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20(a) Provide the name and full description of the community that the applicant is committing to serve

gTLDFull Legal NameE-mail suffixDetail
.LLCDot Registry LLChotmail.comView
DOT Registry plans to serve the Community of Registered Limited Liability Companies. Members of the community are defined as businesses registered as limited liability companies with the United States or its territories. Limited Liability Companies or (LLC’s) as they are commonly abbreviated, represent one of the most popular business entity structures in the US. LLCʹs commonly participate in acts of commerce, public services, and product creation.

Limited Liability Companies (LLC) are a relatively new business structure for the United States, the first LLC was validated in the state of Wyoming in 1977 and in 1996 the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws adopted the Uniform Limited Liability Company Act; providing for both the definition of an LLC and the governmental standards under which an LLC may be formed. It was through the Uniform Limited Liability Company Act that a standard set of policies were created to define, validate, and monitor the operations of LLC’s, thus creating a unique and accountable business community in the United States.

An LLC is defined as a flexible form of enterprise that blends elements of partnership and corporate structures. It is a legal form of company that provides limited liability to its owners in the vast majority of United States jurisdictions. LLC’s are a unique entity type because they are considered a hybrid, having certain characteristics of both a corporation and a partnership or sole proprietorship. LLC’s are closely related to corporations in the sense that they participate in similar activities and provide limited liability to their partners. Additionally, LLC’s share a key characteristic with partnerships through the availability of pass-through income taxation. LLC’s are a more flexibile entity type than a corporation and are often well suited for businesses owned by a single owner.

Common advantages to forming an LLC include:

1) Flexibility in tax reporting, LLC’s may choose if they would like to be taxed as a sole proprietorship, partnership, S Corporation, or C Corporation. This is the only business entity form in the United States that allows for taxation flexibility.
2) LLC’s have much less administrative paperwork and reporting requirements then corporations.
3) Unless the LLC elects to be taxed as a C Corp, LLC’s enjoy pass through taxation.
4) Limited liability, meaning that owners of an LLC, called “members” are protected from some or all liability acts and debts of the LLC.

LLC’s have become increasingly popular in the United States because their formation provides owners with the protection of a corporation and the flexibility of a partnership.

With the number of registered LLC’s in the United States totaling over five million in 2010 (as reported by the International Association of Commercial Administrators) it is hard for the average consumer to not conduct business with an LLC (popular LLC’s in the United States include: AOL and BMW). Through the creation of DOT Registry’s .LLC string, consumers can quickly validate that they are working with a member of the Community of Registered Limited Liability Companies, providing consumers with brand reassurance and peace of mind. DOT Registry believes that it is essential to identify limited liability companies online in order to expand on their creditability and further highlight their privilege to conduct business in the US. Proper representation of this community would allow consumers to make educated choices in choosing businesses to patronize and support.
LLCʹs can be formed through any jurisdiction of the United States. Therefore members of this community exist in all 50 US states and its territories. LLC formation guidelines are dictated by state law and can vary based on each state’s regulations. Persons form an LLC by filing required documents with the appropriate state authority, usually the Secretary of State. Most states require the filing of Articles of Organization. These are considered public documents and are similar to articles of incorporation, which establish a corporation as a legal entity. At minimum, the articles of organization give a brief description of the intended business purposes, the registered agent, and registered business address.
LLC’s are expected to conduct business in conjunction with the policies of the state in which they are formed, and the Secretary of State periodically evaluates a LLC’s level of good standing based on their commercial interactions with both the state and consumers. DOT Registry or its designated agents would verify membership to the Community of Registered Limited Liability Companies by collecting data on each Registrant and cross-referencing the information with their applicable registration state. In order to maintain the reputation of the “.LLC” string and accurately delineate the member to consumers, Registrants would only be awarded a domain that accurately represents their registered legal business name. Additionally, DOT Registry will not allow blind registrations or registration by proxy, therefore DOT Registry’s WHOIS service will tie directly back to each member’s state registration information and will be publicly available in order to provide complete transparency for consumers.
Entities are required to comply with formation practices in order to receive the right to conduct business in the US. Once formed an LLC must be properly maintained. LLC’s are expected to comply with state regulations, submit annual filings, and pay specific taxes and fees. Should an LLC fail to comply with state statutes it could result in involuntary dissolution by the state in addition to imposed penalties, taxes and fees.
While state statutes vary, the majority of states have adopted the following guidelines in regards to the formation of LLC’s:

(1) The name of each limited liability company must contain the words ʺLimited Liability Companyʺ or the abbreviation ʺL.L.C.ʺ or the designation ʺLLCʺ.

