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

Prototypical answer:

18c) Eliminate Social Costs
(i) DotOnline plans to launch the .ONLINE TLD as a cost-effective means for all registrants to obtain an easy, memorable domain name for use online. Further to ICANN’s commitment to the global Internet community, DotOnline will launch and manage the TLD in a responsible manner, and serve registrants with alacrity and efficiency. Additionally, we plan to incorporate numerous safeguards to protect registrants, the registry and the TLD as a whole from intellectual property violations and malicious Internet activity.
In order to serve our registrants, the public interest and the Internet community as a whole, DotOnline plans to establish policies and structures to ensure broad availability of the .ONLINE TLD to all Internet users, wherever located in the world. As a world-wide TLD, we believe this broad strategy for .ONLINE represents the best way for DotOnline to reduce prices and create value in the marketplace, continue innovating new services and products to serve registrants, improve information sharing and reduce friction, and finally provide a TLD that is safe, secure, and a trusted place to interact online.
REGISTRATION PRICING
DotOnline plans to offer a competitive yet moderate pricing point, incorporating the following factors into this decision:
1. TLD’s with extremely low registration prices suffer a higher potential for abuse. Pricing structures that incorporate a higher price ensure the barrier to entry necessary to mitigate this potential and ensure higher quality content across the TLD.
2. Analysis of the pricing for comparable gTLDs and ccTLDs and results from same.
3. Estimated registrant price sensitivity and price elasticity of demand for the TLD.
In the two initial launch phases multiple applications will be resolved via auction. During the general availability stage, domains will be allocated in a first come-first serve basis.
Various factors may influence DotOnline’s decision to, from time to time, increase or lower the wholesale price to registrars, in accordance with Sec. 2.10 of the proposed New gTLD Registry Agreement, including economic and market conditions and other external factors.
ii) In the course of routine sales and marketing activities, DotOnline may choose to offer discount or rebate programs or other cost benefits to registrars in order to spur adoption of the .ONLINE TLD on a worldwide basis. This may include targeting discounts to specific registrants which may be segmented by location or economic status.
Otherwise, DotOnline does not have specific plans for advantageous pricing, introductory pricing, nor plans for any bulk registration discounts.
iii) At this time, there are no plans to offer contractual registration periods or price commitments beyond the maximum term of 10 years. Price increases or reductions will be affected by various business and economic factors, and will be managed in accordance with the proposed New gTLD Registry Agreement.

Similar gTLD applications: (0)