18(a) Describe the mission/purpose of your proposed gTLD

Prototypical answer:

Afilias Domains No. 2, the Applicant, is a subsidiary of Afilias Limited, and will be referred to throughout this application as Afilias for simplicity of review by ICANN.


Mission and purpose

.MAIL will be the Internet’s post office. There is a proliferation of free email services on the Internet, but Afilias sees value, and believes consumers will see value, in being able to acquire an email address that identifies them directly, as opposed to being a subset of an existing branded email structure. An end user can simply be contacted at JohnSmith.mail rather than at JohnSmith@gmail.com. This creates simplicity and ease of use for individuals and entities who choose this option.

The .MAIL TLD is envisioned as a central electronic post office, in which registrants will be able to establish unique, clear identifications, unencumbered by any branding or association with any other organization.

In addition to individuals, a small commercial market that supplies postal related services, email services and other mail-related support may also wish to brand their business with a .MAIL domain. These parties could utilize the TLD for various tracking services, uniting the physical and online world of mail delivery.

There were over 3 billion email accounts worldwide at the end of 2011 (source: http:⁄⁄royal.pingdom.com⁄2012⁄01⁄17⁄internet-2011-in-numbers⁄). Because of the proliferation of free email services, only companies and individuals willing to pay for clear, concise and unbranded email addresses will become early adopters of this offering. Therefore, we anticipate that we will have 50,100 domains under management (DUMs) after three years.

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