gTLD	Full Legal Name	E-mail suffix	Detail
.REST	Punto 2012 Sociedad Anonima de Capital Variable	centralnic.com	View

Except where specified this answer refers to the operations of the Applicantʹs outsource Registry Service Provider, CentralNic.

Applicant recognizes providing appropriate mechanisms to protect legal rights of others as one of the core objectives of the Registry. Applicant will follow rules and policies developed by ICANN with regards to Rights Protection Mechanisms (RPMs). Applicant will fully comply with Specification 7 of the new gTLD registry agreement and will provide additional rights protection mechanisms over and above the ICANN requirements. Both standard and additional RPMs are described below.


29.1. Sunrise Period
Prior to the open registration phase Applicant will offer a priority registration period for owners of trademarks and service marks. This period will last at least 30 days.

Applicant will support Trademark Clearinghouse (TCH) once it is implemented by ICANN. Owners of trademarks pre-validated by the Clearinghouse (those who are also eligible to hold domain registrations in the TLD according to the eligibility criteria) will be able to secure their domain registrations during the Sunrise period without further verification of their intellectual property rights.

The flowchart of the Sunrise and eligibility validation process is available in Figure 24.4.

29.1.1. Sunrise Eligibility Requirements
Any entity that holds a trademark or service mark will be qualified to register a domain during the Sunrise period. Registrations obtained during the Sunrise Period will be subject to challenge as described below.

As a minimum, the Registry will recognize as qualifying all word marks that:
• Are nationally or regionally registered and for which proof of use is available, or
• Marks that have been validated by the court, or
• Marks that are specifically protected by a statute or treaty.

All the Sunrise Eligibility requirements will have to be met by the cut-off date which will be announced in due course.

Full details of the Sunrise registration process will be finalized after the Trademark Clearinghouse service is implemented and full documentation, policies, terms and conditions are made available. For guidance, data items that will need to be provided by the qualifying applicant to apply for a Sunrise registration are listed below:
• name or description of the trademark
• registration number
• registration date
• country of registration
• capacity of the applicant
• reference to the Trademark Clearinghouse database record
• Representation that the information provided is true and correct

29.1.2. Sunrise Challenge Process
The result of the evaluation of Sunrise applications will be published on the Registry website. A process will be in place to allow third parties to dispute the registrant rights to own a domain name. Applicant will engage with a reputable adjudicator to manage the Sunrise challenge process. The adjudicator will charge a reasonable fee for Sunrise challenges.

The Sunrise Challenge rules will allow challenges based on at least the following four grounds:
• at the time the challenged domain name was registered, the registrant did not hold a trademark registration of national effect (or regional effect) or the trademark had not been court-validated or protected by statute or treaty;
• the domain name is not identical to the mark on which the registrant based its Sunrise registration;
• the trademark registration on which the registrant based its Sunrise registration is not of national effect (or regional effect) or the trademark had not been court-validated or protected by statute or treaty; or
• the trademark registration on which the domain name registrant based its Sunrise registration did not issue on or before the effective date of the Registry Agreement and was not applied for on or before ICANN announced the applications received.

29.2. Trademark Claims Service
The Trademark Claims service will be launched by the registry as soon as the open registration period starts and will be provided for at least 90 days (exceeding the period mandated by ICANN). The Applicant will review the effect of the Trademark Claims service and based on the results of such review Applicant is prepared to consider providing the Trademark Claims service on an ongoing basis.

The essence of the Trademark Claims service is as follows: if a domain name registration is attempted for which there exists a matching record in the Trademark Clearinghouse database, then the prospective registrant will be presented with a notice that third party trademark rights exist for a matching designation and will be required to provide a statement that to the best of his or her knowledge, the registration and use of the requested domain name will not infringe on the rights of the trademark holders.

If the registrant chooses to proceed with the registration, the corresponding trademark holder(s) will be notified that such registration has taken place.
Operational rules of the Trademark Claims service are heavily dependent on the specific implementation of the Trademark Clearinghouse which is not yet available in writing. Therefore full details of the Trademark Claims service will be finalized after the TCH is implemented by ICANN and full documentation, policies, terms and conditions become available.

29.3. Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP)
The Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy is an ICANN consensus policy for adjudication of disputes between domain name holders and owners of matching trademarks. Every registrant must agree to this mandatory administrative procedure in its Domain Registration Agreement with the registrar. Registrars have certain responsibilities to facilitate adjudication of UDRP disputes and to enforce the decisions of the arbitration panels.

The TLD will comply with the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy or with any successor thereof. The UDRP will be incorporated by reference into Registry-Registrar Agreements. Similarly, Registrars will be required to incorporate it into their Domain Registration agreements with the Registrants.

The UDRP process does not provide for any participation by the Registry and is fully borne by the Registrar, Registrant, Complainant and the Dispute Resolution Provider. However, Applicant is prepared to collaborate with all relevant stakeholders to ensure UDRP decisions are implemented.

CentralNic, Applicant’s registry services provider, has maintained a similar dispute resolution policy with WIPO which is available at http:⁄⁄www.wipo.int⁄amc⁄en⁄domains⁄gtld⁄cnic⁄index.html. CentralNic has dedicated personnel trained to address these types of complaints and to communicate with WIPO and other relevant stakeholders.

