gTLD	Full Legal Name	E-mail suffix	Detail
.NGO	Public Interest Registry	pir.org	View

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.

gTLD	Full Legal Name	E-mail suffix	Detail
.tennis	TENNIS AUSTRALIA LTD	tennis.com.au	View

This response explains Tennis Australia’s relationship to the Australian tennis community.

RELATION BETWEEN TENNIS AUSTRALIA AND COMMUNITY ORGANISATIONS

Through the .tennis TLD, Tennis Australia commits to serve the Australian tennis community, which is comprised of the eight Australian state-and territory-based Member Associations of Tennis Australia: Tennis Victoria, Tennis New South Wales, Tennis Queensland, Tennis South Australia, Tennis Western Australia, Tennis Tasmania, Tennis Australian Capital Territory and Tennis Northern Territory.

Through these State- and Territory-based Member Associations, Tennis Australia maintains a direct link with the 2,176 affiliated tennis clubs, 3,198 member coaches, and 1.8 million tennis participants and players throughout Australia.

The Board of Directors of Tennis Australia comprises up to nine Directors of whom seven, including the President, are elected by the Member Associations at a general meeting and up to two elected by the Directors at a Board meeting. Member Associations are additionally shareholders of Tennis Australia.


RELATIONS TO THE COMMUNITY AND ITS CONSTITUENT PARTS⁄GROUPS

Relation to affiliated tennis clubs:

The 2,176 tennis clubs affiliated with Tennis Australia constitute an important component of Tennis Australia’s efforts to serve the Australian tennis community. The majority of tennis clubs are run by volunteers. Tennis Australia assists Member Associations in supporting clubs by providing direction on improving facilities, and the management and operation of services. Tennis Australia provides grants and additional funding to clubs and centres such as the National Court Rebate Scheme, which assists member affiliates and local government to develop new tennis courts and upgrade old courts and associated infrastructure. This scheme has been a resounding success, stimulating more than 1200 new or resurfaced courts and considerable investment in the sport across Australia, acting as a catalyst for all tennis and government stakeholders to form partnerships.

Tennis Australia has used its digital and information technology resources to unify this segment of the Australian tennis community, providing and supporting free websites and online tools for coaches, clubs and Member Associations under the one Tennis Australia banner. Tennis Australia has also developed a quick online membership system for clubs which helps clubs manage registrations and payments, and communicate with its playing membership.

Relation to Tennis Australia Coach Members:

Tennis coaches also play a critical role Tennis Australia’s service to the Australian tennis community. They provide coaching services to tennis players of all ages and abilities in Australia. In addition, they promote the game at a local level and are often the first point of contact a beginning player has with tennis. In line with its organisational purpose, Tennis Australia believes that it is important to have good relations with tennis coaches, as they attract new players to the sport and establish technical skills and an approach to playing that can last a lifetime. Tennis Australia connects directly to 3,198 tennis coaches through a national membership program. This membership program provides a quality mark to a tennis coach. For Tennis Australia, it is a way to ensure that tennis coaches throughout the country meet certain consistent criteria and impart best practice knowledge and coaching skills. Coaches must complete a national police check and working with children check.

To ensure that tennis coaches have the appropriate skill level, Tennis Australia provides educational services to tennis coaches throughout Australia. Coach Members are awarded special benefits to support their businesses, for example cost effective insurance, professional development, educational resources, discounts on equipment, priority ticketing to tennis events and advice on marketing and communication. In addition, Tennis Australia organises an international coaching conference attracting coaches from around the world during its premier event, the Australian Open.

Relation to tennis players:

Research shows that 1.8 million people in Australia currently participate in tennis. Tennis Australia is striving to increase this number to 4 million by 2016. Tennis Australia directly communicates with players of all levels, providing a diverse pathway of player development programs catering to amateur and aspiring professionals. At the grassroots level, Tennis Australia aggregates opportunities for playing through an online competition platform, making it more fun to administer and play competitions. Tennis Australia also places great emphasis on making it easy for players to find coaches, places to play and deliverers of programs such as Cardio Tennis and MLC Tennis Hot Shots. Tennis Australia also assists with the marketing and promotion of players through news coverage, development of player websites, social media accounts and print channels. Several of these, such as australianopen.com, attract a global audience of 14.8 million unique visitors in a two-week period.

The headquarters of Tennis Australia, at Melbourne Park, currently has 22 outdoor and six indoor courts used by a cross section of the tennis community each day, including social players, elite athletes ranked in the world’s top 100, and those embarking on a serious career who are part of the Australian Institute of Sport Pro Tour program, the National Academy and academies run out of the on-site Tennis World centre. Local and high level competitions and tournaments are conducted at Melbourne Park, defining a community from all levels of the sport (including the top 10 in the world) who access the same facilities and are connected by the same passion.


ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISMS OF TENNIS AUSTRALIA TO THE COMMUNITY

The Board of Directors is responsible for setting Tennis Australia’s strategic direction and its goals for management, and monitoring Tennis Australia’s performance against these goals on behalf of the Member Associations.

To meet this responsibility, the Board of Directors adopts a policy of continuous disclosure with members. It meets eight times during the year, at which time it receives reports from the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and other members of staff, as appropriate. Phone call briefings and circulation of Board meeting executive summaries are used to inform Member Associations immediately following each meeting. In addition, the Chairman of the Board of Directors provides regular written updates and feedback to the Directors of each Member Association.

Further, Tennis Australia’s CEO conducts regular meetings with the CEOs of each Member Association, as does the Director of Tennis with High Performance Managers in each Member Association and with tennis staff within the community. The Board of Directors and CEO meet at least twice each year with the Member Association Presidents and additional Member Representatives in a strategic planning forum.