.london Pre-Register Domain - .london Domain Information

Our vision is to create a world-class, innovative and trusted TLD for London, to be operated in the public interest, through a commercial business model which reinvests profits for the benefit of London. Dot London Domains Ltd. (DLD - a wholly owned subsidiary of London & Partners Ltd.) has secured the support of the Mayor of London and non objection from UK Government to bring forward this application for the London TLD (.LONDON). We believe that operating a successful London TLD registry and the subsequent use of .LONDON domains will:
- Enhance the reputation of London and promote the London brand
- Amplify London & Partners' promotional activity
- Position London as a leading centre of technology and innovation
- Promote consumer choice and benefit registrants by offering relevant and affordable .LONDON domain names
- Create jobs and economic benefit for London

LONDON context
London is a leading world city and a vibrant centre for business, investment, technology, creativity, education and tourism. London is made up of the City of London Corporation and 32 boroughs, has a population of 7,900,500 and is home to 331,540 businesses. London attracts over 100,000 international students from 200 nations to its higher education institutions and welcomes millions of visitors each year. London is the powerhouse of the UK economy and is Europeʹs leading centre for technology. According to a recent report on Londonʹs Digital Economy (GLA, 3 Jan 2012), there are over 23,000 ICT and software companies in London, the highest number of any European city. London hosts a quarter of all British jobs in computer and related activities and 22% of jobs in telecommunications. According to the Experian Business Strategies Regional Planning Service, in 2010 the Gross Value Added of communications companies in London was £7.9 billion.

London is in the international spotlight during this unique and special year. Her Majesty the Queenʹs Diamond Jubilee celebrations, closely followed by the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, will see the city celebrate as never before. Many high profile sporting and cultural events are planned for future years as the Olympic legacy London's and presence on the world stage continues.

London is a diverse, cultural and evolving capital city that welcomes enterprise, provides opportunities for businesses and individuals and adopts technological change. .LONDON domains will support the digital platforms on which these activities can flourish.

Demand
Over the last decade, the global market for domain name registrations has grown at a tremendous rate. From 2000 to 2010 registrations increased from 40 million to 200 million. 2011 saw growth of approx. 9%, which was significantly higher than the previous year's 6% growth, ending third quarter 2011 with approx. 220 million domain names registered. Approx. 60% are gTLDs while the remaining 40% are ccTLDs. Specifically, gTLD growth was 8% in 2011, while ccTLD growth exceeded 11%. Considering the opportunities available from new gTLDs, growth is expected to continue in all sectors of the domain name industry. Established gTLDs, such as .COM and .NET, do not provide solutions for many registrants and domain names that relate to their businesses, interests or associations are often already registered and if for sale are costly. Therefore acquiring a relevant and useful domain name may only be achievable through a new gTLD.

This clearly demonstrates there is likely to be high and sustainable demand for .LONDON domains and audiences will be receptive to digital channels and communications that use .LONDON domains.

Mission and purpose
Our mission is to generate benefits for London and Londoners and provide .LONDON domains to:
- Those interested in disseminating information, whether commercial, non-commercial, news, culture, lifestyle, entertainment, sports or any other topic and who wish to associate themselves and their information with London.
- Those interested in selling goods and services or providing information and who wish to associate themselves and their goods, services and information with London.
- Individuals, organisations and businesses who wish to associate themselves or identify with London

Our purpose is to:
- Make .LONDON domains available to organisations and individuals in London, the UK and world-wide and by the use of .LONDON domains, enable them to associate their products, information and themselves with London for their own legal purposes.
- Allow organisations and individuals to promote their association or identification with London and provide a means to communicate with those who associate or identify with London.
- Increase the number of organisations and individuals that identify with London through their use of .LONDON domains and email accounts.
- Make .LONDON domains affordable and available subject to compliance with the rules governing .LONDON discussed elsewhere in this application.
- Operate a safe and secure registry for .LONDON that exceeds ICANN's requirements.

