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

PIR’s goal is to provide the NGO Community an exclusive and immediately recognized home on the Internet. To achieve this goal and ensure that .NGO domain names are allocated in a manner that serves the NGO Community, PIR has developed a set of .NGO registration restriction policies and corresponding compliance and enforcement mechanisms.

The policies are built to match the need of the NGO Community based on feedback from NGO Community members; based on experience from the .ORG gTLD management since 2003; and generally established to ensure a higher security level for .NGO domain names than what currently is considered 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.
• 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.
• 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.

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 their eligibility.

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.

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.
• Use of the registered domain name to engage in activities inconsistent with the mission of a 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 resolution providers, PIR will conduct random compliance audits across all the .NGO Registration Policies. Periodically PIRʹs compliance staff will audit 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 compliance 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 taken place with .NGO domain names.

Name Selection Policy: The .NGO registrant must fulfill certain name policy criteria. PIR will employ the following restrictions concerning the names that eligible .NGO registrants can register. As such a .NGO registrant cannot register any name they wish but is limited by the following restrictions. 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:
• 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; they 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 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 is being used in compliance with the Rights Protection Mechanisms processes.

Resource Plans
PIR will devote 2 compliance officers to handle compliance and disputes as they arise, although currently for .ORG this need is rare. Most compliance checks on registration eligibility are expected to be handled in an automated process.

gTLD	Full Legal Name	E-mail suffix	Detail
.swiss	Swiss Confederation	bakom.admin.ch	View

As described in the response to Questions 20(a), two types of conditions must be fulfilled for the right to register a .swiss name. These are:


(A) community membership (bona fide presence in Switzerland) and


(B) Registration of domain names under the .swiss TLD is restricted to members of the Swiss community and subject to the further requirement that the domain name registrant’s presence in Switzerland and the registrant’s use of the domain name must be:
(1) in compliance with Swiss law, and
(2) of a kind that is generally accepted as legitimate, and
(3) conducive to the welfare of the Swiss community, and
(4) of commensurate quality to the role and importance of the respective domain name, and
(5) based on good faith at the time of registration and thereafter.





As already mentioned in the answer to Q20c, a bona fide presence in Switzerland (and thus community membership) (A) is a necessary but NOT in itself a sufficient condition for the right to hold any imaginable .swiss domain name. As the policy principles under (B) above show, there are additional requirements specific to the intrinsic role and importance of the domain name in question. These requirements will be defined in detail in specific registration regulations. They concern in particular the nature of the registrant’s presence in Switzerland and the registrant’s use of the domain name. Again, this will based on the fundamental principle of prudence: starting with a conservative registration policy in order to establish quality of and confidence in the .swiss TLD and then gradually opening up the policy as long as it does not endanger this quality and confidence.


The strength of the eligibility validation is kept in line with the importance of the underlying domain name based on the assumption that a typical user would reasonably make.


In order to assess whether the use of the domain name is conducive to the welfare of Switzerland, and is commensurate to its role and importance, validation will take into account, among other elements of appreciation, the nature and qualities (and in particular the origin or source) of the products and⁄or services to be offered on the web site of the applicant.


To facilitate validation, registrants can be required to state their intended use of the registered domain name. A false statement of intended use is an indication of bad faith and can be the basis for the suspension of the domain name.


Registrants are further required to have an administrative contact in Switzerland. This is verified in part automatically (through the postal code in the administrative contact record and by a human eyes review pre-validation or post-validation. The administrative contact may be any person or entity having received and accepted the mandate to act as such for the respective domain. (The registrar may act as administrative contact.) Any communications addressed to the administrative contact are deemed to have been brought to the attention of the domain holder. Validation checks include machine and human verification of address accuracy.


The validation may be assisted through pre-identification of potential registrants using existing community channels, in particular through promotion codes.


After the launch phase, the validation mode goes from pre-validation to post-validation and later to statistically targeted random validation, backed up by a ongoing enforcement program.


The validation and enforcement programs are supported by an integrated issue tracking system. This system allows validating agents and personnel to cooperate and interact with the registrant. The system keeps track of decisions made by the agents and stores supplemental documentary evidence that may be supplied by the registrants.

The fundamental rule on which name selection is based is part of the policy principles: the registrant’s presence in Switzerland and use of the domain name must be commensurate to role and importance of domain registered.


The role and importance of the domain name is based on the meaning that an average user would reasonably make in the context of that domain name.


This criterion also applies to the strength of the documentation or proof required of the registrant.


Pre-definition of the name space, especially names with significance for Switzerland from a public service or public interest standpoint, is developed through special programs with strong selection processes, based on proposals made by parties interested in providing content on such domain names (see mechanisms described in the response to the Question 18 c). This process not only covers the identity and legitimacy of the party entrusted with the operation of the domain(s), but also defines obligations with respect to the content to provide for the benefit of the public.

As described in clause (B) of the response to Question 20(a), not only the registrant’s presence in Switzerland but also the use of the domain must be:
(1) in compliance with Swiss law and
(2) of a kind that is generally accepted as legitimate and
(3) conducive to the welfare of the Swiss community and
(4) of commensurate quality to the role and importance of the respective domain name and
(5) based on good faith at the time of registration and thereafter.


This is verified on the basis of:
1) the intended use statement supplied by the domain registrant at the time of registration (or possibly updated later)
2) the ongoing enforcement program.

The purpose of the enforcement program is to protect the credibility of the .swiss TLD for its national and international public. In particular, such program upholds the community-based purpose of the .swiss TLD and helps prevent misuse or malicious behaviour.


The enforcement program is based on statistically targeted random investigations and on a complaint follow-up process. The statistical targeting is strongly automated and involves the use of search engines and the analysis of registry data related to behaviour of registrants.


Depending on the type of misuse to be investigated, web site content or content sent to victims of abuse will be reviewed and analyzed by investigators.


Enhanced investigation takes place if the registrant has a bad track record in terms of compliance with the rules of the .swiss TLD. Other violations of public record (such as UDRP or URS cases) will also be taken into account.


If the intended use cannot be deemed legitimate or has a negative impact on the welfare of Switzerland, the registration is rejected. If content or use of an existing .swiss domain demonstrate that the registrant has shown bad faith by stating a false intended use, the domain name is suspended.


If a registrar is complicit with systematic violations of the .swiss policies or causes an unacceptable burden for the validation and enforcement program by negligence, the registry can restrict that registrar’s access to the new registrations, subject its inventory of .swiss domains to enhanced investigation and require it conduct its own post-validation program.



An appeals process is available for all administrative measures taken in the framework of the enforcement program. The first instance of the appeals process is managed by the registry service provider. An agency of the Swiss Confederation will provide the second and last instance of an appeals process by itself or entrusts it to an alternative dispute resolution provider. The charter of the appeals process is promulgated by that agency.