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18(b) How do you expect that your proposed gTLD will benefit registrants, Internet users, and others?

gTLDFull Legal NameE-mail suffixDetail
.ARTAremi Group S.A.steptoe.comView
18(b)(i):

Specialty
With a three-letter identifier that is simple, distinctive, and memorable, .ART is intended as a virtual space in which to house works, thoughts, and ideas at the intersection of creativity and communication. Its broad spectrum will serve as a home for all who feel an affinity for the creative, whether as creators themselves or as appreciators, observers, critics, or academics. Those who wish to develop and use websites at .ART may include, for example: professional artists; hobbyist performers of theater, dance, or music; local artisans marketing and showcasing their unique wares; institutions; galleries; families sharing and archiving their children’s creations; and students and scholars of all forms of arts. With the technological framework in place, imagination is the only limit to the collaborative, networked canvas that is .ART.

Allowing these users the ability to create .ART domain names and websites gives them the ability to customize their domain and website names and signal to the general population of Internet users that their websites are art-related, without having to incorporate a non-art-related term such as .com, .net, or .biz. Built into a wider process of web optimization and marketing, the inclusion of the ‘art’ keyword will likely have positive implications for website promotion purposes.

This specialization simultaneously makes it easier for Internet users who are looking for arts-related information to locate this information more efficiently. The appendage of the .ART TLD indicates to users what they can expect to find at that website. It also has another added benefit in that web addresses will become shorter – one impact of a dearth of ‘good’ web addresses has been for them to get longer over time. Using the .ART TLD not only means sites can benefit from having an important keyword in their web address, but it will also be much faster to type in the address. This will increase traffic to these websites, promote competition, and facilitate use by mobile users who prefer shorter domain names.

Service Levels
The goal of the .ART Registry is to offer domain name registration services at the highest level. Primarily, this entails contracting with and using proven industry experts to provide the highest possible level of quality in registry and registrar services.

Providing the highest possible service levels includes working with the registry service provider (Neustar) to deliver a protected, trusted, and always-on registry infrastructure needed to reliably host and operate second-level domains in the .ART TLD.

This also includes working with our registrars to ensure that consumers will receive secure, fast, and reliable domain name registrations with high-level customer service.

Finally, the Registry will provide the highest level service to trademark and other legal rights owners as well as second-level domain owners by responding to abuse complaints on a 24 hours per day, 7 days per week basis, providing rapid and efficient takedown services when warranted, promptly abiding by the decisions and judgments of UDRP and URS panels, and being responsive to requests by other governmental, judicial and law enforcement bodies, in accordance with ICANN consensus policies.

Reputation
The goal of the .ART Registry is to achieve the highest possible reputation gained through superior customer service and efficient recognition by Internet users of subject matter-related domain names and content. The Registry will strive to achieve this reputation through secure, fast, and reliable customer service throughout the registration life cycle of all second-level domains in the TLD, and by creating a safe and secure registry that avoids abusive domain name practices.

In addition, the .ART registry will market its Internet space to potential registrants and users with an inclination for all types of creative expression. As such, .ART will build and maintain a reputation as a unique destination for creative online content.

The Registry will strive to be known for ensuring only non-fraudulent registrants maintain domain names in the TLD, for reflecting a culture of affinity for the arts, for a thick and reliable WhoIs, and for being responsive to legal rights owners and others who may have complaints regarding potentially abusive registrations. In all, the Registry will strive to be known as an exemplary and model domain name services citizen.

18(b)(ii):
According to the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) report “Artists and Art Workers in the United States: Findings from the American Community Survey (2005-2009) and the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (2010),” there are 2.1 million artists in the U.S. alone, which accounts for 1.4 percent of the total U.S. workforce. Eurostat released a pocketbook on ʺCultural Statisticsʺ in April 2011 stating an equally impressive figure of 3.6 million people employed in the five main cultural sectors of economic activity, representing 1.7 percent of total employment. Accordingly, these statistics alone suggest an interested audience of approximately 5.7 million people that Applicant could reach to promote the TLD at the outset, plus relevant retail and manufacturing channels. In addition, these and other similar studies, referenced in more detail below, support Applicant’s assumptions related to its registration forecast in that the studies also indicate a strong correlation and growing connection between “art” and “artists” and the Internet.

