STATEMENT
OF POLICIES
The dotNOM Consortium
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction and Overview
Part I General TLD Policies
Part II Registration Policies
Part III Registration Restrictions
Part IV Context of the TLD Within the DNS
Part V Proof of Concept
INTRODUCTION
AND OVERVIEW
This application is filed on behalf of The dotNOM Consortium (“DNC”) for the right to operate and administer the registry for the .nom Top-Level Domain (“TLD”). Conditional upon award, the entities comprising the dotNOM Consortium (the “Partners”) include:
· The .TV Corporation International (“dotTV”)
· Lycos, Inc.
· XO Communications, Inc.
· SK Telecom Co, Ltd.
· 7DC, Inc.
· OnlineNIC, Inc.
Collectively, the Partners encompass a broad geographical reach and possess an impressive range of Internet- and technology-related expertise. The DNC Partners are global leaders in the fields of domain name registration (in both registry and registrar functions), wireless networking, portals/search engines, web navigation, broadband, web-hosting, and online services. Respectively, the Partners’ operations are headquartered in the United States (dotTV, Lycos, XO), Korea (SK Telecom, 7DC), and China (OnlineNIC), with international offices located in Hong Kong and the UK (dotTV), Brazil, Germany, Italy, France, Japan, Korea, Mexico, the UK, Spain and The Netherlands (Lycos). Highlights of the Partners’ business activities include:
Company Central Offices Recent Highlights
|
The
.TV Corporation International |
Pasadena,
CA (USA) |
·
Exclusive registry for the .tv ccTLD. ·
Over 100,000 premium domain names registered. |
|
Lycos,
Inc |
Waltham,
MA (USA) |
·
Leading internet search and navigation engine and portal. ·
Network of sites includes Lycos.com, Tripod, Angelfire, WhoWhere,
Lycos Communications, HotBot, HotWired, Wired News, Webmonkey, Quote.com,
Sonique, Gamesville, and Matchmaker.com. |
|
XO
Communications, Inc. (formerly Concentric Network and Nextlink
Communications) |
McLean,
VA (USA) |
·
Largest holder of fixed wireless spectrum in North America ·
End-to-end high-speed, IP-centric fiber optic backbone network
capabilities in the United States, Canada, and throughout much of Europe. ·
Provider of web-hosting, voice, internet access, private data
networking, and integrated services. |
|
SK
Telecom Co, Ltd. |
Seoul,
Korea |
·
Largest wireless telecommunications company in Korea with over 11.5
million wireless subscribers representing approximately 43% of the local
wireless market. ·
Employs a local workforce of 7,300 |
|
7DC,
Inc. |
Seoul,
Korea |
·
Recently ICANN-accredited Korean registrar |
|
OnlineNIC,
Inc. |
Xiamen,
China |
·
Largest and oldest ICANN-accredited registrar in China, established
in 1996 |
DNC proposes that ICANN introduce a TLD with the suffix “nom”. Most of the following arguments and reasoning in support of .nom are equally applicable to any personal (i.e. individual or family) designation including, by way of example, .per for “personal”, .ind for “individual”, or .fam for “family”. However, the use of .nom as the TLD is preferred because the root “nom” and a similar counterpart, “nam”, have broad multi-lingual appeal and will be understood by a large number of users in the international Internet community.
The utility of so-called “personal” websites has grown to encompass a wide set of applications as the Internet has become more ubiquitous. There are three major categories of personal websites:
Amateurs & Hobbyists
- Families
- Individuals
- Diaries/Journals/Stories
Professionals
- Celebrities & Personalities
- Editorial
- Artistic portfolios
- Resume/Job services
Communities
- Editorial
- Rings
- Metasites
Hosts of websites that fall into these categories have in the past had no choice but to obtain a .com address, which has rendered the .com TLD a stew of personal and professional sites, a catch-all that has diluted the significance of the “com” and failed to help Internet users distinguish between the two.