29.4. Uniform Rapid Suspension System (URS)
The Uniform Rapid Suspension System (URS) described in the ICANN gTLD Applicant Guidebook is a new Rights Protection Mechanism for rapid takedown of domain names that by clear and convincing evidence infringe on legitimate trademark rights of third parties.

As opposed to the UDRP procedure, registries are required to participate in the URS procedure and enforcement of the URS decisions. Applicant will comply with the URS policy once implemented by ICANN.

The current URS procedure as described in the Applicant Guidebook is as follows: within 24 hours of receipt of the Notice of Complaint from a URS Provider, the Registry has to lock the domain, restricting all changes to the registration data, including transfer and deletion. The domain name will continue to resolve at this stage. The Registry will notify the URS Provider immediately upon locking the domain name.

If the URS Determination is in favour of Complainant, upon receipt of the Determination the Registry will suspend the domain name which is intended to remain suspended for the balance of the registration period and will not resolve to the original web site. Instead, the nameservers will be redirected to an informational web page provided by the URS Provider about the URS. The Whois record for the domain name will continue to display all of the information of the original Registrant except for the redirection of the nameservers. In addition, the Whois will reflect that the domain name will not be able to be transferred, deleted or modified for the life of the registration.

If the URS Determination is in favour of the Respondent, the Registry will remove the lock status from the domain name allowing the registrant to continue using it normally.

The URS compliance function will be performed by CentralNic and overseen by the Applicant. Given CentralNic long-standing experience in dealing with trademark-related disputes in domain names, Aplicant has no doubt that this function will be performed by CentralNic flawlessly.

29.5 Mediation
CentralNic has implemented a solution that complements the UDRP by adopting a best practice of Nominet and other ccTLDs. CentralNic has experienced a high percentage of domain disputes resolved without the need for filing a formal and relatively expensive UDRP complaint, by offering informal mediation to any person or entity who submits a Request for Mediation to the registry. The Mediation rules that CentralNic intends to apply to gTLDs are copied below:
ʺCentralNicʺ means CentralNic Ltd, 35-39 Moorgate, London EC2R 6AR, United Kingdom.

ʺComplainantʺ means the party submitting a Request for Mediation concerning a Domain Name registration pursuant to the CentralNic Mediation Rules.
ʺDomain Nameʺ means any domain name registered under a sub-domain provided by CentralNic.

ʺMediationʺ means a mediation conducted by CentralNic in accordance with the CentralNic Mediation Rules that are incorporated by reference and made a part of the Registration Agreement.

ʺPartyʺ means a Complainant or a Respondent.
ʺRegistration Agreementʺ means the agreement between CentralNic and a Domain Name holder.
ʺRespondentʺ means the holder of a Domain Name registration in respect of which a Request for Mediation is submitted pursuant to the CentralNic Mediation Rules.

1. Request for Mediation: (a) Any person or entity may submit a Request for Mediation relating to a Domain Name registration in accordance with the CentralNic Mediation Rules. A copy of the Request for Mediation shall be sent to the Respondent and to CentralNic. (b) The Request for Mediation shall be submitted in writing by e-mail and shall: (i) State that the Complainant wishes to submit the dispute to Mediation in accordance with the CentralNic Mediation Rules; (ii) Provide the name, postal and e-mail addresses, and the telephone and telefax numbers of the Complainant and of any representative authorized to act for the Complainant in the Mediation; (iii) Specify a preferred method for communications directed to the Complainant in the Mediation (including person to be contacted, medium, and address information); (iv) Provide the name of the Respondent and all information (including any postal and e-mail addresses and telephone and telefax numbers) known to Complainant regarding how to contact the Respondent or any representative of the Respondent, including contact information based on pre-Request dealings; (v) Specify the Domain Name(s) that is⁄are the subject of the Request; (vi) Contain a brief statement of the nature of the dispute. (c) The Request for Mediation may relate to more than one Domain Name, provided that the Domain Names are registered by the same Domain-Name holder.

2. Commencement: (a) The date of commencement of the Mediation shall be the date on which the Request for Mediation is received by CentralNic. (b) CentralNic shall inform the Parties of the receipt by it of the Request and of the date of commencement of the Mediation.

3. Mediation: (a) CentralNic shall conduct the Mediation in a manner which CentralNic, in its sole discretion, considers appropriate. (b) The language of the Mediation shall be English, unless decided otherwise by CentralNic. (c) CentralNic will not reveal details of the Mediation to any third parties unless ordered by a court of competent jurisdiction or required by applicable laws or regulations or except as may be provided under the CentralNic Dispute Resolution Policy and the Rules for CentralNic Dispute Resolution Policy.

4. Termination of the Mediation: The Mediation will terminate ten (10) calendar days after the date of commencement. At the request of the Parties or on its own motion, CentralNic may, in exceptional cases, extend the period of time for the Mediation. The fact of termination shall be recorded by CentralNic.
5. Fees: No fees shall be payable by either party for the conduct of the Mediation.

6. Exclusion of Liability: Except in the case of deliberate wrongdoing, CentralNic shall not be liable to a Party for any act or omission in connection with the Mediation.

