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20(b) Explain the applicant's relationship to the community identified in 20(a)

gTLDFull Legal NameE-mail suffixDetail
.NGOPublic Interest Registrypir.orgView
PIR is a NGO, and thereby part of the NGO Community. PIR as a NGO has extensive gTLD management experience via the .ORG gTLD. PIR a supporting organization to the Internet Society (ISOC) and is committed to supporting the Internet Society’s (ISOC) mission stated below.

History of PIR’s Relationship to the NGO Community
In January 2003, PIR, assumed responsibility for operating .ORG and maintaining the authoritative database of all .ORG domains.

Created in 1984, .ORG is one of the Internetʹs original seven top-level domains (TLDs), along with .com, .net, etc. Although it is ʺopenʺ and ʺunrestrictedʺ, .ORG has been the domain of choice for organizations dedicated to serving the public interest. The high regard of these well-intentioned organizations was soon conferred to this domain, and today .ORG is considered around the world to be the domain of trust.

Public Interest Registry’s (PIR) primary activity is to maintain the .ORG domain registry as the exemplary top level domain (TLD) registry service, by advocating for higher standards of Internet security, safety and reliability. PIR’s mission is to facilitate the effective use of a global Internet among non-commercial and other Internet users worldwide. In its relationship with the ISOC, (reference Evaluation Questions #9a and #9b), PIR is committed to supporting ISOC’s goals of encouraging the evolution of the Internet as research, education and communication infrastructure equally accessible to the global non-commercial, NGO and nonprofit community. PIR’s activities also include funding educational programs focused on expanding the knowledge and ability of non-commercial, NGO and nonprofit organizations located in technologically deprived areas of the world to more efficiently and effectively use the Internet as a tool to better accomplish their important mission.

The 2003 transition of .ORG from the previous operator to PIR was the largest transfer in Internet history. More than 2.6 million domains were transferred in about a day, without negatively impacting any .ORG registrant or website.

Since 2003, PIR has been connected with NGOs through our management of .ORG, and recently in preparation for our pursuit of the .NGO gTLD domain, we have worked closely with the NGO Community to develop the requirements and specification for the proposed .NGO gTLD.

Current Relationship to the NGO Community
PIR is a strong supporter of NGOs in both a direct role as manager of the .ORG gTLD and through other efforts, including:
• A ʺStrategic and Sponsoring Partnerʺ of NTEN, the Non-Profit Technology Network of 10,000 members and over 30,000 participants in the community, covering 126 countries. NTEN aspires to a world where all nonprofit organizations use technology skillfully and confidently to meet community needs and fulfill their missions.
• Making financial contributions to various organizations, such as the NCUC (Non Commercial Constituency of ICANN) and Centr. For NCUC, annual donations have been in the $5,000 to $15,000 range every year since PIR assumed operations of the .ORG registry.
• In December 2005, PIR sponsored a symposium at the Nelson Mandela Center in Cape Town, South Africa bringing in various Internet leaders in Africa to discuss the needs of the Internet in Africa.
• In response to Hurricane Katrina, in New Orleans, Louisiana, PIR donated $1 for every new create for a limited time. The final donation was over $100,000 to the Red Cross.
• In response to JapanʹsTsunami disaster, a 3 month program was rolled out to waive renewal fees for Japanese domain name holders, in order to help those affected and unable to renew their .ORG domains.

Within the community, there is a wide appreciation of PIR’s role as an advocate of “do good” for the Internet at large, and in many countries around the world there is a general perception that .ORG domains are more trusted than other domains. At the time of application submission, PIR manages nearly 10 million .ORG domains, and is seen to do so in an exemplary way. We are very happy to be judged on this reputation.

PIR has over 500 letters of support from the NGO Community endorsing its application for .NGO. PIR will continue outreach to the community and anticipates receipt of additional support letters from NGOs throughout the ICANN application evaluation process. Specific recognition of PIR’s efforts to support the nonprofit community includes:
• “As a not-for-profit corporation, we believe that being part of the .org domain has done much to reinforce MITRE’s identity as an organization chartered to work in the public interest. [Thanks to PIR’s] continuing work to enhance the .org domain.ʺ - Al Grasso, President and CEO, The MITRE Corporation (the first .ORG registrant).
• “We recognize and applaud PIRʹs long-standing commitment to the non-profit community since taking over the management of .ORG.” - Lisa Vogt, APR, Director of Marketing & Communications, SOS Children’s Villages – USA.

