gTLD	Full Legal Name	E-mail suffix	Detail
.LLC	Dot Registry LLC	hotmail.com	View

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.

gTLD	Full Legal Name	E-mail suffix	Detail
.radio	European Broadcasting Union (EBU)	ebu.ch	View

A. Definition of .radio

The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) is applying for the .radio TLD on behalf of the Radio 85 years old community, to which it belongs. The Radio community is defined as all entities and individuals related to audio content distributed mainly by broadcasting to wide communities of listeners throughout the world.

Registrations under .radio are restricted to bona fide members of the Radio community and subject to the further requirement that the registrant’s actions in the Radio community, as well as the registrant’s use of the registered domain name, must be:

(i) generally accepted as legitimate; and
(ii) beneficial to the cause and the values of the radio industry; and
(iii) commensurate with the role and importance of the registered domain name; and
(iv) in good faith at the time of registration and thereafter.

B. Composition of the community

The Radio industry is composed of a huge number of very diverse radio broadcasters: public and private; international and local; commercial or community-oriented; general purpose, or sector-specific; talk or music; big and small. All licensed radio broadcasters are part of the .radio community, and so are the associations, federations and unions they have created (such as the EBU, applicant for the .radio TLD with the support of its sister Unions; see below for more details on Radio industry representativeness). Also included are the radio professionals, those making radio the fundamental communications tool that it is.

However, the Radio industry keeps evolving and today, many stations are not only broadcasting in the traditional sense, but also webcasting and streaming their audio content via the Internet. Some are not broadcasters in the traditional sense: Internet radios are also part of the Radio community, and as such will be acknowledged by .radio TLD, as will podcasters. In all cases certain minimum standards on streaming or updating schedules will apply.

The .radio community also comprises the often overlooked amateur radio, which uses radio frequencies for communications to small circles of the public. Licensed radio amateurs and their clubs will also be part of the .radio community.
Finally, the community includes a variety of companies providing specific services or products to the Radio industry.

C. Applicant and Governance

The EBU wishes to establish this TLD as a trusted and high-quality namespace helping industry actors, radio listeners and Internet users in general to improve the quality, security, accessibility and predictability of radio services online, in the public interest.

The .radio TLD is submitted by the EBU, mandated by its Members as well as the global community of Radio Broadcaster: the World Broadcasting Unions (WBU), the Association Mondiale des Radiodiffuseurs Communautaires (AMARC) and other relevant regional radio associations. EBU is one of the largest associations of national broadcasters in the world. It contributes to fostering the core values of broadcasting; its mission and mandate, grounded in technical, economic and cultural values, is to serve its members equally on behalf of public interest.

The policy development process will be carried out in consultation with the World Radio Advisory Board, the .radio community policy advisory body that will include representatives from the WBU and other radio associations and organisations worldwide.

Answers to enumerated questions:

((How the community is delineated from Internet users generally))

The radio industry is a long-standing, well-defined industry sector. Since radio is everywhere, and most homes have a radio receiver, most people are radio listeners, and the Radio community uses a concrete and precise set of definitions and categories to make the community delineation operative for registration purposes:

1 Broadcasters’ Unions
2 Licensed Radio Broadcasters
2.1 International Broadcasters
2.2 National Broadcasters
2.3 Regional Broadcasters
2.4 Local Broadcasters
2.5 Community Broadcasters
3 Trademarks
3.1 Trademarks used for radio related activities for example companies providing specific services, equipment, radio programmes, etc.
3.2 Defensive registrations by non-eligible applicants
4. Internet radio stations
5 Licensed amateur radios and clubs
6 Radio professionals

1. Broadcasters’ Unions

The EBU is a member of the WBU, the platform that gathers 8 regional Broadcasting Unions of the World. For WBU membership and further information see Q11H and Q20B below. Beyond this regional Unions, other international and national broadcasting associations are also part of this category, such as AMARC (Association Mondiale des Radiodiffuseurs Communautaires), AER (Association of European Radios), and many others.

2. Licensed Radio Broadcasters

To use the radio spectrum, Radio broadcasters obtain licenses from the relevant authorities, which might classify them into the above sub-categories. This makes membership, and hence eligibility in .radio TLD terms, a relatively straightforward issue.

3. Trademarks

For trademarks used for companies providing .radio related services, equipment and audio content and defensive registrations by non-eligible applicants.

4. Internet radio

This category is much more fluid and less organized than the two previous ones. No licensing system; no organized registration. The .radio Registry, with the help of the World Radio Advisory Board and in consultation with the sector, will set objective eligibility requirements (streaming, content production) for .radio.

5. Licensed amateur radios and clubs

Amateur radio is also organized through a strict and global licensing system where every license code is unique, often via clubs or other entities.

6. Radio industry providers and partners.

Radio professionals and those companies able to demonstrate specific products, such as radio equipment manufacturers (often specified for the purpose), advertising companies, audio content and service providers will also be accepted as part of the community.

Please note that these categories may be reorganized into different groups or hierarchies for specific purposes, such as:

- Frequent Names Global Contention Resolution and Sunrise priority, as explained under Q18 above, in order to minimize conflicts and opportunistic risks.
- Pricing, as some participants in the same category may enjoy different pricing levels during the Launch phase or benefit from Promotional Pricing afterwards, as in the case of broadcasters, internet radios and amateur radios located and operating from Less Developed Countries.

((How the community is structured and organized))

The Radio community is structured mainly under 8 world broadcasting Unions which represent radio broadcasting interests at the World Radio Frequencies Conferences and coordinate their work through the WBU, as described in response to Question 11H.

The WBU works through a number of permanent working commissions, such as the Technical Committee, which deals with technical standardization; the Sports Committee, dealing with the coverage of world sports events (such as Olympic Games and football world championships); ISOG (International Satellite Operations Group), dealing with satellite contribution circuit issues. Besides the WBU, other specialized broadcasting associations represent specific radio interests, such as the already mentioned AMARC and AER.

((The current estimated size of the community))

Radio is everywhere, both in the sense of radio services and radio listeners. According to UNESCO, radio can be found in the homes of 75 per cent of the world population, which means that 5.1 billion people have access to radio stations. Currently, there are about 50,000 radio stations worldwide according to the figure published by CIA World Facts on their website. In addition, there are at least another 50,000 web radios.