7. Waiver of Defamation: The Parties agree that any statements or comments, whether written or oral, made or used by them or their representatives in preparation for or in the course of the Mediation shall not be relied upon to found or maintain any action for defamation, libel, slander or any related complaint, and this Paragraph may be pleaded as a bar to any such action.

8. Amendments: CentralNic reserves the right to modify these Rules at any time. CentralNic will post the revised Rules at at least thirty (30) calendar days before they become effective. The version of these Rules in effect at the time of the submission of the Request for Mediation to CentralNic shall apply to the Mediation commenced thereby.

Applicant notes this is CentralNic’s current policy for its current registry businesses. Applicant may make modifications to this Policy, without limitation by charging a reasonable fee and⁄or by specifying the mediation mechanism, as its business plans develop prior to launch of the TLD. However, Applicant remains committed to offering a less formal and less expensive procedure than the UDRP, and perhaps even the URS, to the extent commercially feasible.

29.6 Abusive use⁄takedown policies
Answer to question 28 contains a detailed description of measures that the Applicant will take to prevent and mitigate abusive registrations and the description of policies that the Applicant will apply to handle complaints regarding abuse and take down abusive registrations. To summarise,
• Applicant will dedicate a single abuse point of contact. Correspondence and complaints coming through that point of contact will be continuously monitored and responded to within 24 hours
• Applicant will adopt a comprehensive Eligibility and⁄or Acceptable Use Policy that will set forth the limits of acceptable use of domains and the procedures the Registry will apply in case of violations of applicable laws or policies, including takedown procedures. The initial Acceptable Use Policy is provided in this section below.
• Applicant will delete orphan glue records once the parent domain is deleted to prevent abuse of these orphan glue records
• Applicant will require registrars to perform extra checks on WHOIS data to improve its accuracy
• Applicant will perform random audits of WHOIS data and will flag suspicious registrations via registrars

29.7. Post-Delegation Dispute Resolution Procedure
Applicant reaffirms its intent to comply with the ICANN-mandated Post-Delegation Dispute Resolution Procedure (PDDRP).
Applicant believes that its choice of TLD string and the way the TLD is intended to be operated represents a good faith offering of Top Level Domain Registry service and does not infringe on any legitimate third party trademark rights.

Applicant also reaffirms its commitment to maintain the TLD free of violations of third party trademark rights through second level domain registration and use. Applicant has all the required resources, policies and procedures in place to address any situations of abuse without the need to invoke the PDDRP procedure.

29.8. Resourcing
The Rights Protection Mechanisms described above include a combination of both technical and non-technical systems: for example, the Trademark Claims Service may (depending on the final specification published by ICANN) require development, maintenance and support of an EPP extension, as well as real-time integration with the TCH API, whereas the UDRP is a primarily manual process of managing and responding to communications from complaints, respondents and UDRP service providers.

As can be seen in the Resourcing Matrix found in Appendix 23.2, CentralNic will maintain a team of full-time developers and engineers which will contribute to the development and maintenance of this aspect of the registry system. These developers and engineers will not work on specific subsystems full-time, but a certain percentage of their time will be dedicated to each area. The total HR resource dedicated to this area is equivalent to half of a full-time role.

CentralNic operates a shared registry environment where multiple registry zones (such as CentralNicʹs domains, the .LA ccTLD, this TLD and other gTLDs) share a common infrastructure and resources. Since the TLD will be operated in an identical manner to these other registries, and on the same infrastructure, then the TLD will benefit from an economy of scale with regards to access to CentralNicʹs resources.

CentralNicʹs resourcing model assumes that the ʺdedicatedʺ resourcing required for the TLD (ie, that required to deal with issues related specifically to the TLD and not to general issues with the system as a whole) will be equal to the proportion of the overall registry system that the TLD will use. After three years of operation, the optimistic projection for the TLD states that there will be 95000 domains in the zone. CentralNic has calculated that, if all its TLD clients are successful in their applications, and all meet their optimistic projections after three years, its registry system will be required to support up to 4.5 million domain names. Therefore the TLD will require 2.11% of the total resources available for this area of the registry system.

In the event that registration volumes exceed this figure, CentralNic will proactively increase the size of the Technical Operations, Technical Development and support teams to ensure that the needs of the TLD are fully met. Revenues from the additional registration volumes will fund the salaries of these new hires. Nevertheless, CentralNic is confident that the staffing outlined above is sufficient to meet the needs of the TLD for at least the first 18 months of operation.

29.9 Proposed TLD Acceptable Use Policy
This policy is subject to all ICANN requirements for new gTLDs, including the URS and UDRP, and will be made compliant with any future ICANN requirements as and when necessary.

29.9.1. Definitions
Registry TLD: .rest Top Level Domain.

Registry: Punto 2012 Sociedad Anonima de Capital Variable which is responsible, in accordance with its Registry Agreement, for operating the Registry TLD. Where applicable, the term “Registry” also includes the Registry’s service providers, agents and subcontractors.

Accredited Registrar: an entity that (i) has entered into a Registrar Accreditation Agreement with ICANN (ii) is authorised to provide domain name registration services for the Registry TLD, (iii) contracts with Domain Name Holders, and (iv) submits Domain Name Holders’ registration data into the Registry database.

