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

Prototypical answer:

NGO will benefit registrants, Internet users, and others as described below in response sections 18b(i-v).

18b(i): The goal of .NGO is to provide an exclusive domain to be used only by NGOs. Since NGOs rely on the contributions of foundations, individuals and public institutions to advance their respective missions, their reputation as trustworthy stewards of such funds and transparency with respect to their operations is critical to their long-term viability. Through its ongoing interaction with the NGO Community, PIR is aware of the reputational challenges presented by “briefcase NGOs.” Briefcase NGOs hold themselves out as bona fide NGOs but are in fact fraudsters who abscond with donated funds thereby damaging the reputation of NGOs. .NGO will provide a platform through which NGOs can demonstrate accountability and transparency to their potential donors with a unique online domain.

Specific value to potential registrants includes:
• .NGO will provide a unique and exclusive, verified domain on the Internet where NGOs can assert their identities and can easily be found by end-users.
• .NGO will provide a credible venue for grassroots, local, regional and global NGOs to communicate with their key donors, influencers and followers.
• Although many NGOs already use the .ORG domain, .ORG is an “open” domain that is used by a variety of non-commercial and commercial organizations. NGOs also use domain names of other gTLDs and ccTLDs. The .NGO domain provides an opportunity for clearer identification.
• .NGO will provide a set of services that allow NGOs multiple mechanisms for identification and discovery in an exclusive, trusted environment.

PIR has conducted numerous outreach and research activities within the NGO Community to identify needs for additional services beyond a .NGO domain. This has revealed that the NGO Community has a need for an online source of information about NGOs, combining regional and local organization information, ideally a directory to provide a global platform for raising online awareness. To address this need, PIR is considering an online, global directory for .NGO registrants. Within this directory the .NGO registrants could promote their organization, and share their contact information with the Internet community within a single, unique repository.

18b(ii): .NGO will advance the goals of competition, differentiation and innovation in a number a ways. Creating a unique gTLD for NGOs will advance competition among TLDs that currently offer domain service to NGOs. A restricted .NGO gTLD provides differentiated competition to TLDs and ccTLDs that NGOs might otherwise choose as a home for their second level domain registrations, and offers greater ease of getting their preferred domain name. Among the wide selection of TLDs, ccTLDs, sTLDs and IDN TLDs, an exclusive and uniquely identifiable .NGO gTLD will provide NGOs differentiation that also benefits users who are searching for NGOs on the Internet.

18b(iii): For the global Internet user community, the .NGO gTLD provides immediate identification and a level of confidence not available today. Individuals and corporate donors looking to partner with or fund qualified NGOs can turn to the .NGO domain to discover potential matches for their desired philanthropic or corporate social responsibility endeavors. Further, the enhanced level of accountability and transparency inherent in the restricted NGO Community domain will be a benefit to global Internet users.

18b(iv): To achieve the above goals and assure that .NGO domain names are allocated in a manner that serves the NGO Community, PIR has developed a set of .NGO Registration Policies and corresponding compliance and enforcement mechanisms.

The policies are built to match the needs of the NGO Community based on feedback from NGO Community members; experience from the .ORG gTLD management since 2003; and the need for a higher security level for .NGO domain names than what currently is considered as the standard global requirements for gTLDs today.

.NGO Registration Policies
The registration policies in support of the NGO Community goals are described in the following summary and are detailed later in this section.

• Registrant Eligibility Requirements – all registrants must demonstrate affiliation through NGO membership organizations or through evidence of NGO status. PIR will work with membership organization, the NGO Community Advisory Council, and other members of the NGO Community to validate their eligibility.
• Content and Use Restriction Policy – ensures that usage of the .NGO domain name corresponds with NGO Community activities.
• Compliance Functions – ensures ongoing compliance of the Registrant Eligibility Requirements, and the Content and Use Restriction Policy listed below.
• Name Selection Policy – ensures that only NGO Community relevant domain names are registered.
• Reserved Name Policy – names⁄types of domain names will initially be reserved from registration under .NGO.
• Registry Name Policy – names⁄types of domain names will be held from general availability, these will be used in support of the registry.

The following policies support of the NGO Community goals and are detailed in subsequent Evaluation Questions of the application dedicated to such policies, as noted below.

• Abuse Prevention and Mitigation – includes the Anti-Abuse Policy which addresses the identification and prompt action taken on malicious use of domain names, and the Restriction Dispute Resolution Policy (RDRP) which ensures that disputes concerning any of the .NGO Registration Policies can be solved in an appropriate manner. Detailed descriptions of both policies can be found in response to Evaluation Question #28.
• Rights Protection Mechanisms – protects intellectual property holders under the Trademark Clearinghouse, Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP), Uniform Rapid Suspension (URS), Registry Restrictions Dispute Resolution Procedures (RRDRP), Post-Delegation Dispute Resolution Policy (PDDRP), in addition to the Sunrise services and policies that can be found in response to Evaluation Question #29.

