22 Describe proposed measures for protection of geographic names at the second and other levels in the applied-for gTLD

Prototypical answer:

In preparation for answering this question, DotBook, LLC (“DotBook”) reviewed the following relevant background material regarding the protection of geographic names in the DNS, including:

-ICANN Board Resolution 01-92 regarding the methodology developed for the reservation and release of country names in the .INFO top-level domain (see http:⁄⁄www.icann.org⁄en⁄minutes⁄minutes-10sep01.htm);

-ICANN’s Proposed Action Plan on .INFO Country Names (see http:⁄⁄www.icann.org⁄en⁄meetings⁄montevideo⁄action-plan-country-names-09oct01.htm);

-“Report of the Second WIPO Internet Domain Name Process: The Recognition and Rights and the Use of Names in the Internet Domain Name System,ʺ Section 6, Geographical Identifiers (see http:⁄⁄www.wipo.int⁄amc⁄en⁄processes⁄process2⁄report⁄html⁄report.html);

-ICANN’s Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) Principles Regarding New gTLDs, (see https:⁄⁄gacweb.icann.org⁄download⁄attachments⁄1540128⁄gTLD_principles_0.pdfversion=1&modificationDate=1312358178000); and

-ICANN’s Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO) Reserved Names Working Group – Final Report (see http:⁄⁄gnso.icann.org⁄issues⁄new-gtlds⁄final-report-rn-wg-23may07.htm).
Initial Reservation of Country and Territory Names

DotBook is committed to initially reserving the country and territory names contained in the internationally recognized lists described in Article 5 of Specification 5 attached to the New gTLD Applicant Guidebook at the second level and at all other levels within the .book gTLD at which domain name registrations will be provided. Specifically, DotBook will reserve:

-The short form (in English) of all country and territory names contained on the ISO 3166- 1 list, as updated from time to time, including the European Union, which is exceptionally reserved on the ISO 3166-1 list, and its scope extended in August 1999 to any application needing to represent the name European Union (see http:⁄⁄www.iso.org⁄iso⁄support⁄country_codes⁄iso_3166_code_lists⁄iso-3166-1_decoding_table.htm#EU);
-The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names, Technical Reference Manual for the Standardization of Geographical Names, Part III Names of Countries of the World; and
-The list of United Nations member states in six official United Nations languages prepared by the Working Group on Country Names of the United Nations Conference on the Standardization of Geographical Names.

Potential Allocation and Future Release of Names

During its Sunrise period, DotBook will implement an outreach campaign targeting National Libraries in each country or territory to inform them about .book and to facilitate the responsible release of names as previously described. The protection of first level geographic names for individual countries will occur through the assignment of those names to each representative countryʹs National Library, or in the absence of one, their authoritative bibliographic representative. In most countries, fulfilling a nationʹs goal of bibliographic control of all locally published books and documents is the role of the national library. A national library is a library specifically established by the government of a country, often with legal deposit laws, to serve as the preeminent repository of information under a mandate to preserve that countryʹs national heritage.

DotBook will work with the International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA), The European Library and other library associations to invite each national library to secure first level geographic names for their respective countries - names such as Italy.book and Korea.book. DotBook will also work collaboratively with the International Standard Book Number (ISBN) Agency on behalf of their nearly 160 issuing ISBN agencies to help identify these national libraries or authoritative bibliographic representatives. Today many national ISBN agencies are managed by the countryʹs national library, and serve as the official book registration authorities while maintaining the full listing of each countryʹs Books In Print catalog. Securing these geographic names will afford each national library the opportunity to make discoverable their full catalog of books. Potential registrant categories: National libraries and their respective ISBN agencies.

While DotBook foresees no immediate need for plans to make use of these initially reserved country names at the second level within the .book namespace, DotBook recognizes that there has been several successful and non-misleading use of country names by new gTLD operators as evidenced below:

〈AUSTRALIA.COOP〉 – Is operated by Co-operatives Australia the national body for State Co-operative Federations and provides a valuable resource about cooperatives within Australia.

〈UK.COOP〉 – Is operated by Co-operatives UK the national trade body that campaigns for co-operation and works to promote, develop and unite co-operative enterprises within the United Kingdom.

〈NZ.COOP〉 – Is operated by the New Zealand Cooperatives Association which brings together the country’s cooperative mutual business in a not-for-profit incorporated society.

〈USA.JOBS〉 - Is operated by DirectEmployers Association (DE). While Employ Media the registry operator of the .JOBS gTLD is currently in a dispute with ICANN regarding the allocation of this and other domain names.
Direct Employers has a series of partnerships and programs with the United States Department of Labor, the National Association of State Workforce Agencies and Facebook to help unemployed workers find jobs.

〈MALDIVIAN.AERO〉 - Is the dominant domestic air carrier in Maldives, and provides a range of commercial and leisure air transport services.

The more likely request by DotBook will come in connection with the un-reservation and allocation of two-letter .book domain names, e.g. 95.book, 12.book, etc. If DotBook should decide in the future to attempt and allocate these domain names, it would submit the proper Registry Service Evaluation Processes (RSEP) with ICANN. In evaluating similar RSEP requests that have been submitted to ICANN by other gTLD registry operators, DotBook believes that its request would be favorably granted.

Creation and Updating the Policies
DotBook is committed to continually reviewing and updating when necessary its policies in this area. Consistent with this commitment, DotBook intends to remain an active participant in any ongoing ICANN policy discussion regarding the protection of geographic names within the DNS.

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