Domain Name Holder: an entity that holds the domain name registration and is entitled to use it.

TLD Policies: this Acceptable Use Policy, ICANN consensus policies and such other policies as may be adopted by the Registry or ICANN for application to Registry TLD.

29.9.2. Introduction
This Acceptable Use Policy establishes the operational principles of the Registry TLD and sets forth rules relating to unacceptable use of a domain name. It also describes the situations in which the Registry can intervene into functioning of a domain name in the TLD, and the procedures associated with such intervention.

29.9.3. Parties subject to this policy
This policy applies to:

1. The Registry;

2. Accredited Registrars; and

3. Domain Name Holders.


29.9.4. Purpose of the TLD
The Registry TLD is intended to serve the restaurant industry and corollary services and products but registration and use is not restricted to these entities


29.9.5. Registration
A Sunrise period open to Trademark holders will precede a Landrush or Premium Name availability period during which applicants are able to register their interest for various domain names (in the event of conflicting requests, the names will be sent to auction). The Landrush phase will be followed by General Availability, during which time domain names will become available for purchase by any entity on a first-come, first-served basis.


29.9.6. Acceptable Use Policy
Domain names can only be used for lawful purposes, i. e. in the manner that is not prohibited by the laws applicable in the jurisdiction where Registry is domiciled. The Registry is committed to maintaining the environment free from online crime, malicious or illegal activities. The Registry will investigate all reports of illegal activity and will cooperate with the competent governmental agencies in such investigations.


29.9.7. Enforcement
An action in enforcement of a TLD Policy may be triggered by a variety of events including reports from the public, registrars or ICANN, decisions of a competent dispute resolution provider, outreach from a governmental agency or findings produced by internal investigation or monitoring processes.

This paragraph describes default enforcement procedures.

29.9.7.1 Notice of Violation and Opportunity to Correct
In case the Registry encounters or is informed of any alleged violation of the TLD Acceptable Use Policyies, by an Accredited Registrar or a Domain Name Holder, it will investigate the alleged violation. If the Registry, in its sole discretion, concludes that the Domain Name Holder has indeed violated a TLD Policy, it will normally request the Domain Name Holder to comply with this Policy within a thirty (30) days’ notice period.

The Registry may use any notification methods, but as a minimum it will send an email to the email address of the Administrative contact that is on record with the Registry. Such e-mail notification should shall be deemed a sufficient notice.


29.9.7.2 Revocation
In case an inadequate response or no response has been received within the notice period given to the Domain Name Holder, the Registry may revoke the domain name registration without any further notice, and without the Domain Name Holder being entitled to any refund or damages resulting from such actions.


29.9.7.3 Interim Measures
During the applicable notice period, the Registry may, without liability to any other party, make inactive or otherwise change the state of the Domain Name in question, in which case, the Domain Name cannot be updated or transferred, and may not resolve.

In extreme situations where there is evidence that a domain name in a Registry TLD is used in connection with illegal or malicious activity including, but not limited to phishing, pharming, distribution of illegal content, distribution of malware, fast flux hosting, botnets, unauthorized access to information systems, or the domain name is used in a way that threatens security and stability of the Registry TLDs, the Registry reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to apply these interim measured as soon as practically possible, and prior to any notice to the Domain Name Holder.

In addition, the Registry reserves the right to apply these interim measures in its discretion; (1) to protect the integrity and stability of the registry; (2) to comply with any applicable laws, government rules or requirements, requests of law enforcement, or any dispute resolution process; (3) to avoid any liability, civil or criminal, on the part of Registry as well as its affiliates, subsidiaries, officers, directors, and employees; (4) per the terms of the registration agreement or (5) to correct mistakes made by the Registry or any Registrar in connection with a domain name registration.


29.9.7.4 Registrar Assistance
The Registry may seek assistance from the sponsoring Registrar in enforcing the requirements of this Policy or other TLD Policies, and the Registrar will provide such assistance.

gTLD	Full Legal Name	E-mail suffix	Detail
.REIT	National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts, Inc.	nareit.com	View

Applicant recognizes providing appropriate mechanisms to protect legal rights of others as one of the core objectives of the Registry. Applicant will follow rules and policies developed by ICANN with regards to Rights Protection Mechanisms (RPMs). Applicant will fully comply with Specification 7 of the new gTLD registry agreement (including the RRDRP which is specifically applicable to community-based applications such as .REIT) and will provide additional rights protection mechanisms over and above the ICANN requirements. Both standard and additional RPMs are described below.

29.1. Sunrise Period
Prior to the open registration phase Applicant will offer a priority registration period for owners of trademarks and service marks. This period will last at least 30 days.

Applicant will support Trademark Clearinghouse (TCH) once it is implemented by ICANN. Owners of trademarks pre-validated by the Clearinghouse and meeting REIT community eligibility criteria will be able to secure their domain registrations during the Sunrise period without further verification of their intellectual property rights.

The flowchart of the Sunrise and eligibility validation process is available in Figure 24.4.

