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

gTLDFull Legal NameE-mail suffixDetail
.MERCKMerck Registry Holdings, Inc.fairwindspartners.comView
18.3.1 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)?

MRH has proposed operating rules to limit registration to MRH and potentially qualified subsidiaries and affiliates and will provide a trusted online environment for end-users.

Therefore, one way in which social costs will be eliminated is that there will be no defensive need for other trademark and brand owners to register second-level domains in the .MERCK gTLD. In addition, the .MERCK gTLD will provide end-users with a trusted source for MRH information, goods, and services.

18.3.2 What other steps will you take to minimize negative consequences⁄costs imposed upon consumers?

MRH believes that the proposed operation of the .MERCK gTLD as set forth in this application has no known negative consequences or cost implications to end users. On the contrary, the proposed operation of this registry will likely lead to direct and quantifiable benefits to end users.

18.3.3 How will multiple applications for a particular domain name be resolved, for example, by auction or on a first-come⁄first-serve basis?

MRH does not envision multiple applicants for the same domain name, as domain names will only be allocated to its parent company, MSD, and potentially MSD’s qualified subsidiaries and affiliates.

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

MRH does not envision any advantageous pricing, introductory discounts, or bulk registration discounts at this time because these marketing⁄commercial initiatives are inconsistent with the mission and purpose of the .MERCK gTLD as a trusted online source identifier for MSD, and potentially its qualified subsidiaries and affiliates.

Moreover, it is the current intention of MSD to have MRH provide domain name registrations initially at no cost, at least for the first five years of operation.

However, the company reserves the right to reevaluate this decision and may choose to impose a fee in the future. Any potential registrant fees imposed upon licensees or strategic parties will be commensurate with commercial agreements and made if this class of registrants is permitted to register domain names in the .MERCK gTLD.

18.3.5 Note that 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 ten 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? If so, please describe your plans.

MRH is committed to providing the domain name registration periods set forth in the Registry Agreement. Moreover, it is the current intention of MSD to have MRH provide domain name registrations initially at no cost, at least for the first five years of operation. Therefore, providing contractual commitments in a domain name Registrant Agreement regarding the magnitude of price escalations does not seem relevant or appropriate. MRH acknowledges that the current template Registry Agreement requires that the Registry Operator “shall offer registrars the option to obtain registration periods for one to ten years at the discretion of the registrar.”

MRH acknowledges that the current template Registry Agreement requires that the Registry Operator “shall offer registrars the option to obtain registration periods for one to ten years at the discretion of the registrar.” However, MSD, as the sole registrant within the .MERCK gTLD, intends to only register domain names on an annual basis through a single registrar.

This is done to better account for costs on an annual basis as well as to provide for more concise financial statements in Question 46, (e.g., no multi-year registration or deferred revenue).
gTLDFull Legal NameE-mail suffixDetail
.信息Beijing Tele-info Network Technology Co., Ltd.tele-info.cnView
18c.1 Definition and category of social costs

ʺ.信息ʺ will mainly be used within the Chinese language community, where a majority of the registrants is predicted as emerging small and medium-sized information industry players in developing countries. Therefore, it would be difficult to achieve the targets of ʺ.信息ʺ if the social costs are too high. To achieve the goals of ʺ.信息ʺ , Beijing Tele-info Network Technology Co., Ltd. (“Tele-info Ltd.”) will minimize the following time or financial resource costs of registrants, registrars and end-users via policies and measures on ʺ.信息ʺ as far as possible. As predicted by Tele-info Ltd., the operation of ʺ.信息ʺ will mainly produce the following costs:

18c.1.1For registrants:
(1)costs for the registration of ʺ.信息ʺ domain names
(2)costs for the renewal of ʺ.信息ʺ domain names
(3)costs for trademark infringement dispute or defensive registration
(4)additional advertising costs incurred from the promotion of ʺ.信息ʺ domain names

