.casino Pre-Register Domain - .casino Domain Information

Mission and purpose

.CASINO will provide a definitive address for betting and gaming establishments. Existing and future casinos, both physical establishments and online, will have a clear and distinctive TLD to promote their entity.

The term casino has a singular meaning and a worldwide recognition. The extension will serve a $500 billion industry that attracts over 200 million users online and tens of million physical gaming visitors. Registrants will be able to secure domains for anything from card gaming, off-track betting, charitable games and bingos, lotteries to Indian casinos and multi-national full-service casinos.

There are over 4,000 physical casinos across the world, and an estimated 2,000 online gaming sites. We anticipate existing gaming entities will average over 5 domain names each, while other informational sites to be a small fraction of the market. As regulations change, the market for .CASINO could grow dramatically, though we conservatively do not forecast any such dramatic change in the marketplace. Therefore, we forecast having approximately 5,000 Domains Under Management (DUMs) by the third year of operation. Our financial responses #45 through #50 go into detail on our funding, cost and revenue projections.

i. General goals

.CASINO will be an open TLD, generally available to all registrants (except in the Sunrise period). The domains can be used for any purpose, including gaming businesses, providing information about gaming such as tutorials, marketing purposes, e.g., promotional events or programs being offered, or directories and reviews.

Afilias will design and position the .CASINO TLD to be known as one of the premiere gaming resources on the Internet. Afilias will provide marketing and branding, as well as outreach and marketing support to registrars to establish .CASINO as the go-to domain name for casino-related content.

ii. How .CASINO adds to the current space

All gaming stakeholders will have a single forum to present themselves to their targeted site visitors. The .CASINO TLD not only opens up more options for gaming companies seeking to establish an Internet identity, but also allows them an option to create an identity more in line with their existing name and purpose.

The current TLD space does not provide gaming entities with a clear option, and they are limited to long or non-distinctive names in a saturated .com space. At the end of 2011, there were 95.5 million registered .com domain names and 220 million total registered domain names (Source: http://royal.pingdom.com/2012/01/17/internet-2011-in-numbers/), affording decreasing ability for a gaming entity to establish a meaningful and contextually relevant Internet identity. Thus, .CASINO provides an entity the option to use their familiar business name without having to appending the term casino in the second-level, creating an online identity that more closely matches how they present themselves to the world.

iii. User experience goals

One of the primary benefits to registrants of participation in the .CASINO TLD is that they can build clear, easily accessible identities that will facilitate potential clientele to be more likely to find the information they are seeking. Gaming companies will be able to establish Internet identities more closely aligned with their existing identities and branding, rather than modifying their name or brand to adapt to the current choices available, making it easier to be searched for and discovered by customers and Internet users. This will help to build confidence and reduce ambiguity for users, since a company's Internet identity will more closely match its registered name.

Users who have reached a legal gambling age will be able to quickly identify a website as a gaming establishment. We will encourage our registrants to engage in best practices to promote legal use of their sites, such as age verification technologies, cutting-edge security tools, links to information on gambling addiction, and measures to ensure financial transactions are safe and secure.

iv. Registry policies

.CASINO will be an open TLD, generally available to all registrants (except in the Sunrise period).

In general, domains will be offered for periods of one to ten years, but no greater than ten years. Initial registrations made in the Sunrise period may have a minimum number of years required. For example, there may be a policy that all Sunrise names must be registered for an initial term of at least five years.

There are no content or use restrictions for this TLD.



The roll-out of our TLD is anticipated to feature the following phases:
• Reservation of reserved names and premium names, which will be distributed through special mechanisms (detailed below).
• Sunrise — the required period for trademark owners to secure their domains before availability to the general public. This phase will feature applications for domain strings, verification of trademarks via Trademark Clearinghouse and a trademark verification agent, auctions between qualified parties who wish to secure the same string, and a Trademark Claims Service.
• General Availability period — real-time registrations, made on a first-come first-served basis. Trademark Claims Service will be in use at least for the first 60 days after General Availability applications open.

