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

Prototypical answer:

For those associated with MIT (as well as internet users not affiliated with MIT), the “.mit” TLD system would create a reliable mechanism for identifying the plethora groups, laboratories, departments, offices, and⁄or persons which constitute MIT. The gTLD program offers remarkable potential as a tool for promoting MIT as a world-class educational and research institute and for further distinguishing MIT from its peers. By implementing the gTLD, MIT hopes to create a reliably seamless and aesthetically-pleasing online environment for users to explore MIT and the offices, groups, and persons associated therewith. MIT is confident that, for those people and groups associated with MIT, the introduction of “.mit” domains will not only bolster their sense of community, but also serve to facilitate communications and operations among MIT employees, offices, and sub-units, thereby supporting MIT’s daily operations.
If permitted to implement the “.mit” TLD, MIT plans to offer the opportunity to register “.mit” domains only to the following MIT units and employees: schools, colleges, and joint programs; academic departments; laboratories; research initiatives and alliances as well as inter-disciplinary centers and programs; administrative offices and units; and academicians (including professors, associate professors, assistant professors, adjunct professors, lecturers, and instructors). (Collectively, these persons and entities to whom MIT intends to offer the opportunity to register “.mit” TLDs shall be referred to as “eligible registrants”.) During at least the first three (3) years of MIT’s implementing the “.mit” TLD, students (whether undergraduate or graduate), postdoctoral associates, and non-academician researchers and staff shall not be eligible to register a “.mit” TLD. In addition, scientists, researchers, and anyone else visiting MIT from other institutions or companies will not be eligible to register a “.mit” TLD. Eligible registrants will not be charged by MIT, or otherwise incur any fees or costs from MIT, in conjunction with the request of, maintenance of, and⁄or use of “.mit” domains.
As of March 1, 2012, MIT estimates that there are one hundred forty-seven (147) MIT administrative units, all of which would qualify as “eligible registrants” and, therefore, be permitted to request registration of a “.mit” domain. As of March 1, 2012, MIT estimates that it maintains three hundred sixty-eight (368) non-academician eligible registrants (i.e. 368 entities other than academicians that would be permitted to apply to register a “.mit” TLD pursuant to MIT’s prescribed policies and procedures). This sum of non-academician eligible registrants is composed of one hundred forty-seven (147) MIT administrative units and two hundred twenty-one (221) non-administrative units. Examples of such “non-academician eligible registrants” include, but are not limited to, administrative units, academic departments, laboratories, joint programs, and interdisciplinary initiatives. In addition, as of March 1, 2012, MIT estimates that it includes one thousand seven hundred thirty-eight (1,738) academicians. For reasons explained in the response to Question 47(a), MIT has, for purposes of its TLD application, increased its projection for the total number of eligible registrants to two thousand five hundred (2,500). This includes an increase in the number of non-academician eligible registrants from three hundred sixty-eight (368) to five hundred (500); and an increase in the number of academician eligible registrants from one thousand seven hundred thirty-eight (1,738) to two thousand (2,000). The increase in the number of non-academician eligible registrants was implemented to account for any underestimation of the number of non-academician eligible registrants and any additional non-academician eligible registrants that might become part of MIT between March 1, 2012 and the end of Year 3 (as identified in Template 1). Similarly, the increase in the number of academician eligible registrants to two thousand (2,000) (for purposes of MIT’s projection) was implemented primarily to account for any underestimation of the number of academician eligible registrants and⁄or any academician eligible registrants that might join MIT between March 1, 2012 and the end of Year 3 (as identified in Template 1). To register a “.mit” TLD, eligible registrants will be required to submit a request to MIT’s Office of Information Services & Technology (“IS&T”).
IS&T will facilitate the “.mit” domain request process by establishing multiple web sites outlining the prescribed policies and procedures governing “.mit” TLDs. IS&T will first establish a “mit.edu” web site outlining the aforementioned policies and procedures. IS&T will create this site soon after MIT receives confirmation that ICANN has approved its application for the “.mit” TLD. Once the “.mit” TLD has been deployed into the root zone, IS&T will promptly implement a “.mit” site which also delineates the policies and procedures applicable to “.mit” domain registration requests. (The aforementioned sites shall be collectively referred to as the “Policies and Procedures Sites”.)