Registry operator and RSP
DLD is the .LONDON applicant, the registry operator for .LONDON. and is a wholly owned subsidiary of London & Partners Ltd, the official promotional organisation for London. London & Partners is a not for profit organisation and through its remit acts in the interests of London. London & Partners Ltd. is funded by the Greater London Authority and derives additional income from commercial activites. London & Partners operates Londonʹs official tourism website www.visitlondon.com which attracts over 16.5 million unique visits a year. Registry services for .LONDON will be provided by Minds + Machines Ltd. (a subsidiary of Top Level Domain Holdings LTD) and supported by Minds + Machines LLC of the USA. Minds + Machines Ltd will operate Espresso, the complete registry services platform used by Minds + Machines LLC and described elsewhere in this application. DLD, Minds + Machines Ltd. and their parent companies give their full commitment to operating a safe, stable and sustainable registry for .LONDON and the organisations will be the proud custodians of a vital piece of the Internetʹs infrastructure.

Operating model
Generally, the London TLD will operate on a first come, first served basis. Pricing will be competitive and the business model will be sustainable. We expect applicants will have an association or affiliation with London, however this need not be based on the location of the applicant. This will ensure .LONDON domains are accessible to London organisations and individuals and those with a geographical connection, affinity with, or customer base in London.

Policy development
DLD is committed to developing .LONDON policies through a multi-stakeholder model of engagement and consultation in line with industry best practice. The stakeholder constituency will be broad and consist of London-specific communities, London and UK-wide organisations and bodies and issue-specific communities or organisations who may present particular points of view during the policy making process. DLD will facilitate and manage this process and acknowledges that setting effective policies will be vital to the success of .LONDON. The process should be perceived as open and transparent, in which legitimate concerns will be heard. DLD and Minds + Machines Ltd.'s policies will endeavour to protect consumers from harm and to secure businesses existing rights, as set out in responses to questions 28 and 29.

IP
DLD owns the Dot London trade mark in the UK (under registration no.2501539) and this will be a key part of our strategy to build and promote the Dot London brand.

18 (b) How do you expect that your proposed gTLD will benefit registrants, Internet users, and others?

THE BENEFITS
The benefits of .LONDON will be tangible and wide reaching and the goal of .LONDON is to provide an innovative, relevant and trusted TLD. .London will add the following to the current space:

CHOICE AND TRUST
.LONDON domains will benefit Londoners and the wider digital community by promoting competition and consumer choice. Individuals, communities, organisations and business will be able to uniquely associate themselves with the city by using domain names for web sites and email addresses ending in .LONDON. Registrants of .LONDON domains will attain a sense of alignment with the city which will inspire trust and community pride.

BRANDING AND PROMOTION FOR LONDON
.LONDON will contribute to London & Partners' objective to showcase the London brand worldwide and the Mayor of London's objective to enhance London's global image and reputation. Businesses and organisations will also generate enhanced promotional and branding opportunities for themselves and the city by using .LONDON domains.

REPUTATION AND PROTECTION
DLD are fully aware that artistic, political, economic and social issues, all of which could be associated with .London domains, may provoke controversy. We recognise and support the free speech rights of both registrants and Internet users and believe that allowing these rights will be important to the success of Dot London. Any effort to prevent free speech would be more harmful to Dot Londonʹs reputation and success than an attempt to govern speech. However, to protect Dot Londonʹs reputation and the benefits it offers registrants and consumers, we will actively promote and enforce our Acceptable Use and Abuse Prevention policies and procedures, which we believe will effectively combat improper or unlawful unprotected speech and online conduct. We believe that these mechanisms will be effective in assuring the good reputation of Dot London domains and protect its registrants, Internet users, as well as the Internet using public in general.

COMPETITION AND DIFFERENTIATION
At present registrants' opportunities to register relevant domain names are extremely limited due to ‘full' registries such as .COM and .CO.UK and the high prices charged for the acquisition of meaningful names. The new gLDs will create competition in the marketplace, reduce purchase prices and .LONDON domains will allow differentiation. .LONDON will increase the opportunity for registrants who require a domain name that clearly and effectively associates them with London, as well as for those registrants who want to reach Internet users who identify with or reside in London.