The registration of domain names in the .CASINO TLD will follow the standard practices, procedures and policies Afilias, the back-end provider of registry services, currently has in place. This includes the following:
• Domain registration policies (for example, grace periods, transfer policies, etc.) are defined in response #27.
• Abuse prevention tools and policies, for example, measures to promote WHOIS accuracy and efforts to reduce phishing and pharming, are discussed in detail in our response #28.
• Rights protection mechanisms and dispute resolution mechanism policies (for example, UDRP, URS) are detailed in #29.

Other detailed policies for this domain include policies for reserved names.


Reserved names

Registry reserved names
We will reserve the following classes of domain names, which will not be made generally available to registrants via the Sunrise or subsequent periods:
• All of the reserved names required in Specification 5 of the new gTLD Registry Agreement;
• The geographic names required in Specification 5 of the new gTLD Registry Agreement, and may be released to the extent that Registry Operator reaches agreement with the government and country-code manager;
• The registry operator's own name and variations thereof, and registry operations names (such as registry.tld, and www.tld), for internal use;
• Names related to ICANN and Internet standards bodies (iana.tld, ietf.tld, w3c.tld, etc.), and may be released to the extent that Registry Operator reaches agreement with ICANN.

The list of reserved names will be published publicly before the Sunrise period begins, so that registrars and potential registrants will know which names have been set aside.


Premium names

The registry will also designate a set of premium domain names, set aside for distribution via special mechanisms. The list of premium names will be published publicly before the Sunrise period begins, so that registrars and potential registrants will know that these names are not available. Premium names may be distributed via mechanisms such as requests for proposals, contests, direct sales, and auctions.

For the auctioning of premium names, we intend to contract with an established auction provider that has successfully conducted domain auctions. This will ensure that there is a tested, trustworthy technical platform for the auctions, auditable records, and reliable collection mechanisms. With our chosen auction provider, we will create and post policies and procedures that ensure clear, fair, and ethical auctions. As an example of such a policy, all employees of the registry operator and its contractors will be strictly prohibited from bidding in auctions for domains in the TLD. We expect a comprehensive and robust set of auction rules to cover possible scenarios, such as how domains will be awarded if the winning bidder does not make payment.

v. Privacy and confidential information protection
As per the New gTLD Registry Agreement, we will make domain contact data (and other fields) freely and publicly available via a Web-based WHOIS server. This default set of fields includes the mandatory publication of registrant data. Our Registry-Registrar Agreement will require that registrants consent to this publication.

We shall notify each of our registrars regarding the purposes for which data about any identified or identifiable natural person ("Personal Data") submitted to the Registry Operator by such registrar is collected and used, and the intended recipients (or categories of recipients) of such Personal Data (the data in question is essentially the registrant and contact data required to be published in the WHOIS). We will require each registrar to obtain the consent of each registrant in the TLD for the collection and use of such Personal Data. The policies will be posted publicly on our TLD web site. As the registry operator, we shall not use or authorize the use of Personal Data in any way that is incompatible with the notice provided to registrars.

Our privacy and data use policies are as follows:
• As registry operator, we do not plan on selling bulk WHOIS data. We will not sell contact data in any way. We will not allow, enable, or otherwise support the transmission by e-mail, telephone, or facsimile of mass unsolicited, commercial advertising or solicitations.
• We may use registration data in the aggregate for marketing purposes.
• DNS query data will never be sold in a way that is personally identifiable.
• We may from time to time use the demographic data collected for statistical analysis, provided that this analysis will not disclose individual Personal Data and provided that such use is compatible with the notice provided to registrars regarding the purpose and procedures for such use.

As the registry operator we shall take significant steps to protect Personal Data collected from registrars from loss, misuse, unauthorized disclosure, alteration, or destruction. In our responses to Question 30 ("Security Policy") and Question 38 ("Escrow") we detail the security policies and procedures we will use to protect the registry system and the data contained therein from unauthorized access and loss.