29.1.1. Sunrise Eligibility Requirements
Any entity that holds a trademark or service mark and meets REIT community eligibility criteria will be qualified to register a domain during the Sunrise period. Registrations obtained during the Sunrise Period will be subject to challenge as described below. As a minimum, the Registry will recognize as qualifying all word marks that:
* Are nationally or regionally registered and for which proof of use is available, or
* Marks that have been validated by the court, or
* Marks that are specifically protected by a statute or treaty.

All the Sunrise Eligibility requirements will have to be met by the cut-off date which will be announced in due course. Full details of the Sunrise registration process will be finalized after the Trademark Clearinghouse service is implemented and full documentation, policies, terms and conditions are made available. For guidance, data items that will need to be provided by the qualifying applicant to apply for a Sunrise registration are listed below:
* name or description of the trademark
* registration number
* registration date
* country of registration
* capacity of the applicant
* reference to the Trademark Clearinghouse database record
* representation that the information provided is true and correct

29.1.2. Sunrise Challenge Process
The result of the evaluation of Sunrise applications will be published on the Registry website. A process will be in place to allow third parties to dispute the registrant rights to own a domain name. Applicant will engage with a reputable adjudicator to manage the Sunrise challenge process. The adjudicator will charge a reasonable fee for Sunrise challenges.

The Sunrise Challenge rules will allow challenges based on at least the following four grounds:
* at the time the challenged domain name was registered, the registrant did not hold a trademark registration of national effect (or regional effect) or the trademark had not been court-validated or protected by statute or treaty;
* the domain name is not identical to the mark on which the registrant based its Sunrise registration;
* the trademark registration on which the registrant based its Sunrise registration is not of national effect (or regional effect) or the trademark had not been court-validated or protected by statute or treaty; or
* the trademark registration on which the domain name registrant based its Sunrise registration did not issue on or before the effective date of the Registry Agreement and was not applied for on or before ICANN announced the applications received.

29.2. Trademark Claims Service The Trademark Claims service will be launched by the registry as soon as the open registration period starts and will be provided for at least 90 days (exceeding the period mandated by ICANN). The Applicant will review the effect of the Trademark Claims service and based on the results of such review Applicant is prepared to consider providing the Trademark Claims service on an ongoing basis.

The essence of the Trademark Claims service is as follows: if a domain name registration is attempted for which there exists a matching record in the Trademark Clearinghouse database, then the prospective registrant will be presented with a notice that third party trademark rights exist for a matching designation and will be required to provide a statement that to the best of his or her knowledge, the registration and use of the requested domain name will not infringe on the rights of the trademark holders.

If the registrant chooses to proceed with the registration, the corresponding trademark holder(s) will be notified that such registration has taken place.

Operational rules of the Trademark Claims service are heavily dependent on the specific implementation of the Trademark Clearinghouse which is not yet available in writing. Therefore full details of the Trademark Claims service will be finalized after the TCH is implemented by ICANN and full documentation, policies, terms and conditions become available.

29.3. Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP)
The Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy is an ICANN consensus policy for adjudication of disputes between domain name holders and owners of matching trademarks. Every registrant must agree to this mandatory administrative procedure in its Domain Registration Agreement with the registrar. Registrars have certain responsibilities to facilitate adjudication of UDRP disputes and to enforce the decisions of the arbitration panels.

The TLD will comply with the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy or with any successor thereof. The UDRP will be incorporated by reference into Registry-Registrar Agreements. Similarly, Registrars will be required to incorporate it into their Domain Registration agreements with the Registrants.

The UDRP process does not provide for any participation by the Registry and is fully borne by the Registrar, Registrant, Complainant and the Dispute Resolution Provider. However, Applicant is prepared to collaborate with all relevant stakeholders to ensure UDRP decisions are implemented.
CentralNic, Applicant’s registry services provider, has maintained a similar dispute resolution policy with WIPO which is available at http:⁄⁄www.wipo.int⁄amc⁄en⁄domains⁄gtld⁄cnic⁄index.html. CentralNic has dedicated personnel trained to address these types of complaints and to communicate with WIPO and other relevant stakeholders.

29.4. Uniform Rapid Suspension System (URS)
The Uniform Rapid Suspension System (URS) described in the ICANN gTLD Applicant Guidebook is a new Rights Protection Mechanism for rapid takedown of domain names that by clear and convincing evidence infringe on legitimate trademark rights of third parties.
As opposed to the UDRP procedure, registries are required to participate in the URS procedure and enforcement of the URS decisions. Applicant will comply with the URS policy once implemented by ICANN.

The current URS procedure as described in the Applicant Guidebook is as follows: within 24 hours of receipt of the Notice of Complaint from a URS Provider, the Registry has to lock the domain, restricting all changes to the registration data, including transfer and deletion. The domain name will continue to resolve at this stage. The Registry will notify the URS Provider immediately upon locking the domain name. If the URS Determination is in favour of Complainant, upon receipt of the Determination the Registry will suspend the domain name which is intended to remain suspended for the balance of the registration period and will not resolve to the original web site. Instead, the nameservers will be redirected to an informational web page provided by the URS Provider about the URS. The Whois record for the domain name will continue to display all of the information of the original Registrant except for the redirection of the nameservers. In addition, the Whois will reflect that the domain name will not be able to be transferred, deleted or modified for the life of the registration. If the URS Determination is in favour of the Respondent, the Registry will remove the lock status from the domain name allowing the registrant to continue using it normally.