For example, in the context of discussing musicians, art fairs, and literary festivals, a 2007 report to the U.K. government presented by the Work Foundation (Staying ahead: the economic performance of the UK’s creative industries) cites the use of interactive websites by millions of British people as not merely a way to interact, but also as a way to express themselves creatively. The same report also highlights the enhanced accessibility of creative offerings via the Internet, and likewise the opportunities for offering creative products through different channels, i.e., the Internet.

In the U.S., a 149-page report released in June 2010 by the NEA, explores the influence of technology and arts participation and provides specific statistics regarding arts participation through the Internet. The data, collected in 2008 before even the latest Internet advancements, revealed that thirty-seven percent of U.S. adults used electronic media to view or listen to a benchmark arts activity (e.g., classical music, opera, musical or non-musical plays, ballet, jazz, art museums⁄galleries) in the 12 months ending in May 2008, slightly more than the percentage of adults that attended a benchmark activity (35%) during the same time period. Overall, the findings showed that people in the U.S. are participating in the arts through electronic media at higher rates than through live attendance.

The .ART TLD shall also serve as a central meeting place where professional and hobbyist artists, be they musicians, poets, painters, sculptors, fashion designers, choreographers, dancers, actors, architects, interior designers, performance artists, etc., can provide to the marketplace a showcase of their creations. In addition, it can serve as a space to share ideas and information about all works of art.

Differentiation
The .ART TLD is unique in terms of the class of persons, entities, and institutions it shall seek to benefit. There is no current TLD that is similar to the .ART string itself in sight, sound, or meaning. The .ART TLD will be a clear signal to website visitors that the site they are visiting is arts-related. As a result, the .ART TLD will have the opportunity to flourish, to become recognizable, and to provide a trusted source for an array of arts-related goods, services and information, offering a platform that is specialized while broad in appeal.

Innovation
The .ART TLD shall promote innovation on several levels. First, the registration policies and procedures will ensure that the persons or entities operating second-level domains in the .ART TLD are doing so in a non-abusive manner. This will permit users and customers to interact more safely with potential vendors, trusting that their personal information will not be misused. This shall also permit service providers to offer unique services that would otherwise not have been possible in current TLDs in which it can be difficult for users to determine whether a site should be trusted. Second, individual artists, dealers or agents, corporations, and benefactors will have attached to their names, trademarks, etc. the .ART TLD address that will permit targeted marketing and branding opportunities, thus increasing the probability that their target users will find them immediately rather than being misdirected to unrelated websites and content. Third, Applicant plans on promoting collaboration among .ART second-level domain registrants such that the .ART TLD becomes a recognizable symbol of trust within the arts-related communities the world over.

18(b)(iii):
The goals of Applicant for the .ART TLD are to provide a trusted and secure environment wherein artists, their supporters, critics, institutions, and others can flourish. A user’s experience of the .ART TLD shall come to be synonymous with reliability and the provision of genuine arts-related goods and services. In addition, Applicant plans on engaging in research and development with regard to innovative registry services that may enable further collaboration between registrants and users of a TLD by adding enhancements to WhoIs functionality and utilizing social media platforms to promote the exchange of ideas within the .ART TLD. Such research will allow Applicant to work with ICANN to incorporate new registry services into the .ART TLD as technology evolves.

18(b)(iv):
Registration Policies

I. Introduction
Inherent in the concept of art is the idea that the artist requires freedom to express his or her creative ideas. Without freedom of expression there is no art. However, as with any society, without rules or policies there is no way for people or their artistic creations to coexist peacefully. The policies of the .ART TLD will serve to balance the needs of (1) freedom versus (2) security and protection.

II. General Policy
As discussed previously, the .ART TLD is intended to serve as a home for all who feel an affinity for the creative, whether as creators themselves, as dealers or agents, as corporate owners or promoters of the arts, or as appreciators, observers, critics, or academics. Applicant may, by published policy amendments, establish stricter requirements depending on demand and the nature of the registrants in the TLD. In addition, in the event any changes are made to the scope of the targeted .ART users, Applicant will promptly act in accordance with its agreement with ICANN and follow all necessary requirements and guidelines.