The policies and procedures applicable to “.mit” domain registrations have been devised by IS&T and MIT’s Technology Licensing Office (“TLO”) in consultation with MIT’s Office of General Counsel (“OGC”), MIT’s outside counsel, and MIT’s selected back-end registry service provider. To submit a “.mit” domain request, eligible registrants should either: (i) access one of the “Policies and Procedures Sites” and submit the request via an email address (corresponding to a general IS&T mailbox) identified on that site, or (ii) contact IS&T by telephone or email to request instructions on how to request a “.mit” domain. (The email address included on the “Policies and Procedures Sites” for purposes of receiving domain requests will be created specifically to support the roll-out of the “.mit” program and will correspond to a general mailbox accessible to several IS&T staff members as well as certain TLO and OGC staff members.) The email address will be of (or substantially similar to) the form “register@registry.mit”, “register@mit.edu”, or both.
These sites will also (i) provide MIT’s “TLD Anti-Abuse Policy”, which is described in the response to Question 28, and (ii) specify at least one email address to serve as a point of contact for abuse complaints. MIT’s “TLD Anti-Abuse Policy” has been devised with the help of its back-end registry service provider, and it is intended to ensure the TLD’s integrity. MIT’s
“Anti-Abuse Policy” will be enacted via the agreement between MIT and its chosen registrar; and the obligations will be made binding upon registrants. By implementing this policy, MIT hopes to make reasonable attempts to limit significant harm to internet users.
As part of its “Anti-Abuse Policy”, MIT will create certain email addresses for purposes of reporting illegal, fraudulent, and⁄or otherwise malicious instances of use. The address(es) will take (or be substantially to) the form “abuse@registry.mit” and⁄or “abuse@mit.edu”. IS&T staff members, as well as certain members of MIT’s TLO and OGC staffs, will have access to these addresses, and they will be able to monitor abuse reports on a continual basis. For purposes of internally tracking the abuse reports received, MIT will implement a ticketing system which will be applied to all complaints. Once MIT receives a report of abuse via either of the designated addresses, an MIT representative will evaluate the complaint and determine what type of action, if any, is needed to sufficiently address the reported conduct.
For purposes of the “.mit” TLD, MIT will implement other rights protection measures, as fully described in the response to Question 29. First of all, MIT will implement a Modified Sunrise program (detailed in the answer to Question 29) which utilizes the Trademark Clearinghouse and the services of one of ICANN’s approved dispute resolution providers. In addition, MIT will comply with the policies and requirements of the UDRP, the URS, and the Post Delegation Dispute Resolution Procedure (“PDDRP”). Finally, MIT will adhere to all ICANN-mandated and independently-developed rights protection mechanisms included in the registry-registrar agreement entered into by ICANN-accredited registrars authorized to register names in the TLD.
MIT anticipates that it will begin receiving requests to register “.mit” domains after the close of the Quiet Period, which will follow MIT’s prescribed Modified Sunrise program (described in the response to Question 29). Upon receipt of a “.mit” domain request, IS&T will first determine whether the request was submitted by an eligible registrant. (This initial review process represents one facet of the rights protection plan adopted by MIT for purposes of the “.mit” TLD.) Of course, academicians seeking “.mit” domains should submit such requests themselves. If a request for a “.mit” domain has been submitted on behalf of an academician, IS&T will confirm with the academician that he⁄she authorized the domain request and⁄or would like to continue the “.mit” domain request process. It is likely that some academicians will ask their assistants, students, post-doctoral associates, and⁄or affiliates to request a “.mit” domain on their behalf. However, it will be important to ensure that each domain request submitted by or on behalf of an academician either has, in fact, been previously authorized by the academician or is otherwise supported by the academician. If an academician reports that (i) he⁄she has not authorized the domain request and does not wish to pursue a “.mit” domain or (ii) at any point after authorizing or submitting the domain request and prior to issuance of the domain notifies IS&T that he⁄she no longer wants the domain registration, IS&T will cease the registration process. Otherwise, the review process will continue.