18c.1.2For registrars:
(1) payment to the registry
(2)costs for the promotion and marketing of ʺ.信息ʺ domain names
(3)costs for the operation and maintenance of ʺ.信息ʺ registration services

18c.1.3For end-users:
(1)time costs for searching, inputting and memorizing the ʺ.信息ʺ domain names
(2)losses incurred to the consumer as a result of ʺ.信息ʺ domain name abuse

18c.2 Policies on ʺ.信息ʺ to minimize social costs

18c.2.1 For registrants:

18c.2.1.1 Reasonable prices of registration will be provided
(1)A reasonable uniform price for registration and renewal will be formulated in the contractual terms for ʺ.信息ʺ based on its market demand and operating costs (see Question 46 for details), and the prices will be maintained stable to compete fairly with other TLDs, so as to ensure that registrants, especially those with relatively weak economic capability are able to register the ʺ.信息ʺ domain names.
(2)As the registration of ʺ.信息ʺ increases, the unit operating cost for every domain will keep decreasing, and Tele-info Ltd. will, based on the decrease in its operating costs, adjust the prices accordingly, and thereafter provide each ICANN accredited registrar that has executed registry-registrar agreement for ʺ.信息ʺ advance notice of any price change;
(3)During ordinary registration period, except sunrise and Land Rush period, Tele-info Ltd. will handle multiple applications for the same name on the basis of first-come⁄first serve to effectively reduce the bidding costs spent by registrants and enable more small and medium-sized enterprises to obtain high value domain names with relatively lower prices;
(4)Tele-info Ltd. forbids registrars to register domain names with false information, occupy domain name resources in a disguised form or drive up domain name prices;
(5) The Chinese internationalized domain label(IDL) and itʹs variants labels are mandated to be belong to the same registrant⁄applicant, and the Simplified and Traditional Chinese forms of the applied-for should be resolvable simultaneously or non-resolvable at all in ʺ.信息ʺ domain. Tele-info Ltd.’s policy will mandate that when an IDL is registered, all variant IDLs in the IDL package are unavailable to other name holders. In addition to the registered IDL, the registry will activate Simplified and Traditional whole string IDLs to the same registrant⁄applicant for free.

18c.2.1.2 Costs for the renewal of domain names will be effectively reduced
(1) Registrants, at their own discretion, can choose registration term from 1 year to 10 years (maximum 10 years) and renew their registration based on their own will, and will provide in its agreement with registrars that to buy or sell under coercion, sale with treats or selling bundled services on the part of registrars are prohibited;
(2) At the initial operating period of ʺ.信息ʺ , incentive measures will be taken to encourage new registrants to register ʺ.信息ʺ for a longer term of registration; Newly registrants will be provided certain term of registration period for free depending on the length of registration period, so as to expedite the popularization and lower the costs of domain names;
(3) Tele-info Ltd. customer service group will conduct monitoring over consumersʹ renewal of domain names, investigate cases where renewal fails to take place, or fake renewal notice and make improvement in services to the point in cooperation with registrars to make it more convenient for consumers to renew their domain names or change registrar and reduce costs for registrants;