The policies discussed herein are subject to the policy requirement set forth by ICANN in the Applicant Guidebook and elsewhere, and the rights protection policies discussed in response to other questions in this application.

III. Name Selection Policies
There are two types of name selection policies: (1) those that are set forth by ICANN in the Applicant Guidebook (such as disallowing two-letter second level domains) and (2) policies that emanate solely from Applicantʹs delegated authority to control the .ART TLD. This section focuses solely on the policies within the sphere of Applicantʹs authority.

Applicantʹs name policies will of course be limited by its anti-abuse and rights protection policies discussed in response to other questions of this application, specifically, Questions 28 and 29 below. Subject to the policies set forth by ICANN and applicable rights protection mechanisms, the .ART TLD will strive for openness and a wide variety of domain name registrations. As such, Applicant will accept registration applications on a “first-come, first-served” basis for all second-level domains except domain names violating the anti-abuse policies set forth in the response to Question 28. In the event an application is not deemed to meet the requirements of Applicantʹs registration criteria (for example, due to violating anti-abuse policies), then such .ART domain name will remain in the general pool of available names.

Applicant will also have the discretion to develop additional policies on the use of domain names. Such restrictions shall apply to any domain name registration that occurs after such restrictions come into effect, and may be applied to existing registrations with adequate notice. Restrictions may include, but are not limited to, a requirement to develop a website that uses the registered name within a certain time frame following registration (to ensure that each registered name ultimately resolves to a working website and to encourage active use of registered domains).

In addition to the reserved words set forth by ICANN, the Registry may set aside certain reserved words as second-level domains, e.g., ART.ART.

IV. Registrant Agreement and License Policies
This paragraph briefly discusses the key terms of the Registrant Agreement and License. The Registrant Agreement and License must be accepted by each registrant and will cover the following areas:
-Term
-Fees
-Renewal and Redemption
-Grace Periods
-Transfers
-Disputes
-Eligibility and Requirements to notify Registry of change of eligibility status
-Authentication and Approval
-Domain Name Disputes
-Security
-Privacy
-Indemnification
-Basic Warranties and Representations

V. Pricing Policy
Applicant shall set the wholesale price that it charges registrars and the terms for which registrations are available. At launch of the registry, Applicant plans to charge a wholesale price of $40.00 per domain name. Registrars set retail prices and each registrar may have a different retail price. Registrars are free to bundle registrations with other products or services.

Applicant may change the wholesale price and⁄or renewal price at any time by providing notice to registrars. The wholesale price may vary according to policies set by Applicant for promotion programs, bulk name registration and so on.

Applicant, in its discretion, may provide refunds to registrars in the event that a registered name is revoked either as a result of a deletion or as a result of a denial of eligibility.
Further explanation of Applicant’s pricing policy is explained in response to question 46.

VI. Registrar Policy
A. Registrar Selection
In accordance with the Registry Operator Code of Conduct stated in Specification 9 of the Registry Agreement with ICANN, Applicant will provide all ICANN-accredited registrars with equal access to the TLD. Registrars that are not ICANN-accredited or that lose their accreditation will not be eligible to sell .ART domain names.

B. Registrar Oversight
In accordance with ICANN policies, Applicant will not be responsible for managing whether registrars selling .ART domain names remain ICANN-compliant. In addition, Applicant does not oversee registrar handling of registrant accounts, payments, refunding, credit cards or registrar-level marketing and promotion to potential registrants.

VII. Data and Privacy

In addition to the Data, WhoIs, and Privacy requirements set forth in the Applicant Guidebook and required by ICANN, Applicant may collect data in connection with the planned function and usage of each domain name. This data may include the registrant’s function in the arts community (such as Architect, Performer, Visual Artist, Student, Institution, Patron, etc.), as well as other data determined by Applicant from time to time. Delivery of data beyond standard WhoIs information will be encouraged, but will not be mandatory. This data is held by Applicant in accordance with the Registry Agreement Applicant will execute with ICANN. Applicant shall have the right to reference this data as needed to conduct registry operations, i.e., when investigating a potentially abusive registration. Applicant shall handle and use this data only in accordance with the relevant data protection and privacy laws. Applicant will not share data with third parties without permission from registrants, except as required for registry operations or as required under law.