DNC will be constituted as a joint venture corporation which shall be jointly owned and controlled by the Partners. All management, marketing, business development, finance/administrative and legal functions will be performed directly by DNC’s own personnel. All registry functions will be outsourced to dotTV under contract enabling DNC to take advantage of dotTV’s existing state-of-the-art registry infrastructure.
The setting-aside of a domain for primarily non-commercial uses will serve to “flatten” the large discrepancies between more desirable and less desirable domain names that has exacerbated the cybersquatting problem.
Furthermore, the creation of .nom will alleviate the saturation of the .com universe by re-directing existing and future traffic to a new space whose primary intent is communication rather than commerce. There will be greater supply, lower demand, and less money spent buying domain names that have understandably been retired or “parked” by intellectual property-holders because of their potential for abuse of trademarks.
In addition, the proposed TLD will help Internet users find their destinations easier. Inherent in the .nom domain system is a roadmap leading to greater precision. The inefficiencies and confusion caused by parking, re-directing, cybersquatting, typosquatting, and trademark abuses will be alleviated. The DNS as a marketing tool as well as all of its undesirable by-products will diminish, but the usefulness of the DNS as it was originally intended will increase.
DNC will be able to draw on the substantial financial, technical and management resources of its partners to ensure its stability and success. Additionally, the strong international experience and presence of the Partners, either directly or through their respective strategic alliances, will enable DNC to establish a worldwide distribution network to promote global recognition and adoption of a new TLD.
As an operating TLD registry, dotTV already has in place a proven, state-of-the-art global technical infrastructure and high-speed name resolution capability that is overseen by technical personnel with the highest level of expertise and relevant experience. In addition to maintaining the .tv registry and the requisite physical and technical infrastructure, dotTV’s management has displayed the ability to creatively and innovatively introduce and promote the acceptance of a novel TLD to the public. DNC will be able to draw on this management and marketing expertise.
DNC is able to propose an aggressively competitive business model that assumes a wholesale price to registrars of $3.50 per domain name, and includes an initial capital investment of $10,000,000 that will include equity investments from each of the Partners. This initial infusion will allow for a modest return on investment within a reasonable timeframe.
I. GENERAL TLD POLICIES
Description of TLD
Policies
The Internet vernacular
that has become so well-known in recent years, and specifically the phrase
“dot-com”, was originally coined from the Top Level Domain (TLD) suffix that
was in turn created to distinguish commercial enterprises from non-profits,
networks, government institutions, and educational institutions. However, there is a significant constituency
of the World Wide Web that is not driven by commerce. The power of the Internet is every bit as applicable to
individuals who want primarily to communicate with the world as it is to
companies that want to sell goods and services.
The impending rollout of new TLDs in the coming months presents ICANN with an opportunity to address the needs of individuals who heretofore have been unable to register domain names outside of the familiar .com, .net, and .org TLDs, none of which are directly applicable. The TLD .com has become saturated to the point where most recognizable words, names, and phrases are no longer available, and many of the ones that are available must be purchased for prohibitively-large markups in the secondary market. Furthermore, .com has been the catch-all domain name that does nothing to distinguish commercial from personal content. .net and .org do not address this problem either, and .edu and .gov are restricted and generally unavailable to individuals.
Sizable Market
Opportunity
According to Deutsche Bank Alex Brown, the Internet domain name registration count will reach 27 million by year’s end. While difficult to estimate given the decentralization and explosive growth of the Net, that number is projected to climb to 49 million registered domain names by 2001, 85 million by 2002, and 140 million by 2003. The compound annual growth rate calculates to 94.7% over this time horizon.
Bear Stearns breaks out the 2003 market (140 million registered domains) as follows:
The Case for a
Personal Website Domain Name
The utility of so-called “personal” websites has grown to encompass a wide set of applications as the Internet has become more ubiquitous. There are three major categories[1] of personal websites (and selected examples):
Amateurs & Hobbyists
- Families
- Individuals
- Diaries/Journals/Stories
Professionals
- Celebrities & Personalities (www.juliaroberts.com)
- Editorial (www.drudgereport.com)
- Artistic portfolios (www.anseladams.com)
- Resume/Job services (www.craigslist.com)
Communities
- Editorial (www.epinions.com)
- Rings (www.wallpaperring.com)
- Metasites (www.geocities.com)
Hosts of websites that fall into these categories have in the past had no choice but to obtain a .com address, which has rendered the .com TLD a stew of personal and professional sites, a catch-all that has diluted the significance of the “com” and failed to help Internet users distinguish between the two.
