| gTLD | Full Legal Name | E-mail suffix | Detail | | .associates | Baxter Hill, LLC | donuts.co | View |
Q18A CHAR: 7985
ABOUT DONUTS
Donuts Inc. is the parent applicant for this and multiple other TLDs. The company intends to increase competition and consumer choice at the top level. It will operate these carefully selected TLDs safely and securely in a shared resources business model. To achieve its objectives, Donuts has recruited seasoned executive management with proven track records of excellence in the industry. In addition to this business and operational experience, the Donuts team also has contributed broadly to industry policymaking and regulation, successfully launched TLDs, built industry-leading companies from the ground up, and brought innovation, value and choice to the domain name marketplace.
DONUTS’ PLACE WITHIN ICANN’S MISSION
ICANN and the new TLD program share the following purposes:
1. to make sure that the Internet remains as safe, stable and secure as possible, while
2. helping to ensure there is a vibrant competitive marketplace to efficiently bring the benefits of the namespace to registrants and users alike.
ICANN harnesses the power of private enterprise to bring forth these public benefits. While pursuing its interests, Donuts helps ICANN accomplish its objectives by:
1. Significantly widening competition and choice in Internet identities with hundreds of new top-level domain choices;
2. Providing innovative, robust, and easy-to-use new services, names and tools for users, registrants, registrars, and registries while at the same time safeguarding the rights of others;
3. Designing, launching, and securely operating carefully selected TLDs in multiple languages and character sets; and
4. Providing a financially robust corporate umbrella under which its new TLDs will be protected and can thrive.
ABOUT DONUTS’ RESOURCES
Donuts’ financial resources are extensive. The company has raised more than US$100 million from a number of capital sources including multiple multi-billion dollar venture capital and private equity funds, a top-tier bank, and other well-capitalized investors. Should circumstances warrant, Donuts is prepared to raise additional funding from current or new investors. Donuts also has in place pre-funded, Continued Operations Instruments to protect future registrants. These resource commitments mean Donuts has the capability and intent to launch, expand and operate its TLDs in a secure manner, and to properly protect Internet users and rights-holders from potential abuse.
Donuts firmly believes a capable and skilled organization will operate multiple TLDs and benefit Internet users by:
1. Providing the operational and financial stability necessary for TLDs of all sizes, but particularly for those with smaller volume (which are more likely to succeed within a shared resources and shared services model);
2. Competing more powerfully against incumbent gTLDs; and
3. More thoroughly and uniformly executing consumer and rights holder protections.
THIS TLD
This TLD is attractive and useful to end-users as it better facilitates search, self-expression, information sharing and the provision of legitimate goods and services. Along with the other TLDs in the Donuts family, this TLD will provide Internet users with opportunities for online identities and expression that do not currently exist. In doing so, the TLD will introduce significant consumer choice and competition to the Internet namespace – the very purpose of ICANN’s new TLD program.
This TLD is a generic term and its second level names will be attractive to a variety of Internet users. Making this TLD available to a broad audience of registrants is consistent with the competition goals of the New TLD expansion program, and consistent with ICANN’s objective of maximizing Internet participation. Donuts believes in an open Internet and, accordingly, we will encourage inclusiveness in the registration policies for this TLD. In order to avoid harm to legitimate registrants, Donuts will not artificially deny access, on the basis of identity alone (without legal cause), to a TLD that represents a generic form of activity and expression.
DONUTS’ APPROACH TO PROTECTIONS
No entity, or group of entities, has exclusive rights to own or register second level names in this TLD. There are superior ways to minimize the potential abuse of second level names, and in this application Donuts will describe and commit to an extensive array of protections against abuse, including protections against the abuse of trademark rights.
We recognize some applicants seek to address harms by constraining access to the registration of second level names. However, we believe attempts to limit abuse by limiting registrant eligibility is unnecessarily restrictive and harms users by denying access to many legitimate registrants. Restrictions on second level domain eligibility would prevent law-abiding individuals and organizations from participating in a space to which they are legitimately connected, and would inhibit the sort of positive innovation we intend to see in this TLD. As detailed throughout this application, we have struck the correct balance between consumer and business safety, and open access to second level names.
By applying our array of protection mechanisms, Donuts will make this TLD a place for Internet users that is far safer than existing TLDs. Donuts will strive to operate this TLD with fewer incidences of fraud and abuse than occur in incumbent TLDs. In addition, Donuts commits to work toward a downward trend in such incidents.
OUR PROTECTIONS
Donuts has consulted with and evaluated the ideas of international law enforcement, consumer privacy advocacy organizations, intellectual property interests and other Internet industry groups to create a set of protections that far exceed those in existing TLDs, and bring to the Internet namespace nearly two dozen new rights and protection mechanisms to raise user safety and protection to a new level.