PIR will review all policies and processes on an annual basis with involvement from the PIR’s NGO Community Advisory Council and present the results to the NGO Community, allowing them to provide feedback.

Specific Policy Details

Registrant Eligibility Requirements: The .NGO domain registrations are open to NGO Community members. All registrants must demonstrate affiliation through NGO membership organizations or through evidence of NGO status. PIR will work with NGO membership organizations, the NGO Community Advisory Council, and other members of the NGO Community to validate the eligibility of prospective registrants.

In consultation with PIR’s NGO Community Advisory Council, PIR is reviewing potential NGO membership organizations who can verify the NGO status of registrants. NGO membership organizations include the following, and will expand over time:
• Global organizations: International associations and⁄or classification-based associations.
• Regional organizations: Associations across broad geographic areas, potentially including multiple countries or jurisdictions.
• Local organizations: Associations or groups that provide support and memberships at a country or local level.

During the registration process, the registrant will be asked to verify their eligibility and to demonstrate affiliation with a NGO member organization. Once the initial certification in step 1 of the verification process is confirmed, the domain is successfully created. If the .NGO registrant fails to provide any additional required information through step 2 of the verification process, the domain will be deleted and released back into the pool of available domains. See Evaluation Question #20e for detail on eligibility requirements.

Content and Use Restriction Policy: Abusive use of the .NGO domain names will not be tolerated by PIR. The following use and content limitations apply:
• Overall the .NGO domain name must be for a bona fide NGO use, as defined in the Restrictions Dispute Resolution in response to Evaluation Question #28.
• Websites must be developed with the intent to promote the corresponding .NGO registrant’s existing mission and activities, and not solely for commercialized or for-profit marketing usage.
• Any use of the registered domain name to engage in activities inconsistent with the definition of the corresponding NGO is not allowed.
• Any illegal or fraudulent usage of the .NGO domain name is not allowed, including but not limited to phishing and pharming attacks, distribution of malware, and distribution of adult content.
• Registration and use of a domain name in violation of Rights Protection Mechanisms is not allowed.

Violations of any of the .NGO Registration Policies may be grounds for loss of registration, pursuant to the enforcement mechanism discussed below (with an appeal procedure).

Compliance Functions: While disputes will be managed directly by the dispute resolution providers, PIR will to conduct random compliance efforts across all the .NGO Registration Policies. Periodically PIR will conduct through compliance staff a sample of .NGO registrations to verify claims to membership in a listed organization, name policy adherence, and compliance with the name and use policy.

If a registrant is found to not be in compliance, the registrant will be notified that the domain will be placed on registry lock and that if the issue is not cured, the domain will be terminated.

As part of the compliance function PIR will also utilize its existing expertise, obtained through its management of .ORG, to monitor and take action on any abusive behavior occurring on .NGO domain names.

Name Selection Policy: The .NGO domain name that a registrant wishes to register must fulfill certain name policy criteria. PIR will employ the following restrictions concerning the names that eligible .NGO registrants can register. A .NGO registered domain name may be:
1. the name of (entire or portion of) the NGO, e.g. its “doing business as” name,
2. an acronym representing the NGO,
3. a name that recognizes or generally describes the NGO, or
4. a name related to the mission or activities of the NGO.

Reserved Name Policy: The following names⁄types of domain names will initially be reserved from registration under .NGO:
• All single- and two-character second-level domain names;
• Domains of an inappropriate nature, e.g., adult-related terminology, pursuant to a list defined by PIR and its NGO Community Advisory Council;
• Names provided by ICANN as required reserved names;
• A list of generic names defined by PIR and its NGO Community Advisory Council based on the overall criteria that the names represent the NGO Community in a general manner. Such names will be released in a specific RFP process ensuring that the names will benefit the NGO Community.

Registry Name Policy: The following names⁄types of domain names will be held from general availability, these will be used in support of the registry.
• Names to support registry operations, e.g., directory.ngo;
• Names to support PIR’s NGO Community Advisory Council.

Compliance and Enforcement Mechanisms
PIR will take both proactive and reactive measures to enforce the policies of the gTLD. Proactive measures are taken at the time of registration by requiring .NGO registrants to meet the .NGO Registration Policies and to agree to all policies and procedures of the gTLD. Reactive measures are addressed via our audit process (described below) and through our defined dispute resolution processes.