18c.2.1.3 Trademark rights will be fully guaranteed and costs for domain name dispute will be reduced
(1) A Sunrise Period of 30 days will be launched in accordance with relevant policies of ICANN on Trademark Clearing House(TMCH) to allow right holders who have registered trademarks in TMCH to register ʺ.信息ʺ domain names with priority; Trademark Claim Service will be provided 60 days as of the launch of the Sunrise Period for applications for the registration of domain names that match with corresponding trademarks, so as to allow trademark holders to protect their trademark rights through registration and reduce costs resulting from domain name disputes;
(2) The UDRP, Post Delegation Dispute Resolution Procedure(PDDRP) and Registry Restriction Dispute Resolution Procedure (RRDRP) and relevant Uniform Rapid Suspension Policies will be abided by in respect of ʺ.信息ʺ . In addition, accessibility of 99% information in the Whois database will be assured so that domain name abuse and dispute under ʺ.信息ʺ can be resolved in a timely manner and that losses incurred to domain name holders as a result of domain name abuse and trademark infringement can be reduced to the greatest extent possible;
(3) Efforts will be made to introduce to registrants innovative applications of the Chinese ʺ.信息ʺ domain name, enable consumers to get to know the use value of Chinese domain names, increase the level of activity of domain names, reduce investments in domain name registration purely for defensive purposes, and upgrade the practical value of domain names;
(4)Tele-info Ltd. will undertake to treat all registrants equally, and except for domain names pre-reserved or restricted from registration as prescribed by national laws and relevant provisions of ICANN for they are in relation with geographical names or the names of international organizations involving public power, all holders of trademark rights will be entitled to the same registration right;

18c.2.1.4 Costs for the promotion of domain names will be reduced
(1) ʺ.信息ʺ supports various combinations of Chinese characters, and a ʺ.信息ʺ domain name can be made exactly match the Chinese name of a corresponding organization, which makes it convenient for consumers to read and memorize, improves effectiveness in the publicity of the name of the organization, and makes it easy for itself to be accepted by most of the Chinese language end-users without too much costs;
(2) Tele-info Ltd. will reinforce in its publicity plans the promotion of typical cases of the application of ʺ.信息ʺ domain names and boost publicity among registrants from sideways, and concurrently increase acceptance of Chinese domain names by consumers to save publicity costs;

18c.2.2 For registrars:

18c.2.2.1.Tele-info Ltd. will reduce the costs to be paid by registrars to registries to the greatest extent possible
(1)Tele-info Ltd. will provide all registrars accredited by ICANN with uniform policies on prices, preferential treatments and discounts to ensure that registrars can engage in fair competition;
(2)the pricing of ʺ.信息ʺ domain names in registrars is relatively low as compared to other IDNs of the same category, therefore there is a room with competitive advantage for surrendering part of the profits on the part of the registrars;

18c.2.2.2 costs for the promotion and marketing of ʺ.信息ʺ
(1)Tele-info Ltd. will be engaged in active cooperation with registrars in carrying out diversified marketing activities, including advertising and news release, and designate staffs to attend sales conferences organized by registrars and promote their sale;
(2)Tele-info Ltd. will support registrars with a specifically allocated marketing fund for ʺ.信息ʺ to develop markets especially in areas with a relatively low internet penetration rate and stimulate the practical use of the DNS system and Chinese domain names throughout the world;

18c.2.2.3 costs for the operation of ʺ.信息ʺ
(1)Registrars will not be charged with any certification cost, and any registrar that qualifies for the provision of ʺ.信息ʺ registration services may apply to become a ʺ.信息ʺ registrar;
(2)The back end registry provider CNNIC will provide relatively mature registrar support staffs and secure and reliable registration service platform and client which are ready to help registrars to establish ʺ.信息ʺ domain name registration services with the lowest costs;

18c.2.3.For end-users:

18c.2.3.1 costs for searching, inputting and memorizing the ʺ.信息ʺ domain name will be reduced

(1)With the efforts of Tele-info Ltd. and the Chinese language community, currently most of the browsers and application vendors support the input of Chinese domain names, which has reduced costs resulting from incompatibility;
(2)Tele-info Ltd. is also actively cooperating with CNNIC to involve software vendors especially mobile software vendors including Chinese language search engines as Baidu to include Chinese domain names in the search results and make it convenient for consumers to accept Chinese domain names;
(3) The form of the ʺ.信息ʺ domain name also fit neatly with the reading and memory habits of Chinese language users and reduces additional time costs incurred from domain name confusion.