For “.mit” domain requests submitted on behalf of non-academician eligible registrants (i.e. academic departments, administrative units, laboratories, etc.), IS&T will ascertain whether the appropriate person(s) associated with the non-academician eligible registrant have authorized, or otherwise support, the domain request. This stage of the review process is intended to guarantee that, for all “.mit” domain requests submitted by non-academician eligible registrants, the person(s) responsible for managing the operations of the requesting entity actually endorse(s) the domain request.
If IS&T determines that the person(s) responsible for overseeing a non-academician eligible registrant support(s) the “.mit” domain request, then IS&T will move forward with reviewing the domain request. If, however, IS&T assesses that the person(s) responsible for managing a non-academician eligible registrant do not support the issuance of a “.mit” domain for that entity, IS&T will terminate the review process for the “.mit” domain for that entity. (The termination or abandonment, for any reason, of any eligible registrant’s application for a “.mit” domain will not preclude that eligible registrant from submitting a future request for a “.mit” domain.) IS&T will also inform the person(s) managing the eligible registrant that, if they subsequently determine that they would like to pursue a “.mit” domain, they may submit another request to IS&T, which will be subject to the same review process and “.mit” domain availability.
The next step in this review process will involve IS&T’s ensuring that the requested “.mit” domain is neither a domain name reserved during the Modified Sunrise program nor a domain name that: (i) contains any country or territory names included in the lists specified in Paragraph 5 of Specification 5 of the gTLD Registry Agreement or (ii) otherwise violates the reservation of names policies outlined in Specification 5 of the gTLD Registry Agreement and⁄or the terms of MIT’s “Protection of Geographic Names” policy, as described in the response to Question 22. Also, prior to the issuance of a requested “.mit” domain, a member of MIT’s TLO or OGC staff will review each such domain in order to determine whether the requested domain includes any: (i) MIT trademark and⁄or service mark or (ii) the trademark and⁄or service mark of any third parties. These efforts to review requested domains for trademark-related issues will be ongoing during the operation of the “.mit” TLD (i.e. MIT will conduct this sort of review for each “.mit” domain request received for as long as MIT operates the “.mit” TLD). MIT hopes that this type of trademark-oriented review process (prior to issuance of a domain registration) will minimize the potential for trademark-related disputes, Uniform Domain-Name Dispute Resolution Policy (“UDRP”) proceedings, and Uniform Rapid Suspension System (“URS”) actions. This type of thorough review for each “.mit” domain request is possible due to the fact that, for at least the first three (3) years of the program, MIT will make “.mit” domains available only to a relatively small group of eligible registrants.
If a TLO or OGC staff member, as applicable, determines that the requested domain does not include any trademark and⁄or service mark of either MIT or a third party, he⁄she will recommend that IS&T continues the “.mit” domain registration process. If a TLO or OGC staff member determines that the requested “.mit” domain includes an MIT trademark and⁄or service mark, the representative may, at his or her discretion, advise that IS&T either terminate or continue the domain registration process. Similarly, if a TLO or OGC staff member determines that the requested “.mit” domain includes a name or term commonly used (as a trademark⁄service mark) by a third party but that such third party rights are not superior to those rights (to use the mark(s)) of MIT and⁄or the eligible registrant, then the representative will, at his or her discretion, advise IS&T to continue the domain registration process. If, however, a TLO or OGC staff member determines that the requested “.mit” domain incorporates trademarks and⁄or service marks to which a third party maintains rights superior to those of MIT and⁄or the eligible registrant, then the representative will inform IS&T that it must cease the registration process for that particular “.mit” domain. At that point, an IS&T representative will notify the eligible registrant that the registration process has been terminated and explain why MIT will not issue the requested “.mit” domain. TLO and⁄or OGC staff members will also be available to explain to prospective registrants why MIT will not permit registration of certain domain names. In such cases, IS&T will also work with an eligible registrant to determine alternative “.mit” domains which MIT is more likely to issue. In addition, if a TLO or OGC representative determines that a requested “.mit” domain includes a name, acronym, or term used by and more closely associated with an eligible registrant other than the one which submitted the “.mit” domain request, the representative may deny the domain request at his or her discretion. (As described in the response to Question 28, MIT’s right to deny, cancel, or transfer any registration or transaction, or place any domain name(s) on registry lock, hold, or similar status, that it deems necessary will be reserved for certain purposes pursuant to the Registry-Registrar Agreement.) Finally, MIT reserves the right to deny a requested domain name if MIT deems the requested domain name to be obscene, malicious, or otherwise objectionable; and this aspect of MIT’s “.mit” domain registration policy will be made available on the Policies and Procedures Sites.
