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

Prototypical answer:

gTLDFull Legal NameE-mail suffixDetail
.bzhAssociation www.bzhafnic.frView

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1 - Introduction

The goal of the .BZH registry to develop a close relationship with the Breton community, mainly based in Brittany, by developing the use of domain names and related
websites. This will happen through close collaboration with local private and public players in order to promote uses and provide services related to the new registry
(creation of websites, web hosting…).

The level of service aims both to meet international standards and to build a close relationship with the final user who favors the development of a regional, cultural
and linguistic registry. Indeed, the level of service aimed at is that of an international registry: the technical service to registrars will be provided by the AFNIC,
registry in charge of the .fr geographical domain and therefore fully able to guarantee, through its proven track record, the level of service expected by
international operators. The close relationship with the community will be managed with the help of networks supporting the gTLD project, informative meetings in the
whole cultural and linguistic area and by the installation of the registry in Quimper, one of the most vibrant Breton cities in terms of language and culture.

A particular effort will be made to improve the quality of the gTLD in terms of technology and innovation in relation with the IT players in the area. The example of
the Catalan .CAT registry shows how innovative services (IDN, DNSSEC) can be developed in a niche market. This approach has resulted in an 80% annual renewal rate for
.cat names, i.e. 10 % more than the average rate.

Since the proposed gTLD directly addresses the community attached to Brittany, in particular in cultural and economic areas, its reputation is extremely important.

This reputation will be guaranteed by compliance with a fair use that will assure that uses are harmless to the image of the community and the consistency of the gTLD.
The registry will be extremely mindful of the implementation of standards and best practices in terms of trademark protection and users security, including personal
data protection. These topics will be developed in questions 28 and 29.


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

There is currently only one gTLD related to a pre-existing cultural and linguistic community, the Catalan .CAT. The .bzh gTLD addresses a specific need by allowing
individuals, associations, businesses, etc., to display their attachment to Brittany, its culture and its languages.

The success of the online petition (more than 20,000 signatories) published on the candidate’s website (http:⁄⁄www.pointbzh.com) testifies to this potential demand
that will complement the current offer of gTLDs. In collaboration with the public and private players involved in the development of digital uses (Regional Council of
Brittany, Images et Réseaux cluster,...), the promotion of this grassroots registry and the information released in the field will reach new audiences, less accustomed
to IT but willing to display a particular identity online, thus expanding the global market for domain names. This principle is a reality for .cat: a third of
registrants for the .cat registry did not previously own a domain name. The gTLD will therefore stimulate competition by allowing targeted segmentation and
communication.

The concept of differentiation is directly applicable to the project since the gTLD is designed to reflect the existence of a particular cultural and linguistic
identity, to reflect the diversity and expand the choices of registrants and users. It will allow particular contents to be marked and enable communication through
affinities with people related to or interested in the Breton community.

The gTLD will therefore be a tool for the promotion of the territory for players who wish to gear their communication towards audiences related to the Breton
community. The gTLD can thus be used by existing networks that encourage local production and identity such as or Produit en Bretagne the Marque Bretagne.

One of the goals of the proposed gTLD being to highlight the know-how and abilities of Brittany in IT, the registry will rely on the resources of the Breton community
to invent or support the implementation of new services (portals, commercial offers, etc.) in areas where the Breton identity matters. It will also highlight local
innovations through dedicated websites.

Brittany indeed relies on a widely recognized know-how in IT, with the creation of or contribution to technologies and standards such as JPG2, MP3 or ATM (Asynchronous
Transfer Mode). It is also in Brittany that the HD Wireless was produced and broadcast in 2006.

The wealth of networks and the extent of Breton Research & Development will also benefit projects related to the future gTLD. Today, 35 % of the French public research
is located in Brittany and 44,000 jobs are related to this sector. The world-class Images & Networks competitiveness cluster brings together more than 220 regional
players in industry and research, who work on new digital image technologies and new networks for content distribution.

The gTLD will also be keen to develop innovative services for users of cultural and linguistic registries in relation with the gTLDs of the ECLID network.


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3 - What goals does your proposed gTLD have in terms of user experience?

Many benefits are expected from the .bzh gTLD :
* Improved online representation. Thanks to the registry, Internet will better reflect offline reality. The gTLD will better represent the community of Brittany on
the internet, notably by helping to display online its cultural and linguistic vitality. Indeed, Brittany is the second French region for its listed heritage or for
music record production. It is the first region for the number of festivals, for its associative system or for the reading of daily newspapers. Part of its internet
contents are displayed in one of its two regional languages, Breton or Gallo (for instance the Breton language is the 51st language used on Wikipedia and the first
Celtic language).

