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18(a) Describe the mission/purpose of your proposed gTLD

gTLDFull Legal NameE-mail suffixDetail
.apartmentsJune Maple, LLCdonuts.coView
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.
gTLDFull Legal NameE-mail suffixDetail
.weatherThe Weather Channel LLCweather.comView
The mission and purpose of a new restricted .weather gTLD is to benefit internet users by ensuring increased trust, convenience and utility.

The .weather gTLD will create a next generation gTLD serving the interests of end users. The .weather gTLD will provide an authoritative Internet space for weather content, where the trusted services and resources of The Weather Channel, LLC (TWC), its affiliates, and partners will be closely controlled and made available to consumers around the world. The majority of the anticipated domain name registrations in .weather will be used in the communication of TWC’s content and services, including accurate, easily accessible, and potentially lifesaving weather-related information. A subset of domain names has the potential to be created and used for personalized and hyper-local information purposes.

TWC is a wholly owned subsidiary of TWCC Holding Corporation (TWCCHC). Together with other subsidiaries of TWCCHC, TWC is a part of The Weather Channel Companies (TWCC). TWCC, through its subsidiaries including TWC, owns The Weather Channel television network, The Weather Channel digital properties and other weather-related businesses including WSI Corporation (WSI). The Weather Channel television network reaches over 100 million US households, and TWCC’s web properties (including weather.com) receive 60 million unique users each month. TWC reaches 40 million mobile consumers monthly through its tablet and mobile telephone applications and mobile websites, with TWCC mobile applications being one of the most used on smart phones and tablets. WSI provides weather data and services to top companies in the local television⁄media, energy, and aviation industries. TWC was initially launched in 1982 to program and deliver a cable television network and today, TWCC is a leading global brand and a recognized world leader in weather forecasting capabilities with global coverage including UK, France, Spain, Italy, Germany, India, Brazil and other Latin American countries. In this regard, continuous innovations and improvements in weather forecasting technologies and reliable online presence are the main consideration in TWC’s activities. TWCC has approximately 1,100 employees and is headquartered in Atlanta, US with offices in global locations including New York, Chicago, Boston, San Francisco, Detroit, Dallas and London.

Since the inception of the current domain name system, business activities conducted on the internet have been constantly changing and evolving with increased complexity. Internet innovation has brought benefits of simplicity and lowered transaction costs. However, criminal activities over the internet including data breach, hacking and phishing activities have also become more sophisticated, resulting in loss of consumer confidence. In addition, consumer trust has been eroded by unauthorized and inaccurate sources of information. The .weather gTLD will facilitate greater trust and assurance from internet users connecting with weather-related content online, while increasing the convenience and efficiency of their interactions.

TWC’s mission and purpose of the proposed new gTLD share ICANN’s initiatives to promote public interest. TWC is committed to contributing toward achieving such initiatives in line with ICANN’s Affirmation of Commitments, which includes:
- consumer trust: the .weather registry will be operated in a centralized manner with a restrictive registration policy. Registration of domain names will be available only to TWC and its affiliates⁄partners, which will provide added consumer trust that .weather domain names are trustworthy. As .weather domain names are subject to registration standards, policies and procedures under TWC’s control, this eliminates the possibility of malicious conduct within the .weather domain space;
- competition: .weather will spur innovation and competition in the weather media space by increasing the personalization and customization for consumers and providing weather-related information in a new and differentiated way. It will also spur innovation and competition among top level domain (TLD) operators by showcasing innovative, trustworthy, and compelling ways in which TLDs can be used to benefit consumers; and
- consumer choice: .weather will provide consumers with new, more personalized and intuitive options to navigate the internet to find weather related information. The .weather gTLD will provide consumers with more choices for interacting with TWC and weather-related content overall.

Given the restricted nature of the .weather gTLD, the projected number of registrations is likely to be limited. It is anticipated that a rather limited number of around 210 domain names will be registered in the first year to cover the US, the world’s largest weather market. However, over the next few years, the number of registrations is likely to increase to about 100,000 domain names as TWC develops and implements new services to cover weather markets worldwide.

As the .weather gTLD expands and evolves, TWC may consider offering the use of second level domain names to its global partners including distribution partners (web portals, mobile OEMs), B2B customers, advertisers, and other digital content publishers at a later date. In this endeavor, TWC will continue to comply with all operational, technical and policy requirements to maintain consumer trust and the stability of the internet. TWC will keep ICANN reasonably informed of any material developments relating to .weather including compliance with the continued operations instrument obligations as set out in Specification 8 of the Registry Agreement.

TWC intends to create relevant domain names for use including services, geographic and other place names within .weather to provide accurate and relevant weather-related information to its customers. In accordance with registration policy and the proposed measures for protection of geographic names as outlined in response to Question 22, TWC will use geographic names to localize its websites in the countries and regions relevant to its operation. The use of geographic names is intended to:
- connect internet users with relevant information as applicable to the territory; and
- comply with required rules and regulations in the national territory.

TWC does not intend to utilize Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs) at the second level at the time of launch. However, as the use of .weather evolves, TWC may utilize IDNs within .weather to allow internet users to engage in their native language, creating a more positive user experience and encouraging diversity.

TWCC is a well-recognized global brand with registered and pending trademarks (through TWC) consisting solely of “weather” or “weather.com” in 36 countries and territories for (but not limited to) the following classes: 9 (instruments, pre-recorded audio and video recording), 16 (print), 35 (advertising), 38 (telecommunications), 41 (education), 42 (online publications; meteorological services), 45 (personal and social services).

TWC has an extensive domain name portfolio including existing domain names with an exact match to the “weather” trademark and the applied-for string in various domain spaces including, com, mobi, travel, co.at, co.gg, co.uk, co.uz, com.ag, com, dm, com.ec, com.gy, com.kn, com.pr, com.vc, dm, gl, gy, kn, tv, uz

TWC believes that the .weather gTLD is unlikely to cause confusion with either a generic term or any existing TLDs. TWCC is a leading global brand and a recognized leader in weather forecasting capabilities. TWC is the owner of several trademarks worldwide containing or consisting solely of the term “weather” and has a strong worldwide reputation. TWC has used the term “weather” in conjunction with its core business since its establishment and reaches close to 100 million TV viewers, 60 million web users and 40 million mobile users monthly.