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

Prototypical answer:

What operating rules will you adopt to eliminate or minimize social costs (e.g. time or financial resource costs as well as various types of consumer vulnerabilities)? What other steps will you take to minimize negative consequences⁄costs imposed upon consumers?

Our application for the .PING registry is, itself, designed to eliminate or minimize the social costs involved in third parties who cybersquat on PING domain names and use them to attempt to sell counterfeit goods to unsuspecting consumers. We are applying to enhance our on-line presence, to support effective delivery of products and services, to provide a platform for customer service and innovation and possibly, to bring our customers together under an “affinity” domain in the future. We are not applying to simply drive revenues from selling second level domain names. If we believed that our application would have any negative consequences for customers then we would not have applied.

How will multiple applications for a particular domain be resolved, for example, by auction or on a first come first served basis?

We will be initially provisioning second level domains in the .PING registry only to KMC and its affiliates for purposes that enhance our strategic, commercial, and philanthropic interests. We cannot imagine a short-term need for mechanisms such as first come first served or auctions in our style of private, branded registry. While the registry will comply with ICANN consensus policy regarding registrar neutrality, KMC in its role as registrant intends to select a single registrar who we can trust to enhance our interests and protect the restricted nature of the registry.

Explain any cost benefits for registrants you intend to implement (e.g. advantageous pricing, introductory discounts, bulk registration discounts).

Domains in the .PING registry will support KMC’s strategic, commercial, and philanthropic interests. Our registry is not being designed as a profit center. We are not applying under the new gTLD program to get into the business of selling second level domain name registrations so we do not have to incentivize registrars or registrants. We expect our distributors, retailers, and customers will come to value the relatively small number of registrations that are created in the .PING registry which will help them to connect seamlessly with us, wherever they are based, and to be confident in the fact they are accessing an authentic source of information, products, and services.

The Registry Agreement requires that registrars be offered the option to obtain initial domain name registrations for periods of one to ten years at the discretion of the registrar, but no greater than 10 years. Additionally the Registry Agreement requires advance written notice of price increases. Do you intend to make contractual commitments to registrants regarding the magnitude of price escalation?

While we currently do not plan to sell domain names to third parties, we will, of course, comply with the provisions of Section 2.10 of the Registry Agreement. If the new gTLD program is a success, it is possible that in the long-term we might wish to expand our registrant base. Even though this could be at the third level, we will ensure that we protect the interests of all those who benefit from .Ping domains.

Similar gTLD applications: (0)