* An answer to the community’s expectations. The number and variety of the support received are indicators of high expectations from the community for the creation of
this new gTLD. Users of the Breton community can currently choose only between geographic or generic TLDs that do not reflect their Breton identity. However, in
addition to its linguistic and cultural expression, this identity appears to be fundamental in various aspects of the community’s life

* From an economic standpoint : the tourism sector is very large (about 10% of regional GDP) and relies to a great extent on the heritage and cultural identity of
Brittany. The food & agricultural sector (close to 40 % of the regional industry) also heavily relies on the Breton image and culture for marketing purposes.

* From a social standpoint : a sizeable and ancient Breton diaspora has been identified (estimated between 4 and 6 million people), partly due to poverty-related
emigration, partly to the maritime character of Brittany. Close to a million Bretons live in Paris and its surroundings. There is also dozens of thousands of them in
the French largest harbor cities as well as in the European Union, Canada or the United States. The members of the diaspora have expressed the wish to keep strong
cultural and identity ties with Brittany and regularly arrange events (music, dance…).

The proximity of the registry to its community (involvement of the community in management, meetings, awareness of requests from the Breton community…) will ensure it
addresses existing expectations :
* Highlighting of the websites related to the Breton community. The gTLD aims to federate websites related to Brittany, its culture, its languages, and to structure
the Breton internet community. The .bzh gTLD will provide additional information, helping the user to immediately understand the purpose of a website and the targeted
affinity audience. The registrants will therefore benefit from a specific marker to better label their products and contents, just like they do offline with symbols
representative of the Breton identity (flag, Celtic symbols…). Access to contents, especially linked to culture and language, will become more user-friendly.

* Adequate naming. While the registrants today display their identity by using various words in their domain names (Breton, breizh, Bretagne, bzh), with the new gTLD
they will be able to offer added value through adequate and available naming.

* A trusted interaction-friendly area. The use of an identity symbol, in the case .bzh, will de facto establish preferential communication and trust between the
registrant and the user in terms of significance and values shared by a single community. This trust will be reinforced by the regulations implemented by the registry,
which will guarantee compliance with registration rules, prior intellectual property rights and compliance with a fair use by the registrants (fight against
typosquatting, parking sites…).

* Development of uses. Further development of uses and practices is expected through the creation of a community gTLD, that will encourage first-time name ownership
through attachment to the community, and then subsequently develop into wider on-line practices. The link between the creation of a gTLD and the development of uses
has been demonstrated by the .cat registry whereby a third of registrants did not previously own a domain name.

* The image of an innovative regional territory. By highlighting Brittany on the internet, the gTLD will reinforce its image of an innovative territory, already
related to the strong presence of IT players and the programs implemented by public institutions (ultra high speed internet, public access points, open data,…).


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

The registration policies have been prepared based on the track record of existing TLDs operation and launches so as to facilitate registrant’s activities, guarantee
fair treatment, take prior rights into account, limit costs and manage the procedures.

Registration will take place in several phases, so as to progressively build up momentum for registration and manage the collective learning curve of the community.

= Phase 1 =

First of all a pre-launch phase will be implemented, upstream of the next steps. Pioneer names will be launched in relation with representative partners in the
community (public institutions, cultural organizations, companies…), carefully selected for the value they add to the gTLD.

Meanwhile an open call for projects will be launched on generic terms, with priority given to the value added for the community by the services proposed by the
candidates.

These registrants will be involved far upstream so that their communication on a .bzh website is planned in advance and the website activated as soon as the launch
phase of the registry starts.

This pre-launch phase will be limited to a few dozen domain names. The registrants will thus benefit from the scarcity of the names and maximum exposure to the
community during the sunrise ⁄ landrush phase, with temporary exclusivity on .bzh websites. In return, the registry will benefit from communication efforts from the

registrants, arousing public interest for the next phase, open to all community members :
* The first flagships will show the many possible uses of .bzh
* The impact of this communication will be strong since the pre-launch phase will coordinate the communication strategies of the registry and the registrants

= Phase 2 =

The sunrise and landrush phases will take place simultaneously during a 3-month period.

The first-come, first-served method will therefore not be the only rule for name allocation.

The sunrise phase will take prior rights into account. A priority order will be given in case of multiple requests, taking into account the interests of the community:
* Institutions that are representative of the linguistic and cultural community
* Public institutions
* Cultural and linguistic associations
* Prior rights related to intellectual property
* Trademarks with legal value in Brittany
* Other registred distinctive signs with legal value in Brittany
* Individual members of the cultural and linguistic community (booking of family name) and members of the association www.bzh.

These registrants will be allowed to apply for domain names directly related to their prior rights.

The application procedure will be automated to ensure a secure and transparent procedure. A WHOIS will be set up during the sunrise phase to allow participants to keep
track of applications and enforce their prior rights in the event.