AN EXCELLENT USER EXPERIENCE
The .LONDON registry will provide an excellent user experience. Londoners have welcomed the idea of .LONDON domains and we have concluded that they prefer the local nature of the Internet addresses. .LONDON domains will allow users to identify that the registrant has chosen a second-level domain name in order to associate themselves, their information and services with London. We believe this will be of substantial benefit to Internet users as it will allow them to easily understand the purpose of the registrant's website or email, allow effective searches for relevant information and make better use of their time online.

PROTECTED THIRD PARTY RIGHTS
The .LONDON registry policies and procedures will protect third-party rights and prevent abusive uses of .LONDON domain names. DLD and Minds + Machines Ltd. intend to achieve this by developing our Naming Policy, Acceptable Use Policy and other policies that will be easy to understand and accessible - and by ensuring the mechanisms for enforcing rights and preventing abuse (such as our complaint resolution service) operate effectively, efficiently, and fairly, as well as by ensuring that the processes work symbiotically with other ICANN-mandated rights protection mechanisms such as the UDRP.

FRAMEWORK TO SUPPORT STATED BENEFITS
DLD and Minds + Machines Ltd. have developed a draft framework for the registration of .LONDON domains that fully supports the goals, mission and purposes described above. Our draft registration framework is based on advice from ICANN, WIPO, applicable laws, and a variety of other expert sources. Specifically, the .LONDON draft framework includes these related sets of agreements setting forth our policies and regulations, all of which registrants must agree to be bound by.

- The Registrar/registrant agreement, which registrars contracted with .LONDON must present to registrants is a collateral agreement to the Registrar Registry Agreement (detailed below), and will bind registrants to Dot Londonʹs Acceptable Use Policy (detailed below); Dot Londonʹs Privacy & Whois Policy (detailed below); ICANN-mandated rights protection mechanisms (including the Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy ("UDRP");
- The Complaint Resolution Service, an alternate dispute resolution process, including recourse to an Ombudsman;
- The Acceptable Use Policy ("AUP"), which details the proper use of domain names that end in .LONDON which is incorporated by reference in the Registrant Agreement that registrants must agree to;
- The Privacy and Whois Policy, which describes how a registrant's personal data is to be used, which is also incorporated by reference in the Registrant Agreement;
- The Registry-Registrar Agreement, which is the contract between .LONDON Registry and its ICANN-accredited registrars which sets forth, inter alia, the duties and obligations of the registrar with respect to .LONDON registrants and the .LONDON registry; and
- The Naming Policy, which sets out Dot Londonʹs policies governing prohibited, blocked or reserved domain names.

These agreements and policies are designed to ensure transparent and non-discriminatory policies for the registration of Dot London names; fair and competitive pricing; protection of personal data and privacy; adherence by registrars and registrants to the AUP; protection of trademarks, the names of natural and juristic persons and other property rights; prevention of the registration of illegal terms; and the prevention violations of the law. Moreover, our policies promote competition among registrars, combat abuse of the DNS, address cybercrime, protect intellectual property rights, and align .LONDON with applicable regulatory and legislative environments and Internet registry best practices.

These policies will effectively support the key mission, purposes and goals of Dot London and allow registrants to associate themselves with London while at the same time protecting third-party rights and preventing abuse.

In regard to protecting registrant privacy and confidential information, we will comply with the applicable ICANN rules, including Whois policies, and all relevant laws, rules and regulations of appropriate jurisdictions. Registrant privacy and use of confidential information are set forth in our Privacy & Whois Policy. Information concerning updates and changes to the Privacy & Whois Policy will be promptly and prominently displayed on the Dot London website.

Dot Londonʹs back-end registry services provider Minds + Machines Ltd. will be required to employ industry standard procedures to prevent the unauthorised or illegal access of registrant privacy or confidential information.

With respect to users, Dot Londonʹs Registration Agreement will require that all registrants must comply with any and all applicable laws, rules or regulations concerning user privacy and confidential information for applicable jurisdictions and that failure to do so may result in suspension or loss of their Dot London domain name - and may in addition result in legal action by the appropriate authorities.