18(b)(v):
All second-level domain registration data shall be subject to strict confidentiality requirements both by Applicant and its registry services provider, Neustar. Applicant shall ensure that all such data stored locally in its administrative offices – and at any facility at which Applicant may in the future occupy – will be stored using strong encryption technology and, to the extent possible, placed on storage devices that are unconnected to any network attached to the Internet. In addition, Applicant will comply with best network security practices at all office locations and engage the services of an outside security firm to perform periodic audits of Applicantʹs security precautions. Finally, Applicant has engaged the services of Steptoe & Johnson LLP, an international law firm, for support in compliance with world-wide data security⁄privacy requirements. Applicant shall comply with all such laws -- including requirements arising from updates to the 1995 EU Data Protection Directive and its accompanying transposing legislation -- and shall make all efforts to ensure that Neustar handles the registration data of its second-level domain registrations with the same precautions as Applicant.

18(b)(vi):
Applicant plans on making .ART the premier TLD in which artists institutions, corporations, dealers, agents, and arts patrons of all varieties, such as observers, critics, or academics can register, build and maintain cultural and arts-related websites, from virtual galleries to websites which are themselves experimental and cutting-edge examples of art. To that end, Applicant believes that communications with the public and development of an outreach campaign is essential to the success of the TLD. In 2011, Applicant conducted extensive research regarding several advertising firms in order to find the best partner to develop the .ART brand, strategy for promoting the TLD, and an associated marketing campaign. Applicant has retained Catalyst Branding, a New York-based firm led by experienced branding strategist David Martin, to handle these initiatives.

After Applicantʹs award of the .ART TLD, its marketing and communications campaign will focus primarily on the North American and European markets for the several reasons, but reaching arts-related individuals and businesses in all corners of the globe has also been calculated into Applicant’s strategy for controlled growth of the TLD. As noted above, the European and U.S. markets are proven supporters of the arts to the extent that the impact and relevance of the arts to the economies of these regions have been studied at length and in great detail. Applicant concluded that the European and U.S. markets would provide an interested and willing audience, with the resources to help Applicant develop a sustainable business model that meets customer expectations. Applicant, being based in Europe, and its branding partner, based in New York, are also most familiar with these marketing channels and determined it would be advisable to start locally and rely on experience and first-hand knowledge before launching fully into the global marketplace. This strategy will also allow Applicant to scale operations in a controlled manner to ensure ongoing feasibility of the business model and offers flexibility to track interest and trends to customize future marketing efforts to other regions.
gTLDFull Legal NameE-mail suffixDetail
.faithdot Faith Limitedfamousfourmedia.comView
Q18b
How do you expect that your proposed gTLD will benefit Registrants, Internet users, and others?

The Applicantʹs primary intention is to provide a favorable ecosystem for the growth and evolution of the sector. The key to achieving this aim are significant provisions for brand integrity and protection of intellectual property. The Applicant intends to push the boundaries of what can be done through innovative design of the new top level domain, including technologies that capitalize on the sectorʹs needs. A close relationship with the sectorʹs stakeholders is essential to this purpose, and will enable .faith to grow in response to both Registrant and user needs. The gTLD also contains significant opportunities as a next generation organizational scheme for online content, including provisions for abuse prevention to defend users against malicious registrations. The gTLD has been meticulously designed by a team of industry leaders from an array of different fields. This has enabled the creation of an airtight financial strategy, an inspired technological development plan as well as a close and dynamic relationship with the sector community - all critical needs on the path to the enduring success of the gTLD.

18(b)(i) What is the goal of your proposed gTLD in terms of areas of specialty, service levels, or reputation?

Specialty

The Applicant’s key specialty goal is to enable a secure and stable gTLD dedicated to providing global Internet users with a targeted space for subject matter of interest. This gTLD will serve as a home for both Registrants and end-users who feel an affinity with this sector and its associated content. Consequently they will prefer to register domain names, create and post content and seek information in a highly targeted manner.