(2) In order to form a limited liability company, one or more authorized persons must execute the Articles of Organization. Which shall contain: the name of the limited liability company; the address of the registered office and the name and address of the registered agent for service of process required to be maintained; and any other matters the members determine to include therein.
(3) A Limited Liability Company may be organized to conduct or promote any lawful business or purposes, except as may otherwise be provided by the Constitution or other law of this State.
All entities bearing the abbreviation LLC in their business name create the assumption that they have been awarded the privileges associated to that title such as: the ability to conduct commerce transactions within US borders or territories, the ability to market products, solicit consumers and provide reputable services in exchange for monetary values, and finally to provide jobs or employment incentives to other citizens.
Membership in the Community of Registered Limited Liability Companies is established through your business entity registration. In order to maintain your membership to this community you must remain an “Active” member of the community. Active” in this context can be defined as any LLC registered with a Secretary of State in the United States and its territories, that is determined to be authorized to conduct business within that State at the time of their registration. Registrant’s “Active” status will be verified on an annual basis as described above in question 18 in order to ensure the reputation and validity of the “.LLC” gTLD.
Since LLC’s are not currently delineated on the Internet, the creation of this string would mark a unique advancement in consumer security and confidence in the United States. Essentially, this will create the first ever, clear delineator for the Community of Registered Limited Liability Companies.
gTLDFull Legal NameE-mail suffixDetail
.halalAsia Green IT System Bilgisayar San. ve Tic. Ltd. Sti.nsline.comView
The word “HALAL”:
HALAL is one of the most fundamental concepts of the Islam religion.
Halal (Arabic: حلال‎ ḥalāl, ʺlawfulʺ) is used to designate any object or an action which is permissible under to Islamic law. The term halal is therefore applied to many facets of Muslim life; one of the most common being in reference to meat products, food contact materials, and pharmaceuticals. The halal concept has slowly become accepted as a consumer lifestyle choice encompassing not only religious practices and food, but also finance, non-food products and logistics and this is a trend has gathered significant momentum recently. However, the common understanding of halal is still limited to religious needs and only applicable to Muslims. It is considered a given in Turkey and the Middle East, although consumers in this region generally do not place much importance on specific halal branding, certification or country of origin.

The HALAL industry service providers Community:
Halal industry service providers are the community that the .Halal gTLD is designated for.
The Halal industry service providers’ community consists of all those who do engage in:
1. Research, Development, Monitoring and Certifying of Halal materials,
2. Production of Halal Materials
3. Distribution of Halal Materials
4. Sales and Marketing of Halal Materials
This will consist of a huge amount of industry role players which basically serve the 1.2 Billion Muslim population in the word, but the community’s services is not just limited to Muslims, rather many non-Muslims nowadays who has accepted the halal concept as a healthy life style. Considering this, we can estimate the size of the community, and also the wide distribution of the community in the world. Since wherever a Muslim lives, there is a place for the Halal service providers to be active. It means that the Halal community is spread all over the world, and itʹs not necessary to describe that the community remains forever.
Now, in the globalization age, the development of Halal standards sponsoring by standing monitoring centers in all aspects of life is a must, so that all products would be presented by special brands to guarantee the consumersʹ tranquility of mind at the global level especially in non-Islamic Countries. This certification brings an identity to the members of the Halal community as described later.