If, after a domain registration request has been fully reviewed by the applicable MIT staff members (of IS&T, TLO, and⁄or OGC), it is determined that the domain may be registered as requested, IS&T will forward the necessary registration information (i.e. registrant identity, contact information, etc.) to MIT’s chosen ICANN Accredited registrar. IS&T, TLO, and OGC staff members will review submitted domain requests in a timely fashion; and, once MIT approves a domain request, MIT will forward the necessary registrant information (and domain request) to the chosen registrar within one (1) month of the domain’s approval. For “.mit” domains corresponding to non-academician eligible registrants, MIT will be identified as the registrant. For “.mit” domains requested by academician eligible registrants (and approved by MIT pursuant to the process outlined herein), the academician will serve as the registrant. For all information provided to MIT by a prospective registrant in connection with the “.mit” domain registration process, MIT will use commercially reasonable efforts to avoid disclosing such information outside of MIT (i.e. to persons or entities not associated with MIT). Notwithstanding the foregoing, however, MIT shall apprise domain applicants that, if their registration application is approved, MIT will forward the necessary registrant information to MIT’s selected registrar service provider. At a minimum, MIT will treat registration applicants’ personal information with a degree of care and confidentiality at least as protective as the standard implemented by MIT’s chosen, ICANN Accredited registrar service provider.
In general, “.mit” domains will be available to eligible registrants on a first-come⁄first-serve basis. Yet, if an eligible registrant wishes to prove superior rights to a “.mit” domain that has already been registered to another eligible registrant, then the contesting eligible registrant may submit notification of a dispute via the appropriate link on one of the Policies and Procedures Sites. These disputes will be reviewed by at least one IS&T representative and at least one staff member from either the TLO or OGC. Each party (i.e. the eligible registrant that already registered the at-issue domain and the contesting eligible registrant) shall be afforded an opportunity to explain to those reviewing the dispute why he⁄she⁄it is the more suitable registrant for that “.mit” domain. Final decisions (relating to such matters) will be communicated in writing to the parties involved in the matter. The TLO reserves the right to issue final decisions on such matters, and this aspect of MIT’s “.mit” domain registration policy shall be specified on MIT’s Policies and Procedures Sites.
To notify eligible registrants (and the MIT community, as a whole) of the “.mit” TLD program, MIT plans to leverage the efforts of existing employees within the MIT TLO and MIT’s News Office. Specifically, at least one staff member from MIT’s News Office and one staff member from MIT’s TLO will work together to create press releases which will be released on the MIT home page (www.mit.edu). MIT’s efforts to advertise the TLD will focus on the relevant “eligible registrant” community. However, MIT will also ensure that the MIT News Office makes certain press releases (detailing MIT’s implementation of the “.mit” TLD) available to non-MIT media outlets. MIT estimates that, during the initial implementation of the “.mit” TLD (i.e. beginning soon after MIT’s learns of its application’s approval by ICANN), one (1) News Office representative and one (1) TLO representative will, for one (1) month, each devote twenty-five percent (25%) of each work week (i.e. ten (10) hours per week) to preparing and disseminating material intended to announce the “.mit” TLD. Once this initial phase of advertising the “.mit” TLD ends, the MIT News Office and MIT TLO to work together to release quarterly announcements highlighting the TLD, including the implementation and progress thereof. These quarterly efforts will involve each of the two (2) employees devoting approximately three (3) hours of work time per quarter.

Similar gTLD applications: (0)