Allowing users the ability to create a targeted, unique space within the new gTLD will enable them to customize their online offering and presence. The .faith gTLD will by itself clearly signal the nature and purpose of such websites to Internet users.

The applicant intends to actively promote gTLD specific vertical searching in the gTLD for the benefit of Registrants, end-users and other stakeholders. This specialization through Vertical Search will also benefit Internet users seeking authentic online information and products or services as they will no longer have to wade through content completely unrelated to their desired results.

As the gTLD is sector specific it will provide a better context for second level strings allowing for a much higher number of relevant and more conscise domains. This more targeted environment will simplify the user experience across multiple platforms specifically with smartphones and tablets where minimal input is favoured.


Service Levels

The goal of the gTLD Registry is to offer domain name registration services of the highest level, exceeding both ICANN requirements and current sector norms. To achieve these goals, the Applicant has contracted with well established, proven service providers offering the highest possible level of quality in Registry and Registrar services. The expertise of the service providers will ensure that the security and quality of the gTLD will be uncompromised.

The Applicant will further provide the highest level of service to trademark, legal rights owners and second-level domain owners. To achieve this goal the Applicant will be implementing a range of Abuse Prevention and Mitigation policies and procedures. The Applicant is also firmly committed to the protection of Intellectual Property rights and will implement all the mandatory Rights Protection Mechanisms (RPMs) contained in the Applicant Guidebook. Aswell as these The Applicant will further protect the rights of others through the implementation of additional RPMs. The RSPʹs experience will ensure that the gTLD provides this high level of service to trademark and other legal rights owners to combat abusive and malicious activity within the gTLD.

The Registry will respond to abuse or malicious conduct complaints on a 24⁄7⁄365 basis, respond to requests from governmental and quasi-governmental agencies and law enforcement in a timely manner, and promptly abide by decisions and judgments of UDRP and URS panels, in accordance with ICANN consensus policies.

The Applicant will also provide fast and responsive (24⁄7⁄365) customer support to both Registrars and end-users in a number of languages to assist with general enquiries as well as complaints of abusive or malicious conduct.


Service Levels related to Registry Backend Services

The Applicant will work with Neustar Inc. (hereinafter “RSP”) whose extensive experience spans more than a decade. This will ensure delivery of the protected, trusted, and permanently-running Registry infrastructure necessary to reliably host and operate a gTLD. The Applicant will also work with its Registrars to ensure that consumers receive secure, fast, and reliable domain name registration services with a high-level of customer service.

The global DNS network that will be utilised for the resolution of domains in this gTLD has already been operating for over 10 years. It currently delivers DNS resolution for several TLD customers and provides low latency query responses with a 100% DNS uptime service level agreement.

The Applicant will further leverage the RSP’s existing DNSSEC infrastructure, capabilities, and experience to provide a robust and standards compliant implementation that ensures DNSSEC services are always available as part of the DNS.

The Shared Registry System (“SRS”) to be used for the Applicantʹs gTLD is a production-proven, standards-based, highly reliable and high-performance domain name registration and management system that has been designed to operate at the highest performance levels. The Applicantʹs RSP has been able to meet or exceed their SLA requirements nearly every month since itʹs inception. Their Registry has achieved a 99.997% success rate in meeting SLAs since 2004.

The Applicantʹs RSP has extensive experience providing ICANN and RFC-compliant WHOIS services for each of the gTLDs that it operates as a Registry Operator for both gTLDs and ccTLDs. The RSPʹs thick WHOIS solution is production proven, highly flexible, and scalable with a track record of 100% availability over the past 10 years.

The Applicant will comply with all the data escrow requirements documented in the Registry Data Escrow (“RyDE”) Specification of the Registry Agreement and has a contract in place with Iron Mountain Intellectual Property Management, Inc. (“IM”) for RyDE Services. The Applicant and its RSP will in conjunction with Iron Mountain work to ensure that the escrow deposit process is compliant 100% of the time.


Reputation

The Applicant will ensure that the Registry enjoys an excellent reputation through its core focus on creating a secure, sustainable, and specialized gTLD, thus supporting ICANN’s primary goals for the new gTLD program in promoting consumer trust, consumer choice, competition and innovation.