The Halal Food Industry
Halal Food industry can be named as the most important portion of the Halal service providers’ community.
In Muslim countries, the food industry is almost 100 percent based on the Halal food preparation methods, but Halal foods are becoming more and more popular even in non-Islamic countries every day. In South Africa most chicken products have a halal stamp. The South African National Halal Authority issues halal-approved certificates and products bearing this is logo range from meat to water, snacks, and even other meat free products (which may ordinarily contain non-halal ingredients). The South African National Halal Authority (SANHA) also licenses the usage of the Halal logo in restaurants where the food is halal and no alcohol or pork products can be served. Similar movements in the US, UK, China, Malaysia, Singapore and many other non-Muslim majority countries are equally, or ever better, established.
One of the first halal food companies in the USA is Midamar Corporation, established in 1974. It is also one of the first companies in the USA to sell USDA approved and Halal certified US protein products to the Middle East and South East Asia. The Certification Agency Islamic Services of America was established in 2004 and located in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Islamic Services of America certifications are recognized by some Islamic Countries.
In Dearborn, Michigan, U.S.A (the home of one of the largest Muslim and Arab populations in the United States), and some fast food restaurant chains such as the McDonaldʹs Corporation have introduced halal chicken nuggets and other halal offerings. In a similar light, McDonaldʹs, Pizza Hut, and Kentucky Fried Chicken have been declared to be halal in Sri Lanka by the Jamiyathul Ulama, the only authority able to give out the certification there. In the United Kingdom, China, Malaysia or Singapore, halal fried chicken restaurants having thousands of outlets serve halal foods, such as the Chicking Fried Chicken, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Brownʹs Chicken, and Crown Fried Chicken companies. As of February 2009, Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurants in the U.K. began to sell halal meals in several restaurants.
Also, in New York City there are numerous halal food carts in business which serve gyros, chicken platters, and other halal fast foods, whereas in Europe, there are many of the Muslim-owned Döner kebab shops.
Thailand also has a noticeable population of Muslims and Halal-meat shops country-wide.
Within the Peopleʹs Republic of China, which has a sizable Hui Muslim minority population, halal food is known as ʺQingzhenʺ (pinyin: qīngzhēn; literally ʺpure truthʺ). Halal restaurants run by Hui Chinese resemble typical Chinese food, except that they do not serve pork. Dishes specific to Hui Chinese are known as Chinese Islamic cuisine.
Halal Certificates:
Since the turn of the 21st century, there have been efforts to create organizations that certify food products as halal for Muslim consumers.
Since 1991, mainstream manufacturers of soups, grains, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, prepared foods, and other products, as well as hotels, restaurants, airlines, hospitals, and other service providers have pursued the halal market. These companies purchase halal-certified products. Halal certification tells Muslims that their ingredients and production methods have been tested and declared permissible by a certification body. It also allows companies to export products to most Middle Eastern countries and South East Asian Countries. The oldest and most well-known halal certifier in the United States is called the ʺIslamic Services of Americaʺ. Something that companies which intend to export halal products must keep in mind, when choosing a certifier, is whether or not the certifier is recognized by foreign governmental bodies.
In 1986, the ʺIslamic Meat & Poultry Companyʺ was founded in Stockton, California. Islamic Meat & Poultry is a halal-only, U.S. Department of Agriculture-inspected, hand-slaughtering and meat-processing facility. This company follows the principles of slaughtering and meat-processing according to the Islamic Shariah.
In 2011, Halal Products Certification Institute was established in California, United States of America and became the first worldwide corporation that Certified Halal Consumer Products such as Cosmetics, Personal Care Products, Perfumes & Fragrances, The institute was established by renowned Islamic intellectual scholars and top Muslim scientists in the world to assure the dissemination of halal consumer products.
Also in Europe, several organizations have been created over the past 20 years in order to certify the halal products. A survey recently published by a French association of Muslim Consumers (ASIDCOM) shows that the market of halal products has been developed in a chaotic way.
Islamic Chamber research & Information Center (ICRIC), affiliated to Islamic Chamber of Commerce & Industry (ICCI) and a member of the family of Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) has embarked to study and research on the subject to meet the need in Muslim World. ICRIC has also embarked to adopt a monitoring system in ʺHalal Productʺ including ʺHalal Foodʺ and proceeded to research, development, information and support in this ground.
The .HALAL gTLD will allow —the Halal industry service providers community to unite online as a full and robust community, enjoying the connection and exchange of information empowered by faith, and community in beliefs.