The URS compliance function will be performed by CentralNic and overseen by the Applicant. Given CentralNic long-standing experience in dealing with trademark-related disputes in domain names, Aplicant has no doubt that this function will be performed by CentralNic flawlessly.

29.5 Mediation
CentralNic has implemented a solution that complements the UDRP by adopting a best practice employed by Nominet and other ccTLDs. CentralNic has experienced a high percentage of domain disputes resolved without the need for filing a formal and relatively expensive UDRP complaint, by offering informal mediation to any person or entity who submits a Request for Mediation to the registry. The Mediation rules that CentralNic intends to apply to gTLDs are copied below:

ʺCentralNicʺ means CentralNic Ltd, 35-39 Moorgate, London EC2R 6AR, United Kingdom.
ʺComplainantʺ means the party submitting a Request for Mediation concerning a Domain Name registration pursuant to the CentralNic Mediation Rules.
ʺDomain Nameʺ means any domain name registered under a sub-domain provided by CentralNic.
ʺMediationʺ means a mediation conducted by CentralNic in accordance with the CentralNic Mediation Rules that are incorporated by reference and made a part of the Registration Agreement.
ʺPartyʺ means a Complainant or a Respondent.
ʺRegistration Agreementʺ means the agreement between CentralNic and a Domain Name holder.
ʺRespondentʺ means the holder of a Domain Name registration in respect of which a Request for Mediation is submitted pursuant to the CentralNic Mediation Rules.

1. Request for Mediation:
(a) Any person or entity may submit a Request for Mediation relating to a Domain Name registration in accordance with the CentralNic Mediation Rules. A copy of the Request for Mediation shall be sent to the Respondent and to CentralNic.
(b) The Request for Mediation shall be submitted in writing by e-mail and shall:
(i) State that the Complainant wishes to submit the dispute to Mediation in accordance with the CentralNic Mediation Rules;
(ii) Provide the name, postal and e-mail addresses, and the telephone and telefax numbers of the Complainant and of any representative authorized to act for the Complainant in the Mediation;
(iii) Specify a preferred method for communications directed to the Complainant in the Mediation (including person to be contacted, medium, and address information);
(iv) Provide the name of the Respondent and all information (including any postal and e-mail addresses and telephone and telefax numbers) known to Complainant regarding how to contact the Respondent or any representative of the Respondent, including contact information based on pre-Request dealings;
(v) Specify the Domain Name(s) that is⁄are the subject of the Request;
(vi) Contain a brief statement of the nature of the dispute.
(c) The Request for Mediation may relate to more than one Domain Name, provided that the Domain Names are registered by the same Domain-Name holder.

2. Commencement:
(a) The date of commencement of the Mediation shall be the date on which the Request for Mediation is received by CentralNic.
(b) CentralNic shall inform the Parties of the receipt by it of the Request and of the date of commencement of the Mediation.

3. Mediation:
(a) CentralNic shall conduct the Mediation in a manner which CentralNic, in its sole discretion, considers appropriate.
(b) The language of the Mediation shall be English, unless decided otherwise by CentralNic.
(c) CentralNic will not reveal details of the Mediation to any third parties unless ordered by a court of competent jurisdiction or required by applicable laws or regulations or except as may be provided under the CentralNic Dispute Resolution Policy and the Rules for CentralNic Dispute Resolution Policy.

4. Termination of the Mediation:
The Mediation will terminate ten (10) calendar days after the date of commencement. At the request of the Parties or on its own motion, CentralNic may, in exceptional cases, extend the period of time for the Mediation. The fact of termination shall be recorded by CentralNic.

5. Fees: No fees shall be payable by either party for the conduct of the Mediation.

6. Exclusion of Liability: Except in the case of deliberate wrongdoing, CentralNic shall not be liable to a Party for any act or omission in connection with the Mediation.

7. Waiver of Defamation: The Parties agree that any statements or comments, whether written or oral, made or used by them or their representatives in preparation for or in the course of the Mediation shall not be relied upon to found or maintain any action for defamation, libel, slander or any related complaint, and this Paragraph may be pleaded as a bar to any such action.

8. Amendments: CentralNic reserves the right to modify these Rules at any time. CentralNic will post the revised Rules at at least thirty (30) calendar days before they become effective. The version of these Rules in effect at the time of the submission of the Request for Mediation to CentralNic shall apply to the Mediation commenced thereby.

Applicant notes this is CentralNic’s current policy for its current registry businesses. Applicant may make modifications to this Policy, without limitation by charging a reasonable fee and⁄or by specifying the mediation mechanism, as its business plans develop prior to launch of the TLD. However, Applicant remains committed to offering a less formal and less expensive procedure than the UDRP, and perhaps even the URS, to the extent commercially feasible.