The Applicant will strive to become a reputable and successful new gTLD by providing secure, fast and reliable customer service throughout the registration life cycle of all domains in the gTLD.

The Applicant will endeavour to ensure that only non-fraudulent Registrants have domain names in the gTLD via a WHOIS that is searchable, thick and reliable and by being highly responsive to complaints from legal rights owners. The Applicant will further implement an industry leading range of Abuse Prevention and Mitigation policies and procedures as well as RPMs.

The Applicant will provide the financial and operational stability to protect Registrants and ensure the reputation of the Registry. The Applicant has estimated the maximum costs of the critical functions for a three year period by taking the largest single year cost estimate (year 5) and multiplying this by 3. If the calculation used a lower figure the costs estimate would not be at the potential highest amount during the 5 years and the COI instrument would be too small in order to fund the costs of the 5 critical functions for at least 3 years.

The Applicant has decided to commit to providing the highest level of protection to Registrants and Stakeholders by providing ICANN with a COI for the maximum amount as recommended by ICANN in its COI Guidance. This ensures the Registry is reputable, remains conservative and mirrors ICANN’s core objectives. In a worst case scenario where the Applicant will not receive any revenue Registrants will be protected not only by the COI, but also by the fact that the Applicant has enough capital to operate for over 3 years.

Question 18(b)(ii) What do you anticipate your proposed gTLD will add to the current space, in terms of competition, differentiation, or innovation?

It is expected that .faith will provide significant competition for existing and forthcoming gTLDs. The .faith gTLD will provide a blank canvas of second level domains that will inevitably lead to increased consumer choice and significant innovation from the sector. It will allow Registrants to seek new and varied ways to separate themselves from the competition.

Competition

The Applicant will enhance competition by allowing new Registrants to create new online products and services serving the global marketplace and connecting geographically diverse Registrants and users with a common affinity for the specialized subject matter exemplified by the new gTLD. The new gTLD process and its resulting gTLDs are likely to incentivize top-level domains to improve the security and quality of their online products and services as well as introducing new ones. Thus, this gTLD will benefit consumers by increasing the likelihood of new innovative online products and services.The addition of a new gTLD such as .faith will also increase competition between existing registries.

The Applicant will promote competition to the benefit of the Registrants by amongst other things:

- Building a healthy growth trend of domain registrations to validate the specialty space
- Promote the migration of sector relevant content from other TLDs
- Maintaining competitive pricing of domains

Differentiation

Currently, there is no gTLD available on the Internet that signifies the specialized products, services, and subject matter encompassed by this gTLD. The gTLD string itself will give a clear indication to website visitors that the site has content relevant to the sector. This will result in the gTLD becoming globally recognizable and viewed as a trusted source of goods, services and information.

Innovation

The gTLD will demonstrate innovation through cutting edge RPMs.

Firstly the Applicant considers the Protection of Intergovernmental Organization (ʺIGOʺ) names to be very important. The Applicant will use strings registered as second level domains in the .int gTLD as the basis for this protection. To register in the .int domain, the Registrants must be an IGO that meets the requirements found in RFC 1591. The Applicant will reserve these strings and only allow for their future release if an IGO on the “reserve list” wishes to make use of the protected string in the gTLD and provides the Applicant with sufficient documentation.


Finally if a Registrant during sunrise and landrush applies to register a domain name identical to a capital city name of a country or territory listed in the ISO 3166-1 standard it will receive a Capital City Claims (“CCC”) notification stating this. Subsequently they will have to reply unconditionally agreeing to comply with requirements to protect the reputation of the capital city and any further terms.

These functions will enhance Internet stability, security and will demonstrate to Registrars, Registrants, and end-users of the Registry that abusive or malicious conduct will not be tolerated. They will further contribute significantly to the integrity of the gTLD enabling an environment where stakeholders can innovate with confidence.

Question 18(b)(iii) What goals does your proposed gTLD have in terms of user experience?

The Applicant’s goals for the new gTLD are to provide a trusted, secure, and user friendly environment whereby domain names and content relating to its specific affinity group can flourish.