18c.2.3.2 Losses resulting domain name abuse will be reduced

(1) The back end registry provider CNNICʹs experience will be utilized to impose punishment with respect to such acts of domain name abuse as phishing websites and virus transmission in a timely manner to reduce consumersʹ costs, and Tele-info Ltd. undertakes that the percentage of ʺ.信息ʺ domain name abuse will not exceed 5%;
(2) Registrars will be required to verify the accuracy of information in WHOIS, so as to ensure that law enforcement agencies can find the person who has committed act of domain name abuse and resolution of dispute can be obtained in time with respect to the rights of consumers and end users.
(3) The Chinese internationalized domain label and itʹs variants labels will be mandated by Tele-info Ltd.ʹs policy following the rules as the Simplified and Traditional Chinese forms of the applied-for should be resolvable simultaneously for the same registrant⁄applicant or non-resolvable at all in ʺ.信息ʺ domain. This will reduce the chance of string confusion caused by Chinese variant domain names.
(4) Tele-info Ltd. will review the performance of CNNIC as back-end registry provider for its compliance of the contract and ICANN Registry Operator Code of Conduct in order to guarantee the service level of ʺ.信息ʺ

18c.3 Specific measures to minimize social costs

18c.3.1 Multiple Application Resolution

Tele-info Ltd. will, based on the rights protection mechanism of ICANN, make Sunrise registration services available for holders of relevant trademark rights during the 30-day Sunrise Period prior to the official launch of the public registration of the ʺ.信息ʺ domain name. All trademark right holders will be entitled to equal priority in registration. Thereafter a Land Rush period of 60 days will be launched for the general public.

Tele-info Ltd. will adopt an auction process in case of any domain name string contention during the above periods.

By auctioning domain names, the value of a domain name would be captured by the public, rather than by private entities that are rewarded too handsomely for their limited insights into the possible value of a name or their work as registrars. Yet, a domain name auction would not interfere with the exploitation and development of cyberspace, as new names would be allocated by the auction system to those who valued them most highly. Indeed, it would speed the transfer of a domain name to its highest valued use, short-circuiting the current system that relies on privately negotiated sales to transfer the name from its initial owner to its highest valued user.

Tele-info Ltd. expects that a high volume of domain name registration and contention emerges during the Sunrise period and Land Rush period. To the extent that there are multiple persons who claim trademark rights in a domain name, a simple general rule would award that name to the trademark holder who is willing to pay the most for it. Since economic strength often translates into public visibility, awarding the name to the entity that is willing to pay the most for it will probably accord with individual web-surfers expectations as to whom they will find at a website with that domain name. By auctioning domain names, rather than doling them out to the first applicant, the resource that the domain name system represents works directly in the information industry’s interest. The proceeds of the auctions should be distributed by an information industry based body.

After the Sunrise Period and Land Rush period, which means the string contention is less likely to be seen, Tele-info Ltd. will resolve domain name string contention on the first-come⁄first serve basis to reduce the cost for auction. Where any domain name dispute occurs, UDRP shall apply. Besides, either party may resort to arbitration or judicial decision, or consumers may file complaints with URS in view of domain name use with bad faith.

18c.3.2 Cost Benefits for Registrants

To drive the stable development of ʺ.信息ʺ , Tele-info Ltd. plans to adopt a two-stage promotion scheme based on the principle of providing fair and consistent preferential policies for all registrants and registries. The first stage will be consumer incentives, during which domain name registrants will be stimulated to enhance the popularity and acceptability of domain names; and the second stage will be channel incentives, during which further support will be provided for registrars to conduct marketing on the basis of consumers’ recognition in the first stage.

18c.3.2.1 First stage

18c.3.2.1.1 Targets
(1) enhance the popularity and acceptability of domain names among consumers, and increase market attention;
(2) increase the average term of registration of initial registered domain names and ensure the stability of domain name users.

