increasing the trust of the customer
• Minimal reduction of dependence on search engines in future

A 350+ million customer base accesses the web sites of SBI and its subsidiaries’ web site, either for managing their online banking accounts or accessing the information⁄ details about various products and services or for doing various transactions over payment gateways and so on.
Every year SBI spends USD 45,000,000 approximately on directing its audience to the correct web site, by the way of BTL (Below The Line) promotions through Newspapers⁄ Magazines, pamphlets, electronic medium (TV⁄ films etc.) and also by way of Exhibitions and Roadshows (Banners⁄ Holdings).
SBI plans to invest in this gTLD and acquire control over the .statebank string. For this project SBI has made an investment plan of around $400,000 over the next 3 years.
18 a, ii)
SBI will be using .statebank exclusively for its internal divisions and its subsidiaries. Currently, SBI has registered more than 150 domains in the “.com”, “.in”, “.net” and “.org” TLDs. Under these TLDs, SBI’s Corporate web site(www.sbi.co.in), domestic Internet Banking site, foreign Internet Banking sites, Enterprise e-mail service, SBI debit card payment gateway web site, web sites for products like prepaid card, cash management product, trade finance, Enterprise e-learning system, mobile banking, enterprise human resource management system, demat services, credit card and payment services, mutual fund services, capital markets service, general insurance service, life insurance service, global factors service, pension funds service, fund management service, custodial services and other banking subsidiaries in domestic and foreign purview. Also, additional domains are being registered each month to cater to the new products⁄ services being offered by SBI.
It is being estimated that in the first year after .statebank is allotted to SBI, around 25 second-level domains will be registered; in the second- year around 150 second-level domains will be live; in the third-year around 225 second-level domains will be live; in the fourth-year around 400 domains will be live and in the fifth-year around 600 second-level domains will be live.
In the first-year, priority will be provided to the existing domains of SBI. Combination of transactional and information web sites will be brought under the new gTLD of SBI. In the subsequent years, other existing domains and new domains of SBI and its subsidiaries will be also be brought under the new gTLD of SBI.
For instance, the existing Internet Banking web site of SBI is www.onlinesbi.com. The new second-level domain name of this web site would be www.onlinesbi.statebank. Similarly, all car loan-related content and details would be made available under www.carloan.statebank, the content of agriculture loans would be available under www.agriloan.statebank, details about deposit products of SBI would be available under www.deposit.statebank and details about debit cards would be available under www.atm.statebank etc. Similarly such second-level domains will be created under the new gTLD of SBI for the wide range of products and services of SBI and its subsidiaries. This would not only enable the customer-base of more than 350 million to navigate all our financial services easily, but also extend a higher-level of confidence and trust to the customer on the authenticity of the accessed web site.
gTLDFull Legal NameE-mail suffixDetail
.networkTrixy Manor, LLCdonuts.coView
Q18A CHAR: 7985

ABOUT DONUTS
Donuts Inc. is the parent applicant for this and multiple other TLDs. The company intends to increase competition and consumer choice at the top level. It will operate these carefully selected TLDs safely and securely in a shared resources business model. To achieve its objectives, Donuts has recruited seasoned executive management with proven track records of excellence in the industry. In addition to this business and operational experience, the Donuts team also has contributed broadly to industry policymaking and regulation, successfully launched TLDs, built industry-leading companies from the ground up, and brought innovation, value and choice to the domain name marketplace.

DONUTS’ PLACE WITHIN ICANN’S MISSION
ICANN and the new TLD program share the following purposes:
1. to make sure that the Internet remains as safe, stable and secure as possible, while
2. helping to ensure there is a vibrant competitive marketplace to efficiently bring the benefits of the namespace to registrants and users alike.

ICANN harnesses the power of private enterprise to bring forth these public benefits. While pursuing its interests, Donuts helps ICANN accomplish its objectives by:

1. Significantly widening competition and choice in Internet identities with hundreds of new top-level domain choices;
2. Providing innovative, robust, and easy-to-use new services, names and tools for users, registrants, registrars, and registries while at the same time safeguarding the rights of others;
3. Designing, launching, and securely operating carefully selected TLDs in multiple languages and character sets; and
4. Providing a financially robust corporate umbrella under which its new TLDs will be protected and can thrive.

ABOUT DONUTS’ RESOURCES
Donuts’ financial resources are extensive. The company has raised more than US$100 million from a number of capital sources including multiple multi-billion dollar venture capital and private equity funds, a top-tier bank, and other well-capitalized investors. Should circumstances warrant, Donuts is prepared to raise additional funding from current or new investors. Donuts also has in place pre-funded, Continued Operations Instruments to protect future registrants. These resource commitments mean Donuts has the capability and intent to launch, expand and operate its TLDs in a secure manner, and to properly protect Internet users and rights-holders from potential abuse.

