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

gTLDFull Legal NameE-mail suffixDetail
.pramericaPrudential Financial, Inc.partridgeiplaw.comView
The purpose of Applicant’s new TLD is to create a closed branded TLD to enhance the security, stability, and recognition of Applicant’s websites and the Internet communications of Applicant’s worldwide employees and business operations groups. In doing so, Applicant will improve its interactions both within the company and with external customers and consumers. Applicant is a world leader in the fields of insurance, investments, retirement, annuities and employee benefits. As such, its customers expect it to be on the cutting edge of technology when it comes to Internet security, data privacy, and brand protection. By operating a closed TLD, Applicant expects to ensure that the associated URLs and email addresses are recognized as owned and controlled by Applicant, and are secure and reliable. Applicant intends to use the TLD in various ways consistent with this mission, including but not limited to the use of second level domains within the branded TLD as:

1. URLs for external and internal websites to help internet users insure that the website truly originates with and is controlled by Applicant.
2. Email addresses for Applicant’s business groups to give recipients assurance that the messages are legitimate and originate with Applicant.
3. URLs for private customer websites.

Applicant believes the operation of closed branded TLDs will promote competition by insuring best in class practices among registry service providers and among registrars, who will strive to meet the highest standards of corporate registry owners who have elected to put their brand on a TLD.

The ability to improve security and stability within the closed TLD will enhance consumer trust in the operation of the Internet. When a highly respected company such as Prudential puts its brand on the TLD, customers will rightly trust that the TLD will represent the highest possible standards in the industry and that Prudential stands behind the operation of the TLD and has selected industry leaders as its service provider partners.

The existence of branded TLDs will promote consumer choice by giving consumers the ability to focus on trusted brands for their dealings on the Internet; such choice is increased as the closed branded TLD business model becomes more common. Applicant considers user trust, security, and stability to be critical features of its TLD plans, and therefore intends to utilize best in class procedures to avoid cybersquatting, phishing, piracy and confusion within the TLD, and has chosen to work with service providers who meet the highest standards for data protection, stabile operations, and privacy protection.

Applicant further believes that the risks and problems involved in the launch of gTLDs are mitigated or fully avoided in the case of closed branded TLDs since there is a single registrant controlling the use of a limited number branded domain names. Among the safeguards that accomplish this goal is the fact that the registry is available to a single registrant who is the owner of the brand reflected by the TLD who has a vested interest in the continued integrity and reputation of that brand. As a result, there is no risk of cybersquatting, abusive registration, or misuse of the domain by unscrupulous registrants. Similarly, there is no incentive to engage in speculative registration of unnecessary domain names for resale, pay per click advertising, or other monetization schemes. This will reduce clutter in the domain name space by insuring that all active domains have a business purpose relevant to the brand, thereby enhancing the utility for use by customers, consumers, and other Internet users.

The nature of the TLD as a closed branded registry also eliminates introduction and expansion problems caused by the rush of applicants to secure prime domain names, since the only eligible registrant is the owner of the brand reflected in the TLD. This leaves little possibility for conflict between competing parties claiming interest in identical or confusingly similar names during the introduction of the domain. To further prevent that possibility, Applicant, as a brand owner, will adopt the best practices of dispute resolution and avoidance so that any unintentional conflicts can be quickly and effectively resolved.
gTLDFull Legal NameE-mail suffixDetail
.memorialDog Beach, 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.