29.6 Abusive use⁄takedown policies Answer to question 28 contains a detailed description of measures that the Applicant will take to prevent and mitigate abusive registrations and the description of policies that the Applicant will apply to handle complaints regarding abuse and take down abusive registrations. To summarise,
* Applicant will dedicate a single abuse point of contact. Correspondence and complaints coming through that point of contact will be continuously monitored and responded to within 24 hours.
* Applicant will adopt a comprehensive Eligibility and⁄or Acceptable Use Policy that will set forth the limits of acceptable use of domains and the procedures the Registry will apply in case of violations of applicable laws or policies, including takedown procedures. The initial Acceptable Use Policy is described in section 20(e).
* Applicant will delete orphan glue records once the parent domain is deleted to prevent abuse of these orphan glue records.
* Applicant will require registrars to perform extra checks on WHOIS data to improve its accuracy.
* Applicant will perform random audits of WHOIS data and will flag suspicious registrations via registrars.

29.7. Post-Delegation Dispute Resolution Procedure
Applicant reaffirms its intent to comply with the ICANN-mandated Post-Delegation Dispute Resolution Procedure (PDDRP).

Applicant believes that its choice of TLD string and the way the TLD is intended to be operated represents a good faith offering of Top Level Domain Registry service and does not infringe on any legitimate third party trademark rights.

Applicant also reaffirms its commitment to maintain the TLD free of violations of third party trademark rights through second level domain registration and use. Applicant has all the required resources, policies and procedures in place to address any situations of abuse without the need to invoke the PDDRP procedure.

29.8. Resourcing
The Rights Protection Mechanisms described above include a combination of both technical and non-technical systems: for example, the Trademark Claims Service may (depending on the final specification published by ICANN) require development, maintenance and support of an EPP extension, as well as real-time integration with the TCH API, whereas the UDRP is a primarily manual process of managing and responding to communications from complaints, respondents and UDRP service providers.

As can be seen in the Resourcing Matrix found in Appendix 23.2, CentralNic will maintain a team of full-time developers and engineers which will contribute to the development and maintenance of this aspect of the registry system. These developers and engineers will not work on specific subsystems full-time, but a certain percentage of their time will be dedicated to each area. The total HR resource dedicated to this area is equivalent to half of a full-time role.

CentralNic operates a shared registry environment where multiple registry zones (such as CentralNicʹs domains, the .LA ccTLD, this TLD and other gTLDs) share a common infrastructure and resources. Since the TLD will be operated in an identical manner to these other registries, and on the same infrastructure, then the TLD will benefit from an economy of scale with regards to access to CentralNicʹs resources.

CentralNicʹs resourcing model assumes that the ʺdedicatedʺ resourcing required for the TLD (ie, that required to deal with issues related specifically to the TLD and not to general issues with the system as a whole) will be equal to the proportion of the overall registry system that the TLD will use. After three years of operation, the optimistic projection for the TLD states that there will be 1,000 domains in the zone. CentralNic has calculated that, if all its TLD clients are successful in their applications, and all meet their optimistic projections after three years, its registry system will be required to support up to 4.5 million domain names. Therefore the TLD will require 0.02% of the total resources available for this area of the registry system.

In the event that registration volumes exceed this figure, CentralNic will proactively increase the size of the Technical Operations, Technical Development and support teams to ensure that the needs of the TLD are fully met. Revenues from the additional registration volumes will fund the salaries of these new hires. Nevertheless, CentralNic is confident that the staffing outlined above is sufficient to meet the needs of the TLD for at least the first 18 months of operation.


29.9 Extra provisions for Validation-Based TLDs
As mentioned above, registrations in the TLD will not be in real time. The registration process will involve an additional step of manual verification of the identity of the applicant, correctness of its contact information and its compliance with the Eligibility restrictions. The manual verification process will ensure that only legitimate and reputable businesses will be able to register domain names in the TLD. Manual verification of contact information will further ensure unprecedented accuracy of WHOIS data.

Applicant expects that this additional manual screening process, added on to the standard anti-abuse measures, will discourage abusive registrations and make any abusive or malicious activity extremely unlikely to occur in the TLD.


29.10 Principles of Eligibility and Acceptable Use
These principles are subject to all ICANN requirements for new gTLDs, including the URS and UDRP, and will be made compliant with any future ICANN requirements as and when necessary.

29.10.1. Eligibility
NAREIT will establish a clear policy structure for determining an applicant’s eligibility to register a second-level name in the gTLD. Only a REIT will be deemed eligible to register a domain name in the TLD. Whether an entity applying for a domain name qualifies as a REIT will be determined by two criteria:
1) whether a REIT regime is in place in the nation in which the applicant is domiciled; and,
2) whether the applicant is, in fact, organized and operating as a REIT under the REIT regime established in that nation.

i. NAREIT will first determine whether the nation in which the applicant is domiciled has a REIT regime in place.
The core features of a REIT are:
* ownership must be widely held;
* a majority of assets and income are real estate related;
* a majority of income is distributed annually to shareholders (pursuant to applicable law; regulatory or stock exchange requirements or customs; or in order that its distributions be deductible from entity-level income tax); and,
* there is only one level of tax on income distributed by the REIT.

NAREIT also will consider whether the nation of the applicant has a law which formally establishes a national REIT regime. If an applying entity is organized and operating as a REIT as described above pursuant to the REIT regime in the countries set forth in Appendix 20e.1, NAREIT will consider it eligible to register a domain name in the TLD.

