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

Prototypical answer:

i.
* Dedicated namespace *
The .IKANO top-level-domain and its .IKANO domain names are dedicated and thereby specialized to create content, faciliate communication and foster e-commerce in connection with the brand IKANO between all parties involed in the business of Ikano S.A. worldwide.

* Security and trust *
The most important service level of the .IKANO top-level-domain is the certainty for Internet users that all .IKANO domain names are exclusively registred and maintained by Ikano S.A. as a trusted source. The aim is that Internet users worldwide will be aware that domain names branded by a well known brand extensions like .IKANO are a hoard of security, stability and reliabilty.

* Reputable namespace *
The .IKANO top-level-domain will be a namespace with support of the whole company in its locations in Asia and Europe. It is the aim that such a secure and memorable namespace will quickly gain substantial reputation among the global Internet community and Ikano’s customers.

ii.
* Trustworthy financial services *
The .IKANO top-level-domain will enhance competition in the global domain name business by introducing a dedicated namespace for the brand Ikano. Thus, global financial services, insurance, real estate or retail industries faces the challenge to offer customers a secure, reliable and trustworthy namespace in the way Ikano does with .IKANO. Customers will have the expectation that trustworthy financial services, insurance, real estate or retail brands will have an own namespace on the Internet.

* Differentiation by branded nature *
The .IKANO top-level-domain and its .IKANO domain names are clearly diffentiated to existing TLDs, in particular due to their descriptive and branded nature which has a clear meaning and value to the targeted audience. As of yet, Internet users cannot be certain that domain names incorporating IKANO under one of the existing TLDs actually belong to Ikano S.A. or not to someone else who is not affiliated with IKANO and merely tries to use this brand for his own purposes. Furthermore, only content which is issued by IKANO S.A. will be displayed under .IKANO domain names which may differentiate IKANO from service companies who will not own their respective brand as a top-level domain.

* Innovation with trust *
The .IKANO top-level-domain and its .IKANO domain names are innovative due to the new category of TLDs which brands like Ikano are creating: “Only domain names with the ending .IKANO belong to Ikano S.A.”. The novelty is the creation of real trust and reliablity for Internet users due to the fact that all .IKANO domain names are exclusively registred and maintained by a trustworthy source, Ikano S.A.. Together with other brand TLDs registries we will work to create awareness on this new domain name feature.
iii.
* Enhanced user experience by more reliable search results *
Today users do not know whether to search for ikanogroup.com or ikano.de, ikano.se, ikano.no or ikano.asia. With a .IKANO top-level domain the user will experience a much more intuitive way of finding Ikano content on the Internet. The search algorithms of leading search engines such as Google, Yahoo or Bing will support this. The ranking algorithms results in their search engine incorporate, among many other elements, the top-level as well as the second-level in relation to the search. Therefore it is to be expected that search engines will incorporate the .brand top-level domain as being a relevant part of the search.
Major IT researchers, among them Forrester, have forecast this effect: According to Forrester Research (Oct 2011), „Search engines will give authority to dot-brand TLDs”. Search engines make their money from advertising, and search traffic comes from providing the most relevant, authoritative results to a user’s query. Since companies that get TLDs will have gone through a rigorous 8-12 month validation process, Google, Bing, and Yahoo will adjust their algorithms to give authority to these TLDs.“
Ikano S.A. is expecting that such a shift in search engine rankings will also positively affect the search engine positioning of the Ikano brand and the respective websites under .IKANO.

* Enhanced consumer trust *
With the .IKANO top-level domain Ikano S.A. is expecting to deliver enhanced consumer trust and reliability in the digital space based on content and services under domain names with the extension .IKANO since there will be only one authoritative entity able to register domain names, namely Ikano S.A..
It is planned that intuitive domain name categories such as department.IKANO, product.IKANO, city.IKANO (where feasible), services.IKANO will due to their descriptive nature deliver a much more intuitive access to the resources of Ikano S.A. for customers, business partners, employees and other stakeholders. Instead of clicking through the hierarchies of a website or searching on websites users will have a whole new level of direct access to the relevant content they have been searching for.
iv.
Beyond the provisions of the New gTLD Agreement the following policies are imposed:
* General Policy *
The Policy sets out the rules and regulations concerning the registration of domain names for second-level domains under .IKANO. In relation to registrants the policy is incorporated by reference in the Registry Agreement and in relation to the registrars by the Registry-Registrar Agreement (RAA). Other policies, such as sunrise policies, trademark claims service policy or eligibility requirement policies are described in separate documents published on the registry operator’s website. The top-level domain .IKANO is intended to serve the needs of its community in terms of differentiating, protecting and expanding the brand, promoting the brand to the public and creating added value for the brand by enhanced consumer trust and reliability in the digital space.

* Eligibility *
The right to register domain names under the TLD .IKANO only belongs to the Ikano S.A.. Therefore it acts both as a registry for the TLD .IKANO, as well as registrant of domain names under the TLD .IKANO. As far as the Ikano S.A. acts as registrant of domain names, it is party to the relevant registration by the registrar. The registration and ⁄ or management of domain names through a trustee, so-called proxy service is not permitted.