Donuts firmly believes a capable and skilled organization will operate multiple TLDs and benefit Internet users by:

1. Providing the operational and financial stability necessary for TLDs of all sizes, but particularly for those with smaller volume (which are more likely to succeed within a shared resources and shared services model);
2. Competing more powerfully against incumbent gTLDs; and
3. More thoroughly and uniformly executing consumer and rights holder protections.

THIS TLD
This TLD is attractive and useful to end-users as it better facilitates search, self-expression, information sharing and the provision of legitimate goods and services. Along with the other TLDs in the Donuts family, this TLD will provide Internet users with opportunities for online identities and expression that do not currently exist. In doing so, the TLD will introduce significant consumer choice and competition to the Internet namespace – the very purpose of ICANN’s new TLD program.

This TLD is a generic term and its second level names will be attractive to a variety of Internet users. Making this TLD available to a broad audience of registrants is consistent with the competition goals of the New TLD expansion program, and consistent with ICANN’s objective of maximizing Internet participation. Donuts believes in an open Internet and, accordingly, we will encourage inclusiveness in the registration policies for this TLD. In order to avoid harm to legitimate registrants, Donuts will not artificially deny access, on the basis of identity alone (without legal cause), to a TLD that represents a generic form of activity and expression.

DONUTS’ APPROACH TO PROTECTIONS
No entity, or group of entities, has exclusive rights to own or register second level names in this TLD. There are superior ways to minimize the potential abuse of second level names, and in this application Donuts will describe and commit to an extensive array of protections against abuse, including protections against the abuse of trademark rights.

We recognize some applicants seek to address harms by constraining access to the registration of second level names. However, we believe attempts to limit abuse by limiting registrant eligibility is unnecessarily restrictive and harms users by denying access to many legitimate registrants. Restrictions on second level domain eligibility would prevent law-abiding individuals and organizations from participating in a space to which they are legitimately connected, and would inhibit the sort of positive innovation we intend to see in this TLD. As detailed throughout this application, we have struck the correct balance between consumer and business safety, and open access to second level names.

By applying our array of protection mechanisms, Donuts will make this TLD a place for Internet users that is far safer than existing TLDs. Donuts will strive to operate this TLD with fewer incidences of fraud and abuse than occur in incumbent TLDs. In addition, Donuts commits to work toward a downward trend in such incidents.

OUR PROTECTIONS
Donuts has consulted with and evaluated the ideas of international law enforcement, consumer privacy advocacy organizations, intellectual property interests and other Internet industry groups to create a set of protections that far exceed those in existing TLDs, and bring to the Internet namespace nearly two dozen new rights and protection mechanisms to raise user safety and protection to a new level.

These include eight, innovative and forceful mechanisms and resources that far exceed the already powerful protections in the applicant guidebook. These are:

1. Periodic audit of WhoIs data for accuracy;
2. Remediation of inaccurate Whois data, including takedown, if warranted;
3. A new Domain Protected Marks List (DPML) product for trademark protection;
4. A new Claims Plus product for trademark protection;
5. Terms of use that prohibit illegal or abusive activity;
6. Limitations on domain proxy and privacy service;
7. Published policies and procedures that define abusive activity; and
8. Proper resourcing for all of the functions above.

They also include fourteen new measures that were developed specifically by ICANN for the new TLD process. These are:

1. Controls to ensure proper access to domain management functions;
2. 24⁄7⁄365 abuse point of contact at registry;
3. Procedures for handling complaints of illegal or abusive activity, including remediation and takedown processes;
4. Thick WhoIs;
5. Use of the Trademark Clearinghouse;
6. A Sunrise process;
7. A Trademark Claims process;
8. Adherence to the Uniform Rapid Suspension system;
9. Adherence to the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy;
10. Adherence to the Post Delegation Dispute Resolution Policy;
11. Detailed security policies and procedures;
12. Strong security controls for access, threat analysis and audit;
13. Implementation DNSSEC; and
14. Measures for the prevention of orphan glue records.

DONUTS’ INTENTION FOR THIS TLD
As a senior government authority has recently said, “a successful applicant is entrusted with operating a critical piece of global Internet infrastructure.” Donuts’ plan and intent is for this TLD to serve the international community by bringing new users online through opportunities for economic growth, increased productivity, the exchange of ideas and information and greater self-expression.