Each application will be individually validated against both the general requirements of .BZH registration policies and the specific requirements of each Category or
Sub-Category. Priority will be differentiated by Category (and Sub-category) each one having absolute priority over the next one.
Within each Category (and Sub-category) all validated applications will be deemed to carry the same rights.

Priorities should solve most of multiple applications. In case priorities cannot provide a resolution, the following procedures will be applied (in that order):
agreement between registrants, random selection, mediation, arbitration, auction.

An agreement between registrants means that one registrant will keep the domain name while the other or others will withdraw their application (and get a refund
accordingly).

Random selection is optional : the contenders must unanimously accept to use the procedure.

In case of disagreement, mediation then arbitration would then be implemented at the expense of registrants. The registry will charge any cost borne by the procedure.
Mediation will be directly handled by the Registry. Arbitration will be carried out by an independent and experienced Mediation and Arbitration Authority. In that
case, no application for the same name from the same or lower rank in Sunrise priority will be approved, pending the decision.

An auction will be made if all others means of resolution have failed.

The landrush phase will be running in parallel during the Sunrise and will be open to all eligible applicants (see question 20) for domain names not subject to prior
rights, on a first-come, first-served basis. The domain names registered during this period will be activated at the end of the 3-month phase.

= Phase 3 =

The subsequent phase will be general availability. The domain names will be sold to eligible applicants (see question 20) on a first-come, first-served basis with
immediate activation. The price will be adjusted to ensure adequate operation of the registry while allowing the largest number of community members to register a
domain name.

Advertising and communication campaigns will be implemented before each phase so that community members fully understand the changes made, with clear rules and
detailed process explanations.


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5 - 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

The gTLD will thoroughly enforce measures to protect registrants and users privacy and confidential information, a key aspect of its reputation. All available
technologies will be used to ensure this, in compliance with European and French regulations. Anti data-mining procedures may include rate limitation, authenticated
access, black ⁄ white listing, prevention of unauthorized repetitive access. Such procedures will be detailed in question 28.

Describe whether and in what ways outreach and communications will help to achieve your projected benefits.
The registry will intially rely on the communication work already carried out to promote the new gTLD: awareness of the .bzh project has been recognized for several
years and the project is clearly identified by the community and the media, both regional and national, that broadcast news about the project.

The idea of a .bzh gTLD was launched in 2004 by a member of the French parliament Christian Ménard. An online petition, initiated by Mikael Bodlore-Penlaez, has
rallied internet users for the first time in 2006. Several Breton communities in 2006 expressed unanimous votes in favor of the project, giving the project
institutional visibility: General Council of Ille-et-Vilaine, Regional Council of Brittany,, General Council of Finistère, General Council of Loire Atlantique.

The project was then structured in 2008 around an association, www.bzh, bringing together the various players involved in the .bzh project, previously involved in a
study commissionned by the Regional Council of Brittany to the think tank Bretagne Prospective. The purpose of the association www.bzh is to prepare the application,
collect the funds required for it to be filed and ensure the promotion of the .bzh project within the Breton community. It will subsequently manage the gTLD.

Within the bounds of this mission, the association www.bzh has developed actions of communication and promotion actions on the gTLD geared towards the Breton community
(website, social networks, meetings…) but also the ICANN, notably within the ECLID network (European Cultural and Linguistic Internet Domains), which brings together
various associations managing similar projects in Europe.

This communication work has resulted in many public events organized or joined by the association, constant online animation (website, Facebook and Twitter accounts…),
numerous mentions in national or regional media… All these efforts have raised the community’s awareness of the project. Evidence of genuine popular support, the
petition to support the gTLD on the association’s website (http:⁄⁄www.pointbzh.com) has collected more than 20,000 signatures to date.

Likewise, the effort made from the start to inform the Breton community representatives has resulted in formal support for the gTLD application (see question 20) and
financial support (Regional Council of Brittany, General Council of Loire-Atlantique, Quimper Community, French Government,..).

To further these actions, the gTLD will rely on the many networks that structure the Breton community, which are already mobilized for the application : cultural and
linguistic networks, political networks, business networks, media, higher education establishments (see question 20f for further information).

This involvement, in addition to creating valuable communication channels in their various domains, will build interdependence of the community members around the .bzh project, which will reinforce consistency and good use of the registry.

Communication actions toward the community are planned during the various phases of commercial development of the gTLD and can be amplified by the associated networks that structure the Breton community :
* Pre-launch with pioneer names representative of the community and calls for projects to propose innovative services to the Breton community
* Sunrise phase to highlight the institutions representative of the cultural and linguistic community
* General availability, intended to allow the largest number of community members to register while guaranteeing sound development of the registry

Similar gTLD applications: (0)

gTLDFull Legal NameE-mail suffixzDetail