PIR has conducted outreach, worked with established relationships, and developed new types of relationships which will facilitate the delivery of the .NGO domain and related services to the NGO Community. Our discussions and outreach have included NGOs in several countries across Asia, Europe, North America, South America⁄Latin America, and Africa as well as many different segments of the NGO Community to ensure wide acceptance and adoption of our proposed gTLD domain and related services. The segments include but are not limited to agriculture, environment, arts⁄culture, charitable services, human rights, humanitarian, and advocacy for a range of issues affecting societal development.

Accountability to the NGO Community
By offering .NGO as a secure and well-managed domain of trust uniquely for eligible NGOs, PIR believes that NGOs can benefit from the Internet and our specific services as a means to safely and reliably reach out to the community and sponsors. PIR will be accountable to the NGO Community by:
• A NGO Community input process soliciting input from the community through the NGO Advisory Council drawn from the community and accepting a broad range of input to stay current on the issues of importance to the community and manage the NGO verification process;
• Creating and marketing .NGO as a distinctive place on the Internet for NGOs to differentiate and promote their organization;
• Establishing community programs to support capacity building of NGOs with technical and educational platforms;
• Enforcing registration policies that elevate the integrity of the domains in the .NGO gTLD name space, soliciting input from the NGO Community;
• Easing discovery and promotion through the creation, management and promotion of the .NGO gTLD;
• Offering registration from a proven, scalable registry platform that can ensure 100% DNS availability;
• Delivering a challenge process for the NGO Community to dispute the legitimacy of a .NGO registrant or its activity on a .NGO domain; and,
• As a community priority gTLD, PIR is committing to manage the .NGO domain with participation of the community. Failing to do that would put our registry contract in jeopardy.

PIR is in an excellent position to provide such support to the NGO Community given documented experience running a stable and trusted registry. PIR holds a track record demonstrating good intent to the global community by being a leader in activities such as implementation of anti-abuse policies, DNSSEC, active participation in numerous public interest events, etc.
gTLDFull Legal NameE-mail suffixDetail
.insurancefTLD Registry Services LLCfsround.orgView
FRS was recently created by two established financial services associations - the American Bankers Association (ABA) and The Financial Services Roundtable (Roundtable). Between them, they have over 200 years of history representing the financial services industry in the United States. FRS was formed for the explicit purpose of applying for and operating financial services-related gTLDs including .insurance.

As of April 10, 2012, endorsers of the FRS .insurance initiative include the American Bankers Insurance Association,
The Allstate Corporation, Nationwide, Prudential Financial, Inc., and State Farm Insurance Companies.

The first of the Roundtableʹs predecessor organizations, the Association of Reserve City Bankers, was formed in
1912. The Bank Holding Company Act of 1956 led to the 1958 formation of another independent organization, the
Association of Registered Bank Holding Companies. The two organizations merged in July 1993, and became The Bankers Roundtable in October 1993. In early 2000, the first members from the securities, investment, and insurance sectors joined their banking brethren as founding members of The Financial Services Roundtable. Today, the Roundtable represents 100 of the largest integrated financial services companies providing insurance, banking, and investment products and services to the American consumer.

Founded in 1875, the ABA represents banks of all sizes and charters and is the voice for the nationʹs $13 trillion
banking industry and its 2 million employees. ABA marshals the talent, energy and perspectives of its members to
bring about positive change for the financial services community. Through an effective collaboration between ABA
members and staff, it combines experience and insights, in-depth expertise, unmatched resources and extensive
products to make its members more successful. Examples include the ABA’s ownership and⁄or support of several
existing financial services standards and businesses, including CUSIP and routing number. Further, ABA currently
serves as registrar of several ISO standards, including, ISO 7812.