Please see our response to Question 26 ("WHOIS") regarding "searchable WHOIS" and rate-limiting. That section contains details about how we will limit the mining of WHOIS data by spammers and other parties who abuse access to the WHOIS.

In order to acquire and maintain accreditation for our TLD, we will require registrars to adhere to certain information technology policies designed to help protect registrant data. These will include standards for access to the registry system and password management protocols. Our response to Question 30, "Security Policy" provides details of implementation.

We will allow the use of proxy and privacy services, which can protect the personal data of registrants from spammers and other parties that mine zone files and WHOIS data. We are aware that there are parties who may use privacy services to protect their free speech rights, or to avoid religious or political persecution.

Afilias has adopted the above-mentioned and other policies to ensure fair and equitable access and cost structures to the Internet community, including:
• no new burdens placed on the Internet community to resolve name disputes
• utilization of standard registration practices and policies (as detailed in responses to questions #27, #28, #29)
• protection of trademarks at launch and on-going operations (as detailed in the response to question #29)
• fair and reasonable wholesale prices
• fair and equitable treatment of registrars

As per the ICANN Registry Agreement, we will use only ICANN-accredited registrars, and will provide non-discriminatory access to registry services to those registrars.


Pricing Policies and Commitments

Pricing for domain names at General Availability will be $50 per domain year for the first year. Applicant reserves the right to reduce this pricing for promotional purposes in a manner available to all accredited registrars. Registry Operator reserves the right to work with ICANN to initiate an increase in the wholesale price of domains if required. Registry Operator will provide reasonable notice to the registrars of any approved price increase.

Describe proposed measures for protection of geographic names at the second and other levels in the applied-for gTLD. This should include any applicable rules and procedures for reservation and/or release of such names.

We will protect names with national or geographic significance by reserving the country and territory names at the second level and at all other levels within the TLD, as per the requirements in the New TLD Registry Agreement (Specification 5, paragraph 5).

We will employ a series of rules to translate the geographical names required to be reserved by Specification 5, paragraph 5 to a form consistent with the ʺhost namesʺ format used in domain names.

Considering the Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) advice "Principles regarding new gTLDs", these domains will be blocked, at no cost to governments, public authorities, or IGOs, before the TLD is introduced (Sunrise), so that no parties may apply for them. We will publish a list of these names before Sunrise, so our registrars and their prospective applicants can be aware that these names are reserved.
We will define a procedure so that governments can request the above reserved domain(s) if they would like to take possession of them. This procedure will be based on existing methodology developed for the release of country names in the .INFO TLD. For example, we will require a written request from the country's GAC representative, or a written request from the country's relevant Ministry or Department. We will allow the designated beneficiary (the Registrant) to register the name, with an accredited Afilias Registrar, possibly using an authorization number transmitted directly to the designated beneficiary in the country concerned.

As defined by Specification 5, paragraph 5, such geographic domains may be released to the extent that Registry Operator reaches agreement with the applicable government(s). Registry operator will work with respective GAC representatives of the country's relevant Ministry of Department to obtain their release of the names to the Registry Operator.

If internationalized domains names (IDNs) are introduced in the TLD in the future, we will also reserve the IDN versions of the country names in the relevant script(s) before IDNs become available to the public. If we find it advisable and practical, we will confer with relevant language authorities so that we can reserve the IDN domains properly along with their variants.

Regarding GAC advice regarding second-level domains not specified via Specification 5, paragraph 5: All domains awarded to registrants are subject to the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP), and to any properly-situated court proceeding. We will ensure appropriate procedures to allow governments, public authorities or IGO's to challenge abuses of names with national or geographic significance at the second level. In its registry-registrar agreement, and flowing down to registrar-registrant agreements, the registry operator will institute a provision to suspend domains names in the event of a dispute. We may exercise that right in the case of a dispute over a geographic name.