PROMOTION TO POTENTIAL REGISTRANTS
Promotional activity and outreach that communicates the potential benefits of .LONDON domains to registrants will be vital to Dot Londonʹs success and DLD will cost-effectively and quickly market to the target audiences most likely to engage. DLD intends to leverage existing relationships with groups that are associated with and interested London - as well as third party advertising, promotion, social media engagement and other communications methods.

DLD believes outreach to people and organisations that already identify with London will provide the best opportunity to launch the top-level domain, giving .LONDON long-term viability and the best opportunity to promote the benefits of a positive association with LONDON, while at the same time promoting Dot London.

Communications channels will enable Dot London keep in touch with its registrants, to understand how they would like Dot London to develop and to understand how we can improve our policies, registration rules and other aspects of our operations or administration.

We plan to minimise social costs primarily through clearly written, widely disseminated, and easy-to-understand policies. Our Acceptable Use Policy clearly delineates unacceptable behaviour and prohibited content by registrants using domain namesending in . LONDON.

Our rules concerning applications for the same domain name establish clearly delineated rules, and will be published well in advance. They provide adequate safeguards for the rights of all participants as well as expeditious and cost-effective challenge procedures in the event of disputes.

During the Sunrise and Landrush periods, multiple applications for the same name will be resolved by auction. UDRP or URS will be used if there are disputes as to rights to a name.

After Sunrise and Landrush, domain names will be allotted on a first-come, first-served basis. All domains are subject to UDRP and URS challenges.

At all times, Dot Londonʹs Complaint Resolution Service will be available to registrants as well as to the public in the case of alleged prohibited use or content.

Dot London does not envision special discounts for different classes of registrants, but may consider such offers in the future. We may offer introductory discounts for first-time registrants of .LONDON domains. Bulk registration discounts are not being considered at this time.

Dot London plans to make contractual commitments to registrants regarding the level of price increases. Dot London will contract with its registrars that any percentage increase in renewal and first registration fees will be applied uniformly across all registrations, and that notice of any price increases will be provided on the registrar's website and by the registrar to registrants via email at least six months in advance. The provisions of Clause 2.10 of the ICANN contract will be observed.

Question 22 Protection of Geographic Names
--PROPOSED MEASURES FOR PROTECTION OF GEOGRAPHIC NAMES AT THE SECOND AND OTHER LEVELS IN THE APPLIED-FOR GTLD--

We have accepted the advice of the Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) that we should adopt appropriate procedures to block names with national or geographic significance at the second and other levels, and will do so in the manner described below:

The country and territory names contained in the following internationally recognized lists will be initially reserved at the second level, as follows:

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; on 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 on the list of United Nations member states in the six official United Nations languages prepared by the Working Group on Country Names of the United Nations Conference on the Standardization of Geographical Names.

Procedurally, the geographical names contained in these lists, as described in Specification 5 of the New gTLD Agreement, will be added to the registry software system "prohibited word" function. This function, part of Espresso, our registry platform, allows strings to be blocked from registration. Upon an attempt via the EPP or web interface, the registration will not be allowed. Any attempt to register a domain containing those geographical names will be automatically denied, as they were similarly blocked in the .INFO TLD. If a Government or public authority decides to register a geographic name which has been blocked by the process describe above, the .INFO procedure for notice, authentication, and registration will be substantially adhered to, as follows:

1. The Government or public authority concerned informs the GAC Secretariat of their request to register the name, and the designated beneficiary.
2. The GAC Secretariat authenticates the request and transfers it to the ICANN staff and to the registry operator.
3. The registry operator verifies the availability of the name and issues an authorization number that is transmitted directly to the designated beneficiary in the country concerned.
4. The designated beneficiary (the Registrant) registers the name, paying the normal fee, with an ICANN-accredited registrar contracted with the registry operator using the authorization number as their authority.

The registry operator may at some point seek agreement with the applicable governments to release these reservations, subject to review by ICANN's Governmental Advisory Committee and approval by ICANN.

For protection of geographic names at other levels, we have a complaint mechanism in place and any geographic entity may register a complaint if they feel their national rights have been violated.

We believe that the measures outlined above incorporate GAC's advice and serve as a pledge to block, at no cost to governments, geographically significant names and allow a means of challenging any abuse of the use of a geographically significant name.