These include eight, innovative and forceful mechanisms and resources that far exceed the already powerful protections in the applicant guidebook. These are:
1. Periodic audit of WhoIs data for accuracy;
2. Remediation of inaccurate Whois data, including takedown, if warranted;
3. A new Domain Protected Marks List (DPML) product for trademark protection;
4. A new Claims Plus product for trademark protection;
5. Terms of use that prohibit illegal or abusive activity;
6. Limitations on domain proxy and privacy service;
7. Published policies and procedures that define abusive activity; and
8. Proper resourcing for all of the functions above.
They also include fourteen new measures that were developed specifically by ICANN for the new TLD process. These are:
1. Controls to ensure proper access to domain management functions;
2. 24⁄7⁄365 abuse point of contact at registry;
3. Procedures for handling complaints of illegal or abusive activity, including remediation and takedown processes;
4. Thick WhoIs;
5. Use of the Trademark Clearinghouse;
6. A Sunrise process;
7. A Trademark Claims process;
8. Adherence to the Uniform Rapid Suspension system;
9. Adherence to the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy;
10. Adherence to the Post Delegation Dispute Resolution Policy;
11. Detailed security policies and procedures;
12. Strong security controls for access, threat analysis and audit;
13. Implementation DNSSEC; and
14. Measures for the prevention of orphan glue records.
DONUTS’ INTENTION FOR THIS TLD
As a senior government authority has recently said, “a successful applicant is entrusted with operating a critical piece of global Internet infrastructure.” Donuts’ plan and intent is for this TLD to serve the international community by bringing new users online through opportunities for economic growth, increased productivity, the exchange of ideas and information and greater self-expression.
| gTLD | Full Legal Name | E-mail suffix | Detail | | .spa | Asia Spa and Wellness Promotion Council Limited | tld.asia | View |
.spa is dedicated to the spa and wellness community.
According to a recent PricewaterhouseCoopers survey focused on the spa industry, 95% have dedicated business websites, 81% advertise and connect to consumers through social media, and over 50% are listed in online directories and monitor reviews. What this means is that the community is eager to reach out to and communicate with its customers online. Developing a strong online presence is therefore becoming increasingly important for operators in the spa community.
Today, none of the TLDs offer the type of health conscious, relaxation and wellness branding that is extremely important for successful spas. Domain names are already more than just a command line used for navigation and resource location on the Internet. Having a TLD that expresses the spirit and branding for spas would be very meaningful to the community. The .spa TLD would be the most appropriate TLD for this purpose.
Another emerging trend as identified in SpaFinder’s 2012 report for top 10 spa trends is online wellness games. While online games are not traditionally associated with personal wellness and health, SpaFinder reports that medical experts agree that online wellness games “could actually be the key to changing the world’s health, given the unique power that its core mechanisms (especially social dynamics) have on sustaining wellness goals.”
Building on these developing trends, the vision of the Registry is that through the development of the .spa TLD, it is possible to promote the advancement of the spirit and mind-body vitality philosophies of the spa community, to advocate the wholesome health and wellness consciousness of people around the world.
The mission and purposes of the .spa TLD are:
1. To operate the .spa TLD as a world-class domain registry dedicated to promoting the spa and wellness community;
2. To support the spa and wellness community, it’s industry operators, professionals and practitioners, in their efforts to develop and extend their presence online;
3. To foster collaboration within the community, which in turn supports the advocacy of the sustainable holistic mind, body and spiritual wellness of the society;
4. To encourage excellence and professionalism in the spa and wellness community by leveraging the .spa TLD to further the interaction between the industry and consumers; and,
5. To deliver a secure and stable TLD registry with a high sense of integrity with policies that protect against abusive registrations and the infringement of rights of others.
In addition, to its mission and vision, as a new gTLD, the Registry believes in its responsibility as a responsible industry participant to advance competition, enhance consumer trust and promote consumer choice with the development of the TLD:
A. Advance Constructive Competition
The .spa TLD is focused on developing a namespace that can be complementary to the spa community. The TLD is not intended to be a generic alternative to existing gTLDs. The .spa TLD advances constructive competition among TLDs by offering a niche TLD with the appropriate stylistic identity over other TLDs, for the spa community.
The adoption of the .spa TLD also promotes constructive competition among spas which could exemplify their awareness in the development of technologies supporting wellness. Furthermore, the Registry believes that the utilization of a .spa domain can provide spas with a better online brand that matches with the style and touch as a relaxed and comfortable environment that matches their offline identity.
B. Enhance Consumer Trust
Based on expert studies, Internet users have more trust for domain names that exactly matches what they are looking for. Providing a namespace for spas would allow spa operators to develop a more trusting online brand which they can advertise to their customers with. The value of the TLD name in itself is therefore a core part of the value and of building consumer trust.
Furthermore, appropriate Abuse Prevention & Mitigation (APM) as well as Rights Protection Mechanisms (RPM) is also important to ensuring a trusted domain space. Further details of APM and RPM above and beyond the basic ICANN requirements is discussed in responses to Q28 & 29
C. Promote Consumer Choice
According to a research by PricewaterhouseCoopers, there are a total of around 40,000 spas around the world (not including the hundreds and thousands of massage establishments and foot spas in Mainland China). According to the same research, in 2010, spas received 150 million client visits in the US, an increase from 143 million the year before. The revenue from the spa industry has reached US$12.8 billion in 2010 in the US, up from US$12.3 in 2009. The spas in the Asia Pacific region generate around US$2 billion a year and this figure is expected to increase significantly in the coming years.
The .spa TLD believes in creating value for the spa community and consumers in general which is not necessarily measured by the volume of domain names registered under the .spa TLD but the branding value it offers to the spa community. A consumer of spa products and services is looking for an environment that nurtures their mind and body in relaxed environment. None of the existing TLDs evoke that sense of peaceful calm for consumers.
The .spa TLD has the possibility to address those needs and provide consumers with a choice to enter a domain that harmonizes with the emotional wellbeing they are seeking in a spa.