Several nations not listed in Appendix 20e.1 appear to have regimes in place or under consideration that may meet some or all of the criteria described previously. With additional clarifying information provided by an applicant, applicants from these nations (listed in Appendix 20e.2) may move in to the list of nations with qualifying regimes.

NAREIT regularly draws on major publications and compendiums of REIT regimes around the world, such as the EPRA Global REIT Survey, PWC Compare and Contrast: Worldwide Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) Regimes; Ernst & Young Global Real Estate Investment Trust Report, as well as its own policy research to maintain its list of global REIT regimes. The primary list is neither meant to be static nor dispositive in the event the applicant is able to demonstrate that the nation or company in question meets the core criteria. Because laws change from time to time, NAREIT will update and publish this list on a regular basis as applicable laws change or as circumstances otherwise warrant.

The absence of a nation from either of the attached lists is not considered finally conclusive in the determination of whether the nation in which the applicant is domiciled has a REIT regime in place. Indeed, as noted above, NAREIT shall consider any relevant information and documentation provided by an applicant and will also consider whether commercial investment-oriented indexes of publicly traded REITs and real estate companies around the world include the applicant as a REIT in its nation of domicile.

ii. NAREIT will next determine whether the applying entity is indeed organized or operating as a REIT, with an emphasis on verification by the applicant providing third-party documentation.

Possible forms of documentation shall include, but are not limited to:
* Certified filings of the applicant with agencies of the relevant national government; or,
* A letter written in English from independent outside counsel with REIT legal expertise.

Unlike several existing sponsored Top-Level Domains (“sTLDs”), NAREIT will not rely on easily manipulated verification information, including links to established websites or community-based email addresses belonging to applicants.

In addition, to accommodate REIT regimes when such documentation is not available, applicants shall have the opportunity to briefly describe their claim to REIT status, such as by providing an English-language copy of a relevant national law governing REITs or REIT-like entities along with documentation establishing the REIT’s compliance with that law, or any other indicia of qualification or operation as a REIT. NAREIT shall reserve the right to require any applicant to provide further information or clarification regarding its request to register a domain name.

NAREIT will review all requests from applicants internally, through a dedicated six-member Determination and Verification Team (“Team”) composed of NAREITʹs: 1) Executive Vice President and General Counsel; 2) Senior Tax Counsel; 3) Senior Vice President, Industry & Member Affairs; 4) Vice President, Investment Affairs & Investor Education; 5) Vice President, Operations; and, 6) Industry Affairs Coordinator. As discussed further below, all eligibility determinations made by the Team are subject to reconsideration through the Eligibility Reconsideration Process administered by an independent board of global REIT community members.

29.10.2. Name Selection Rules
NAREIT will limit the registration of domain names in the TLD to the legal trade names of REITs, or the names by which REITs are commonly known, which may include acronyms, registered and common law trademarks, and exchange ticker symbols. NAREIT’s name selection policy will tie in with its verification policy, such that any certified documentation required for community eligibility should also clearly display the applicant’s trade name or commonly known name. NAREIT may also require English-language copies of trademark registrations for name selection purposes or evidence of use in commerce, such as websites or marketing collateral.

NAREIT will implement a policy similar to the existing .jobs sTLD and both:
1) impose a continuing obligation on applicants to maintain their trade names or commonly known names concurrently with their domain name registration; and,
2) retain discretion as the sole arbiter of determining whether the applicant meets the naming criteria—subject only to the discretion of a dispute resolution provider under the Community Eligibility Dispute Resolution Procedure (“CEDRP”) described below—as well as the appropriate level of documentation necessary to substantiate the applicant’s claim. Initially, NAREIT will prohibit registration of generic and descriptive terms relating to REITs on the second level that do not refer to the trade name of a specific REIT.

Allowed character repertoire for consists of ASCII characters “A” to “Z”, the hyphen character (“-“) and digits “0” to “9”. Internationalized Domain Names cannot be registered on the second level.

The resulting domain name label must conform to the requirements and limitations imposed by applicable technical standards for the Domain Name System and TLD naming requirements as outlined in response to question 20e. For instance, DNS labels cannot be longer than 63 characters (excluding the TLD suffix).

29.10.3. Registration
Following the Sunrise Period, NAREIT will implement a strict “first come, first served” policy to vitiate the potential for multiple requests for the same second level domain name. Only in the event where a “first come, first served” policy is inadequate to settle demand for the same second level domain by multiple eligible applying entities, NAREIT may consider registration of geographic modifiers, such as “US-[REITʹs name].REIT” or “[REITʹs name]Asia.REIT” so long as no confusion is caused by such modifiers.

29.10.4. Acceptable Use Policy
Domain names must be registered by eligible entities and for the benefit of the community. All domain names must serve the needs of the REIT community, and can be cancelled if they do not. Serving the needs of the REIT community shall include providing information about or offering services relating to a registrant’s REIT.

Registrants must establish use of all domain names within one (1) year of registration, which may include forwarding the domain name to an existing TLD that serves the needs of the REIT community. Domains cannot be registered solely for the purpose of selling, trading or leasing the domain names for compensation.

Domain names can only be used for lawful purposes. The Registry is committed to maintaining the environment free from online crime, malicious or illegal activities. The Registry will investigate all reports of illegal activity and will cooperate with the competent governmental agencies in such investigations.