18c.3.2.1.2 Methods

Tele-info Ltd. will take incentive measures directly targeted at consumers to encourage them to register ʺ.信息ʺ for a longer term of registration and provide certain term of the registration period for free of charge with respect to newly registered domain names, so as to expedite the popularization and increase the average new registration of domain names:

 (1) An one-year exemption will be granted to the users who register one time for four to six years ;
 (2) A two-year exemption will be granted to the users who register one time for seven to nine years; and
 (3) A three-year exemption will be granted to the users who register one time for ten years.

18c.3.2.1.3 Period

The period of the first stage will be the first natural year after the launch of ʺ.信息ʺ for registration, with an implementation period for no less than 6 natural months, which will extends to the second natural year for 1-2 quarters if there are less than 6 months left in the first natural year.

18c.3.2.2 Second stage

18c.3.2.2.1Targets

(1)encourage registrars to increase the new registration of the ʺ.信息ʺ domain name;
(2)encourage registrars to increase renewals of historical ʺ.信息ʺ domain names;
(3)encourage registrars to increase the proportion of their ʺ.信息ʺ domain name

18c.3.2.2.2Methods
Tele-info Ltd. will invest a specifically allocated marketing fund amount to 50,000 - 75,000 RMB on a quarterly basis for promotion in those regions with lower domain name market penetration rate or lower renewal rate. By taking measures including local sales fairs, advertising campaign and other formats of promotional activities in those regions lagged behind within Chinese language community, in comparison with the benchmark of the last quarter’s average performance, Tele-info Ltd. will endeavor enhance the overall acceptance of the new gTLD and the Chinese domain name applications.

18c.3.2.2.3Period
The period of the second stage shall be 12 natural months as of the end of the first stage, and appraisement will be conducted on a quarterly basis.

18c.3.3 Contractual Provisions on Pricing Change

18c.3.3.1 Limit on price increase

Based on the expected increasing amount of the registration of ʺ.信息ʺ , the single unit service cost for each registration is expected to be reduced. However, we do anticipate a little chance for cost increase in the following cases:
(1) fewer registration numbers than anticipated
(2) economic environment change with higher inflation rate in China
(3) tax increase
(4) labor cost increase
(5) Other market condition variation which may result in severe cost change

Based on our analysis of the 2011 Consumer Product Index and Purchase Management Index of China, Tele-info Ltd. currently proposes in ʺ.信息ʺ contract that permit it to raise by 7% per year for registry services per name that Tele-info Ltd. collects from registrars. However, as described in the above sections, Tele-info Ltd. will strive to maintain a stable cost for registration with low possibility for price change.

Due to uncertainty of the market environment at the time of delegation, the actual contractual terms of annual price increase magnitude within the registry agreement shall be discussed within ICANN community and the information industrial community based on the market status at the time of delegation.

18c.3.3.2 Notice of Price Increase

With respect to initial domain name registrations, Tele-info Ltd. will provide ICANN and each ICANN accredited registrar that has executed the registry-registrar agreement for the TLD advance written notice of any price increase (including as a result of the elimination of any refunds, rebates, discounts, product tying or other programs, unless such refunds, rebates, discounts, product tying or other programs are of a limited duration that is clearly and conspicuously disclosed to the registrar when offered) of no less than thirty (30) calendar days. Tele-info Ltd. will offer registrars 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 ten years.

With respect to renewal of domain name registrations, Tele-info Ltd. will provide ICANN and each ICANN accredited registrar that has executed the registry-registrar agreement for the TLD advance written notice of any price increase (including as a result of the elimination of any refunds, rebates, discounts, product tying, Qualified Marketing Programs or other programs which had the effect of reducing the price charged to registrars) of no less than one hundred eighty (180) calendar days.

In addition, Tele-info Ltd. will have uniform pricing for renewals of domain name registrations (“Renewal Pricing”). For the purposes of determining Renewal Pricing, the price for each domain registration renewal will be identical to the price of all other domain name registration renewals in place at the time of such renewal, and such price must take into account universal application of any refunds, rebates, discounts, product tying or other programs in place at the time of renewal.