A violation of the .NGO Registration Policies will be enforced on a case-by-case, fact specific basis, under the processes set forth below:
1. Any allegation that a domain name is not used primarily for NGO purposes shall be enforced under the provisions of the Restrictions Dispute Resolution Policy (ʺRDRPʺ) as described in Evaluation Question #28. The RDRP will be included as an appendix to the Registry Agreement. An appeal procedure is included in the RDRP.
2. Any alleged violation of the Rights Protection Mechanisms shall be enforced under the provisions contained in each of them.

Disputes resulting from violations of the .NGO Registration Policies will be resolved through the Compliance Functions and the Rights Protection Mechanisms. The Rights Protection Mechanisms (as detailed in Evaluation Question #29) will be made applicable by the ICANN-Accredited Registrarsʹ registration agreements with registrants. Proceedings under the Rights Protection Mechanisms will be conducted in accordance with the policies and procedures that will be included in an appendix to the Registry Agreement. As set forth in the Compliance Functions, the registry operator will review on a random basis, monitor, and verify that any particular domain name is being used primarily for NGO purposes and that a domain name is being used in compliance with the Rights Protection Mechanisms processes.

18b(v): PIR will manage .NGO in accordance with best practices and specific policies around privacy and data protection, as it does for nearly 10 million .ORG registrations today. Specific protections of the WHOIS administered by the registry backend service provider can be found in Evaluation Question #26, and details on our privacy policies in Evaluation Question #28.

Ongoing outreach and communications with the NGO community ensures that we meet the projected benefits as described and established in response to #18b(i-v). The NGO Community is large and global in reach. As such, coordinated efforts and international outreach and communication are necessary. As described in the following, PIR has conducted and is committed to continuing important outreach and communication with the NGO Community to promote the .NGO gTLD so that it may fully provide these benefits to NGOs and their respective stakeholders.

Pursuant to its mission, PIR has been conducting outreach to the NGO Community since its management of the .ORG domain began in 2003. Over the course of 2011, PIR engaged in a global outreach and communications effort to the NGO Community to explain the intended benefits of the new .NGO gTLD, soliciting advice and feedback, and seeking their support for the application. Throughout 2011 and continuing through 2012, PIR has conducted outreach in many forms – one-on-one meetings, group meetings in cooperation with local NGO associations, a series of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) workshops dedicated to bringing internet access and usage to the NGO Community, forum discussions at NGO association meetings and conferences, and webinars for the NGO Community.

The outreach has spanned multiple countries across Asia, Europe, North America, South America⁄Latin America, and Africa. Also, the outreach has spanned across many different segments of the NGO Community to include individual NGOs and national, regional and global NGO associations. PIR has presented the .NGO gTLD proposal and received support letters from NGOs engaged in activities including but not limited to agriculture, environment, arts⁄culture, charitable services, human rights, humanitarian, and advocacy for a range of issues affecting societal development. PIR has received enthusiastic support and has been provided with specific feedback from NGOs and NGO associations concerning the management of the .NGO domain.

Specific to the projected benefits for the .NGO gTLD, the outreach is helping us and the NGOs in the following way:

Exclusivity – Through PIR’s outreach effort to gather input, NGO’s have asked for an exclusive space on the worldwide web to verify their credentials and to prevent “briefcase NGOs” (i.e., fraudsters) from registering the .NGO gTLD, so as to enhance the reputation of bona fide NGOs. The outreach has and will continue to enable PIR to sign up membership organizations to assist in the verification of the .NGO Registration Requirements. The registration eligibility requirements that we have established with the NGO Community and the associated enforcement mechanisms will create the exclusivity for proven community members and establish trust with the public.

Visibility – The outreach effort and community response described above has underscored the community need for improving their visibility in new ways. The gTLD domain ending in .NGO is seen by the community as providing a unique identifier to stand out in a crowded worldwide web – a distinctive new form of identification.

Reliability – NGO input during our outreach has underscored the importance of reliable technical administration and management of the gTLD domain. Based on PIR’s long-term successful management of .ORG and its outreach with the NGO Community, it will ensure the secure and stable operation of the .NGO gTLD, the delivery of beneficial value added services to NGOs, proper handling of data, and an ongoing relationship with the NGO Community.

The outreach program will allow PIR to achieve the projected benefits of unique identification, differentiation, competition, and an enhanced level of user confidence through the .NGO domain name.

PIR will continue its outreach to the NGO Community throughout 2012 and beyond through meetings and workshops in all global regions. PIR will conduct face-to-face meetings and calls with the NGO Community Advisory Council seeking ongoing input and advice with respect to the management of the .NGO gTLD and the certification processes necessary to ensure that only bona fide NGOs register in the .NGO gTLD.

Similar gTLD applications: (1)