The number of such websites has grown steadily over the past several years and is expected to continue its rate of growth for the foreseeable future[2].
The total number of domains registered worldwide as of September 27, 2000, is just over 29 million[3], and the growth curve is still increasing. Moreover, in 1999, 80% of consumers registering a Web address were doing so for the first time[4]. These facts suggest that the population of domain names registered for personal use is still in its infancy. For this reason, DNC believes there is a need for a new TLD reserved for domains created for personal use.
Proposed String
To serve the needs of this large population, DNC proposes that ICANN introduce a TLD with the suffix .nom. Most of the following arguments and reasoning in support of .nom are equally applicable to any personal (i.e. individual or family) designation including, by way of example, .per for “personal”, .ind for “individual”, .fam for “family” or such other string as ICANN might determine most appropriate for the targeted sector.
However, the use of .nom as the TLD is preferred because the root “nam” and a similar counterpart, “nom”, have broad multi-lingual appeal and will be understood by a large number of users in the international Internet community, including:
|
Language |
Spelling |
|
English |
name |
|
Spanish |
nombre |
|
French |
nom |
|
German |
name |
|
Italian |
nome |
|
Portuguese |
nome |
|
Danish |
navn |
|
Swedish |
namn |
|
Dutch |
naam |
|
Finnish |
nimi |
|
Norwegian |
name |
|
Romanian |
nume |
|
Malay |
nama |
|
Afrikaans |
naam |
|
Estonian |
nimi |
|
Greek |
onoma |
|
Polish |
na imie |
|
Indonesian |
nam |
|
Turkish |
nam |
It is proposed that
names be registered at the second level, directly preceding the .nom
portion of the domain name.
II. REGISTRATION POLICIES
As a general opening
comment, DNC encourages ICANN to select the “best of class” legal policies from
the various proposals it receives and to enter into negotiations with the
winning consortia for adoption of such policies. DNC would willingly and constructively work with ICANN to
establish “best of class” policies for the .nom domain.
Selection and
Appointment of Registrars
DNC proposes to operate
solely as a registry with regard to the new gTLD. DNC will actively promote and authorize the involvement of a
broad range of third party registrars in connection with the introduction of
the new gTLD, including all interested ICANN-accredited registrars and such
other registrars as are deemed appropriate.
The criteria for engagement of non-ICANN-accredited registrars would be
based on a number of factors including credit worthiness and continuing
compliance with DNC’s registrar agreement.
There shall be no limit on the number of registrars entitled to register
the domain names, provided they meet DNC’s registrar requirements. DNC anticipates creating an automatic
registrar sign-up process whereby registrars will be able to accept DNC’s
registrar agreement and download the API required to integrate into DNC’s
shared registration system. DNC’s
registrar agreement will be substantially in the form attached hereto as
Exhibit A. All registrars shall be
required to provide a mechanism for their customers to accept DNC’s standard
registration agreement for its customers.
Intellectual
Property Issues
DNC encourages ICANN
to establish standardized procedures to address the trademark/intellectual
property issue as it pertains to domain name registrations.
Upon submission of the various proposals, ICANN should engage in
discussions with the various constituencies interested in the introduction of
new TLDs with the goal of agreeing on the “best of class” solution. As all trademark/intellectual
property policies have their pluses and
minuses, it is important that there be buy-in from the relevant constituencies.
In this context, DNC proposes the following procedure for ICANN’s consideration. Because the use of the .nom domain name is intended for individual registrants and limited commercial enterprises, DNC proposes to roll out the domain on a first-come-first-served basis.