The Applicant believes that the success of the gTLD will be determined by the sector’s key stakeholders globally. The Applicant believes that stakeholders should have the opportunity to influence the gTLD and the way it is governed. Accordingly, the Applicant is establishing a Governance Council (“GC”), to serve as an advisory body.

.faith will be developed with consumer trust, choice and satisfaction in mind and after the initial 2 years, the Applicant will conduct a survey to analyse the gTLDʹs success in these areas to help further improve the user experience.

To ensure a high level of service the Applicant will further measure:

- Service Availability Targets for the Critical Registry Functions
- The number of abuse incidents and takedowns
- ICANN Compliance
- Rights protection incidents (i.e. UDRP and URS)
- WHOIS data accuracy

The Applicant intends to promote consumer choice by providing the following:

- Highly available and geographically diverse Registrar distribution channel;
- Effective sunrise and trademark services.

Question 18(b)(iv) Provide a complete description of the applicantʹs intended registration policies in support of the goals listed above.

Registration Policies

The purpose and goal of the Applicant’s policies are to ensure competition, fairness, trust and reliability for Registrars, Registrants, the user community, and other stake holders, while maintaining security and stability for the gTLD.

General Policy

Aside from certain start-up mechanisms, all domain names will generally be registered on a first-come, first-served basis. A Trademark Claims service will be offered for the first 90 days of general registration, with the intent of providing clear notice to potential Registrants of the existing rights of trademark owners with registered trademarks in the Trademark Clearinghouse.

Registration Policies

As per ICANN’s requirements, the Applicant will be operating both a Sunrise and Landrush period ahead of general availability for the gTLD.

Governance Council

The Applicant is establishing a the GC, to be comprised of key sector stakeholders that will serve as an advisory body. Each GC will elect its own Board of Directors, which will be responsible for self-governance, the recommendation of sector-specific registration policies,the formulation of guidance on intellectual property and other best practices related to the gTLD.


The Applicant aims to develop an Abuse Prevention and Mitigation Working Group in conjunction with the GC. It will give the Applicant’s team advice on abuse preventions and mitigation and how this may effect registration policies. The group will meet to regularly discuss the latest trends in domain name abuse and the most effective way to prevent and remedy them.

Question 18(b)(v) Will your proposed gTLD impose any measures for protecting the privacy or confidential information of Registrants or users? If so, please describe any such measures.

Data and Privacy Policies

The Applicant shall comply with all the Data, WHOIS, and Privacy requirements in the Applicant Guidebook required by ICANN. The Applicant will take all possible steps to maintain the security and privacy of information or data that it may collect in connection with the planned function and usage of names domains, and will remain in compliance with all confidentiality and security regulations in relevant jurisdictions. This data will be held by the Applicant in accordance with the Registry Agreement that the Applicant will execute with ICANN.

The Applicant has further ensured that its suppliers also understand that keeping information secure and private is of crucial importance and will take all available steps to maintain the security and privacy of information collected from the Applicants in the Sunrise, Landrush and General Availability Phases.

Question 18(b) Describe whether and in what ways outreach and communications will help to achieve your projected benefits.

The Applicant plans on making the gTLD the premier gTLD where individuals and organizations can register, build and maintain websites relating to their specific interest area. Thus, communication with the public and development of an outreach campaign are important goals in connection with the gTLD.

During the gTLD evaluation process, the Applicant plans to conduct a two-to-three month communications campaign aimed at reaching sector stakeholders and informing them of the gTLD’s mission and the opportunity to participate in the GC. The communication outreach will include email communications to hundreds of leading sector organizations. It will also be accompanied by the launch of a website for communicating information about the gTLD and allowing interested members of the related sector to express interest in serving on the GC. Other communications efforts, including but not limited to, press releases and social media campaigns may all be initiated to raise further awareness regarding the gTLD.

Shortly after completing the evaluation process and being awarded the gTLD, the Applicant will institute marketing and outreach efforts to inform the public about the new gTLD, its launch schedule, and its intended affinity group. The Applicant will use different outreach and communications methods and venues to get the new gTLD mission and message out to the public, including but not limited to the following: online and print press releases, communications with various media outlets, domain name sector groups, mobile apps and various social media platforms. The GC will be used as a further means of outreach and communication to the Internet community.
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