18(c) What operating rules will you adopt to eliminate or minimize social costs?

Prototypical answer:

The registry will seek to create the orderly introduction of domain names in a way that is respectful of trademarks and sensitive to costs. Our approach will follow this path:
An RFP process will begin immediately to help establish the market for the registry’s strategic names and services in support of it. This approach to certain premium names should help generate operating capital for the registry that will ensure stability for both operations and the cost of registrations generally available. Our financial model includes a modest contribution from premium name sales that occur prior to Sunrise.

A Sunrise period will ensure the protection of rights holders. Each will have the opportunity to register protected names in advance of the general availability and will be verified against the Trademark Clearing House as required by ICANN policy. These names will be subject to annual renewal, but, as with all names, a fixed-rate, 10-year registration will be offered.

Then a Landrush will open for all. Competition for the same names in both the Sunrise and Landrush periods will be sent to an auction. An auction is the best way possible to ensure that real and vibrant sites will be built in the name space. We believe that the applicant with the most robust business plan for their domain name is the one most likely to win an auction and therefore bring the best value to the DotRIP brand.

Finally, first-come-first-serve general availability will open.

We do not anticipate that registrants would have a requirement to register names in bulk, and so do not plan to offer bulk pricing per se. Domain registrations will include options to register for as long as 10 years.

We believe as DotRIP expands, even as modestly predicted, the economy of scale will allow the registry to continue to operate profitably without the need for a price increase.

The registry’s decision to host
a thick and verified WhoIs database is an opportunity for DotRIP to lead by example. Privacy and transparency are not mutually exclusive values; each is totally appropriate. So, too is accountability. The result of such an approach should be to greatly reduce the chance for negative consequences and costs.

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