The American Bankers Insurance Association (ABIA), a subsidiary of the ABA, is the leading bank-insurance industry
trade association in the U.S. ABIA members include banking institutions of all asset sizes, including insurance
companies, service providers, consultants, and associations. The membership makeup is approximately 55% banking institutions and 45% all other providers. A study by Michael White Associates for ABIA found that in 2009, U.S. bank holding companies generated total insurance revenue of a record $15.08 billion, led by insurance operations at
Citigroup, Inc., Bank of America Corporation and Wells Fargo & Company.

Activities of the ABA, ABIA, Roundtable, and their members include, but are not limited to:
- Supporting policies and activities that allow financial institutions to sustain the integrity and versatility of
the payments system to meet customer needs and preferences efficiently and safely;
- Supporting efforts to combat the continuous problem of identity theft and the means to identify and address
emerging threats to consumers;
- Supporting efforts to protect the nonpublic, personal information privacy of financial services customers;
- Facilitating legitimate electronic communications between financial institutions and their customers and other
businesses; and
- Educating employees of the financial services community on the latest industry regulations and sound practices.

• Relations to the community and its constituent parts⁄groups.

The ABA’s and Roundtable’s members include representatives in the U.S. insurance community. These organizations represent the community’s interests in Washington and around the globe. As such, these organizations maintain relationships, both formal and informal, with all sectors of the insurance community, through conferences, published research, best-practices projects, and representation on policy matters. The hybrid nature of ABA and the
Roundtable--insurance organizations partnered with other financial institutions--perfectly reflects the U.S.
insurance industry, as explained above in 20(a).

The .insurance gTLD will serve the needs of, and provide benefits to, the insurance industry that does business in
the U.S. Members of the community are clearly defined by law and include, licensed insurance companies regulated by a government entity, licensed insurance agents and brokers regulated by a government entity, associations whose
members include licensed insurance companies, agents or brokers (if approved by the FRS Board), organizations that are majority controlled by insurance companies (if approved by the FRS Board), entities whose operations are
principally dedicated to serving insurance companies (if approved by the FRS Board), and specialized organizations
(e.g., research or risk coordination) (if approved by the FRS Board). What all of the above have in common is that
they operate within, for the benefit of and⁄or support entities that are regulated and those regulations set the
parameters of what is included in, or excluded from, the insurance community.

This is not a gTLD designed for widespread registrations. Instead, registrants and registrations will be restricted
by guidelines included in 20(e) below. Containing recognized members of a regulated community under one gTLD will provide Internet users with a safe and convenient way to seek insurance information and services from vendors and entities that have already been vetted. As such, the .insurance gTLD will be initially reserved for the exclusive
use of members of the U.S. insurance community clearly defined above.

• Accountability mechanisms of the applicant to the community.

The insurance community and the .insurance gTLD will exist in a synergistic relationship. FRS will employ multiple
mechanisms to assure its ongoing accountability to the community including:
- Oversight by FRS’ Board of Directors that consists of representatives from insurance institutions and an Advisory
Board as set forth below. Individual insurance institution directors will represent the interests of the community
as direct community participants.
- The Advisory Board will contain a group of additional members whose sole purpose is to represent the insurance and financial services community. Insurance associations may be selected to represent the broad cross-section of the community as well as the collective interest of their members. Additional insurance companies or support members will be chosen from organizations and associations within the insurance community to ensure diversified
representation of the community’s interests and needs.
- The ABA and Roundtable, whose collective members expressed concerned about the protection of financial gTLDs, led the formation of FRS to protect the insurance community, including, its institutions and, most especially, the
consumers of insurance services. Both will continue their involvement in two significant ways. First, they will be
Directors on FRS’ Board. Further, they will provide continuing oversight of the management of FRS, the operator of
.insurance and will have as part of their ongoing service and mission the ability to communicate with and represent
the entire insurance community as associations.
- Collectively, this broad community of key insurance leaders will continually assess the policies, processes and
operations of .insurance and assure that it continues to operate in the best interest of the insurance community and
in the spirit of FRS’ mission.

Lastly, the community will hold FRS accountable to ensure that applicants for .insurance domains are thoroughly
vetted and agree to adhere to the strict set of operating rules and security standards that govern the licensing and
operation of a .insurance domain.