Should disputes arise as to the nature or conduct of a .nom registrant’s behavior and activities in conjunction with a particular domain name, they will be referred to the UDRP.
Specifically with regard to “famous trademarks” or “famous names”, if ICANN or another appropriate authority adopts a list of commonly agreed-upon famous trademarks or famous names and procedures to be followed with respect thereto, DNC would implement those specified procedures to protect such trademarks.
Startup Period
Because the .nom TLD is intended primarily for non-commercial use, all interested parties have an equally valid claim on a given name and applications for registration at the initial opening of the TLD will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis, with no startup or “sunrise” period. The initial rush for registration is expected to be significant (in the order of 200,000 names per month for the first 8 weeks), but other than a worldwide lottery system with a limited sunrise period to accept all applications, there is no equitable timetable to accept registrations other than first-come, first-served. However, registrants will be advised that domain names are subject to forfeiture in the event of a successful UDRP or court proceeding. UDRP proceedings will be the primary mechanism to police intellectual property abuses.
Pricing Mechanisms
Pricing mechanisms will not be used to dampen a rush for registration because all applicants are considered to have an equal claim on the inventory of available .nom domain names. The few available methods to dampen the rush for registration include price discrimination (in the form of auctioning names for sale to the highest bidder) and a lottery system, which is possible but would be prohibitively complicated if an effort is made to include the worldwide population of would-be registrants.
The auction and lottery mechanisms cited above are mentioned solely as potential means of addressing the extremely difficult problems associated with the rollout of a new TLD, and DNC has no commercial motivation for administering such systems. To the extent that ICANN is able to formulate or identify an alternative mechanism that successfully addresses these problems, DNC would adopt such an alternative system.
DNC anticipates approximately 200,000 registrations per month for the first two months of a new TLD rollout. However, DNC believes this process will be straightforward and orderly in light of the substantial distribution channels that will exist if all ICANN-accredited registrars are empowered to sell the domain names upon launch.
DNC does not intend to police the number of domain names registered by any registrant, but during the initial two-month period, DNC intends to accept applications be accepted on a one-per-transaction basis, so that no applicant is permitted to “bulk register” an array of .nom domain names. This provision will discourage and naturally restrict the number of domain names purchased by speculators.
Should ICANN determine that it would prefer a limit on the number of domains licensed to a given registrant, DNC would oblige by keeping a log of applicants’ email addresses and permit one registration per email address (or however many ICANN prefers) for the first 8 weeks of the rollout, with limits suspended thereafter.
DNC believes that the best means for policing registration abuse is a UDRP proceeding brought by an aggrieved registrant.
DNC’s Willingness
to Cooperate
As stated earlier, DNC encourages ICANN to select a “best of class” solution to this difficult trademark/intellectual property problem. The above procedure is offered as a potential solution to be considered.
Whois Data
DNC encourages ICANN to select a “best of class” solution for appropriate whois procedures. DNC would willingly comply with any such solution. In the absence of such procedures, DNC would require whois data from all domain name registrants. Continued registration in the domain would be subject to accurate whois data being provided. DNC would either keep its own database of whois data or insure access to the databases of its registrars.
DNC would limit the number of whois lookups to reduce the possibility of data-mining.
Dispute Resolution
As stated earlier, DNC will adopt the UDRP and abide by decisions rendered by WIPO and others who arbitrate UDRP cases. DNC will also abide by the decisions of courts of competent jurisdiction.
Data Privacy
DNC encourages ICANN to establish “best of class” procedures with respect to data privacy issues. DNC would willingly comply with any such procedures. In the absence of any such procedures, DNC’s data privacy policies would be as follows:
DNC’s privacy policy would be substantially similar to that currently applied by dotTV, as such policy may change from time to time.
DNC would set up an escrow account to safeguard all customer information. Registrars would be required under their registrar agreements to supply appropriate customer information. The data contained in this escrow account would be updated on a frequent basis.
DNC would maintain a state-of-the-art whois directory similar to that currently utilized by dotTV. dotTV imposes certain limits on the number of whois lookups to reduce the possibility of data mining.