* Domain Name Selection *
Domain names can only be registered on the second level (i. e. name.IKANO). Upper and lower case characters do not differentiate domain names (i. e. service.IKANO is the same as SERVICE.IKANO). Registrants will have the right to use any name at the third level under domain names registered by registrant except for regulations according to Specification 5, 1-3, of the Registry Agreement of the Applicant Guidebook. Such third level uses are not managed or supported by the registry operator.
Community restrictions for name selection will apply for .IKANO: Domain names shall comprise the names of community members, trademarks, service marks, names or designations used for products and ⁄ or services offered by community members, and⁄or strings, which in connection with the top-level domain create a nexus or an association or relation to the brand, the community, its members or purposes (e. g. my.IKANO, service.IKANO, locations.IKANO or events.IKANO).
The registry operator may establish stricter requirements for registrants by issuing new name selection policies, provided that such amendments are consistent with the communityʹs purpose.

* Requirements *
A .IKANO domain name can only consist of digits (0-9), hyphens, and the lowercase letters a-z. It must neither start nor end with an hyphen. If the domain name has hyphens at the third and fourth place, the name must be the A-label of a valid IDN, according to the description and tables contained in question 44. IDNs under .IKANO are supported in the following scripts: Latin, Cyrillic and Thai. The minimum length of a domain is one (1), the maximum length sixty-three (63) characters. If the domain is an IDN, the maximum length is determined in accordance with RFC 5890 and RFC 5891.

* Reserved Names *
Reserved and excluded from registration by an accredited registrar are all domain names defined in ʺSpecification 5ʺ to the ʺRegistry Agreement of the Applicant Guidebook (currently as of 01⁄11⁄2012). In ʺSpecification 5ʺ, paragraph 4, reserved domain names, according to the ʺSpecification 5ʺ to ʺRegistry Agreement of the Applicant Guidebook (currently as of 11.01.2012) are registered by the Registry directly. In accordance with ʺSpecification 5ʺ, paragraph 2 and 5, reserved domain names can be registered by an accredited registrar, according to the ʺSpecification 5ʺ to ʺRegistry Agreement of the Applicant Guidebook (currently as of 01⁄11⁄2012) after release.

* Content and Use *
The Ikano S.A. operates services, especially websites and email services, which are associated or connected with a registered domain name, by themselve. Ikano S.A. is entitled to authorize the use and operation of such DNS-based services to third parties. In this respect the only authorized entities are the Ikano S.A. and all affiliated entities of the Ikano S.A. (in particular parent, subsidiary and affiliated companies, or otherwise connected companies that the ICANN definition of ʺaffiliateʺ in the ʺRegistry Agreement of the Applicant Guidebook, Version: 11.01.2012, § 2, 9c corresponds to). The use of registered domain names and related services is permitted only for business-related purposes of Ikano S.A.. A domain name cannot be made available for use by a third party who is not entitled to use.

* Allocation *
Although only the Ikano S.A. is entitled to register domain names under the TLD .IKANO, according to the requirements of the Registry Agreements of the Applicant Guidebook (as of 11⁄01⁄2012) a so-called ʺsunrise periodʺ for the protection of specific rights is preceded. The ʺsunrise periodʺ is subject to the provisions of the Trademark Clearinghouse Applicant Guidebook (currently as of 01⁄11⁄2012). Prerequisite for applying for a domain name during the Sunrise Period is the eligibility under the TLD .IKANO. Moreover, the order of registrations based on the principle ʺfirst come first servedʺ.

* Dispute Policies *
The registry has established three arbitration proceedings outside the jurisdiction generally. This is the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP http:⁄⁄www.icann.org⁄en⁄help⁄dndr⁄udrp), Uniform Rapid Suspension (URS according to Applicant Guidebook, Version 11.01.2012) and the Trademark Dispute Resolution Procedures Post-delegation (PDDRP according to Applicant Guidebook, include module 5, §5.4.1, Version 11⁄01⁄2012). All registry accredited registrars are required to include UDRP, URS and PDDRP, as applicable part in the registration agreement. If a UDRP proceedings brought by a non-authorized third party in which the third party prevails, the third party cannot achieve the transfer of the domain name, but only the deletion of the domain.

* Enforcement *
The registry will set up a process for any questions and challenges that may arise from registrations. Complainants will be provided a single point of contact via the registry’s website to submit any questions and complaints regarding alleged abuse. The registry also follows the standard dispute policies as defined in Q 28 and Q 39.

v.
No. There will be no such measures since all domain names will be exclusively registered by Ikano S.A..

vi.
Ikano S.A. invests a significant budget in the global promotion of its brand including the mention of domain names on nearly all promotional materials.
In the future after the approval of .IKANO this marketing power will be used for the promotion of domain name with the extension .IKANO in order to create a quick uptake in awareness of the new .IKANO domain names worldwide.

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