22 Describe proposed measures for protection of geographic names at the second and other levels in the applied-for gTLD

Prototypical answer:

Interlink Co., Ltd, (Interlink) will implement strict policy restrictions concerning the registration and use of geographic names under the “.earth” top-level domain and will work closely with the Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) and ccTLD managers to ensure that geographic names are adequately protected.


Two-Letter Domain Names

Country Code Top-Level Domains (ccTLDs) are two letter strings on the right side of the dot that correspond to the two-letter country codes for each country listed on the ISO 3166-1 list. The registry will, at no cost of governments or public authorities, initially reserve all two-letter characters strings, inclusive of the country code names as defined on ISO 3166-1 and mandated by the New gTLD Registry Agreement (see Specification 5).

Use of two-letter strings as second level registrations in the “.earth” TLD will be permitted after the Registry reaches an agreement with relevant government or country-code TLD managers.

At its discretion, the Registry will propose usage of a limited number of two-letter strings for domain names that include, but are not limited to; company names, brand names, meaningful words, partial phrases, or local abbreviations. The Registry will inform each ccTLD manager and⁄or applicable government of its proposal to use such a name and reach an agreement with the ccTLD manager and⁄or applicable government before such a name is registered for use.


Country and Territory Domain Names

In addition to the initial reservation of two-letter country codes pursuant to the ISO-3166-1 list, the Registry will initially reserve country and territory names contained on the following internationally recognized lists:

• ISO 3166-1 lists (including country, territory name, and its short form name in English)
• The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names Technical Reference Manual for the Standardization
　of Geographical Names, Part III Names of Countries of the World
• The List United Nations member states in 6 official United Nations member states in 6 official United Nations languages
　prepared by the Working Group on Country Names of the United Nations Conference on the Standardization of
　Geographical Names

The Registry will cooperate with ICANN and the Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) to expand such a list of reserved⁄protected geographic names at the second level should this be required. Additionally, the list will expand according to updates in any of the lists listed above.

The release of names will not occur until after a minimum of one full year of operations. The release of geographic names will only occur upon reaching an agreement with applicable government.


Procedure for Registration of Geographic Names by Relevant Authorities

During the reservation period, the Registry will allow the relevant government authorities to register their country name, or short form English name under the “.earth” TLD as a second level registration. The opportunity for such registrations will not be shorter that one year and will be available for governments until the Registry reaches an agreement with the GAC, relevant governments and⁄or ccTLD managers for the release of such names. Upon reaching such an agreement, the Registry will notify governments of the registration deadline 3 months prior to the release of geographic names.

The process for registering a country name or its English short form equivalent as a second level domain name in the “.earth” TLD for a relevant government authority is as follows:

1. The Government or relevant authority contacts the GAC Secretariat with the requested
domain name and beneficiary information
2. The GAC Secretariat will ensure the authenticity of such a request and forward the request
to the Registry.
3. The Registry will verify the availability of the requested domain name, notify ICANN of the
registration request, and issue approval after the validity of the request has been approved.
4. The registrant government or beneficiary will then be able to register the name through an ICANN-Accredited Registrar that has executed the
Registry-Registrar Agreement with the Registry.


Abuse of Geographic Names

After the release of geographic names governments can submit a complaint directly to the registry for a domain name that is not in compliance with the registration policies.

Similar gTLD applications: (4)