DNC recognizes the enormous sensitivity associated with the formulation and implementation of privacy policies and the challenge of balancing personal privacy rights with the legitimate interests of intellectual property rights holders. Again, to the extent that ICANN or other appropriate persons are able to formulate standard policy which successfully addresses these concerns, DNC will promptly adopt and rigorously adhere to such policy.
Pricing, Billing
and Collection
Registrars will be charged a standard registry fee of $3.50
for names registered by such registrars.
Registrars shall be free to charge varying prices to their
customers. DNC will not attempt to
regulate the retail price of the registrations. The registrars will be responsible for customer service, billing
and collection. The registry will be
responsible for name resolution and will maintain a registry of customer
information, including the registrant’s contact information, IP address, domain
names registered, price paid and renewal dates. A draft of the DNC registrar agreement is attached hereto as
Exhibit A.
III. REGISTRATION RESTRICTIONS
Not applicable. The
proposed TLD is unrestricted.
IV. CONTEXT OF THE TLD WITHIN THE DNS
Stability of the
Internet
There is a need for greater domain name organization that is not being met. The .nom TLD is a self-regulating method of stabilizing and organizing the Internet by distinguishing between non-commercial and commercial populations, making both site marketing and browsing more efficient and less taxing on the system as a whole.
The setting-aside of a domain for primarily non-commercial uses will serve to “flatten” the large discrepancies between more desirable and less desirable domain names that has exacerbated the cybersquatting problem.
Furthermore, the creation of .nom will alleviate the saturation of the .com universe by re-directing existing and future traffic to a new space whose primary intent is communication rather than commerce. There will be greater supply, lower demand, and less money spent buying domain names that have understandably been retired or “parked” by intellectual property-holders because of their potential for abuse of trademarks.
In addition, the proposed TLD will help Internet users find their destinations easier. Inherent in the .nom domain system is a roadmap leading to greater precision. The inefficiencies and confusion caused by parking, re-directing, cybersquatting, typosquatting, and trademark abuses will be alleviated. The DNS as a marketing tool as well as all of its undesirable by-products will diminish, but the usefulness of the DNS as it was originally intended will increase.
Finally, the proposed TLD will enhance competition in domain-name registration services by making its registration APIs available to any and all interested ICANN-accredited and other registrars. By allowing for market forces to affect prices, the economics of the domain name registration business will more closely resemble that of a public utility, as the Internet was intended to be.
V. PROOF OF CONCEPT
The success of the introduction of .nom as a non-commercial TLD may be evaluated by analyzing several factors.
First, DNC can examine the number of “parked” .nom websites, a bellwether for the existence of cybersquatting and typosquatting, two current problems the proposed system herein attempts to solve.
Second, DNC can take a statistical sample of the number of secure transactions and digital certificates initiated relative to the number of domains registered to test the extent to which websites in the .nom space are being used for commercial purposes.
Third, DNC can examine the number of disputes registered with UDRP, with particular attention paid to the number of disputes involving trademark and famous name abuses.
It is our belief that the
proposed new TLD satisfies all or most ICANN’s stated criteria and,
specifically, promotes stability, efficiency, and equity on the Internet. Furthermore the proposed scheme will serve
as a test-bed for other potential TLDs based on a similar classification of the
intended use of the sites registered therein.
Specific examples of
intended-use as a basis for the creation and rollout of future TLDs could
include:
·
Second- and third-tier
domain names used to categorize the industry of commercial websites
·
Sites used for
educational purposes (other than 4-year degree-granting institutions)
·
Primary and secondary
school websites
·
Sites of foreign (i.e.
non-US) governments
·
Sites of state, county,
and municipal US governments
By
signing this application through its representative, the Applicant attests that
the information contained in this Description of TLD Policies, and all
referenced supporting documents, are true and accurate to the best of
Applicant's knowledge.
_______________________________
Signature
Anthony J. Bishop
Vice President and General Counsel
The .TV Corporation International
on behalf of
The dotNOM Consortium
October 2, 2000