.mail Pre-Register Domain - .mail Domain Information

The purpose of .MAIL is to establish a dedicated online identity for email, online communication, and related products and services. The primary target audience of .MAIL includes Internet and email service providers or email distribution services seeking to differentiate their service through the provision of memorable and intuitive email addresses, vendors of communication technologies who understand the brand power of a TLD with relevance, as well as individuals who wish to take control of their own email identity.

According to the ʺEmail Statistics Report, 2011-2015ʺ published by Radicati Group, Inc., the number of worldwide email accounts is expected to increase from 3.1 billion accounts in 2011 to nearly 4.1 billion by year-end 2015. The rapidly expanding mobile and social sectors in particular are expected to spur growth in new email accounts. It is anticipated that wireless email usage alone will double by 2015 to 1.2 billion, up from 531 million in 2011.
The Applicant believes that as the de facto communication channel on which millions of businesses and individuals rely, email deserves its own top level domain.

(Source: http://www.radicati.com/?p=7269)

As a neutral namespace, .MAIL is open to any entity or individual. The Applicant anticipates the following use cases for domain registrations under .MAIL:
• ISP, web mail, and other service providers using the extension to ensure corporate and customer email accounts are easily identifiable and distinguishable. (eg Yahoo could assign .MAIL addresses to customers while reserving its primary domain name or extension for employees.) .MAIL would also enable service providers to offer customers simpler, more memorable and intuitive email addresses.
• As online communication increasingly shifts to mobile and social networks, we expect to see related services allocating email addresses to users. We believe that .MAIL would be an ideal fit for this purpose.
• Innovative email related solution providers (email, marketing services, spam filters, hosting services etc.) may adopt .MAIL as their online identity.
• .MAIL domains may be used as personal or family email domains (e.g. john@smith-family.mail)

i. What is the goal of your proposed gTLD in terms of areas of specialty, service levels, or reputation?

Specialty
.MAIL provides a unique TLD choice that is unavailable in the current spread of gTLDs. The term "mail" is immediately recognizable, universal and memorable, and is commonly associated with email when applied to an online context.

The current new gTLD program offers unprecedented levels of protection to rights owners. Rights protection mechanisms embedded within the program rules are a culmination of years of community efforts and bottom-up consensus processes developed at ICANN. This alone means .MAIL, as a gTLD that is compliant with the current new gTLD requirements, offers significant advantages compared to legacy gTLDs.

Service Levels
Recognizing that email is a critical service that is expected to be highly available and reliable, the Applicant is committed to providing industry leading service levels in order to maintain an impeccable reputation for security, reliability and availability.

The Applicant aims to operate the .MAIL TLD in a secure and stable manner, adopting industry best practices where applicable. The Applicant's operational goals are to have DNS load dispersion that is resilient to DDoS attacks, industry-leading level of Whois information change and DNS record change reflection time, substantial registrar support, and abuse window operation 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The Applicant will also implement proven security measures at every level of business and technical operation in order to provide maximum protection for its stakeholders. This includes stringent security policies and procedures, as well as comprehensive abuse handling mechanisms to mitigate security threats to the TLD. In addition, the Applicant will strive to provide an outstanding level of technical and operational support to registrars.

Reputation
The Applicant aims to achieve a reputation for .mail as a secure and reliable namespace. Its unique concept is coupled with industry leading service levels, proven track record by GMO Registry, its parent organization GMO Internet, and the GMO Internet Group. The Group also comprises globally trusted online security brand, GlobalSign, and some of the longest established ISP service brands in Japan meaning the Applicant is uniquely positioned to understand the needs of ISPs, one of the intended markets. The Applicant believes that it will earn the trust of registrants and users, amass a strong database of domain names with quality and relevant contents and services, and establish a highly trusted namespace.


ii. What do you anticipate your proposed gTLD will add to the current space, in terms of competition, differentiation, or innovation?

.MAIL will expand choice in the current gTLD space by offering a unique TLD with high quality, relevant content. Because email and related online communications tools are used by most Internet users regardless of gender, nationality, or age, the target audience of .MAIL will have significant overlap with registrants of other TLDs. As such, the Applicant anticipates being in direct competition with current and new TLDs.

.MAIL is unique because it provides a clearly defined context for registered domain names. This affords registrants a more powerful and expressive online brand and identity when compared to existing, broadly defined gTLDs. Being a new gTLD with a specific meaning and purpose, the .MAIL namespace will likely be less cluttered than current TLDs, and therefore provide more opportunities for registrants to adopt a direct and meaningful online identity.

.MAIL aims to be a pervasive name space for innovative online communication products and services. For example, introduction of smartphones helped create a ubiquitous network society that spurred innovations in messaging; by using certain applications, smartphone users can text and call one another for free. Although the importance of phone numbers has diminished, that of email accounts has only increased; Android, the most widely used smartphone operating system, requires users to register an email account during initial setup. According to comScore Reports, "82.2 million people in the U.S. owned smartphones during the three months ending in July 2011, up 10 percent from the preceding three month period." (comScore Reports July 2011 U.S. Mobile Subscriber Market Share) Usage of devices that require email accounts is growing rapidly, and the Applicant believes that .MAIL will contribute value to the Internet namespace as email platforms and methods of online communication continue to evolve.


iii. What goals does your proposed gTLD have in terms of user experience?

The Applicant will endeavor to achieve the following goals relating to user experience;
• Users find that the services and contents associated with .MAIL are relevant, and of high quality;
• Users do not experience performance or reliability issues with regards to the registry services that .MAIL provides;
• Users are not exposed to abusive or malicious content.

iv. Provide a complete description of the applicant's intended registration policies in support of the goals listed above.

In order to achieve the goals stated above, the plans for .MAIL domain name registration policies are as follows. All .MAIL TLD registrars are required to include policies and restrictions in the registration agreements with their customers, including but not limited to, the following, and registrants must agree to comply.

Draft Abusive Use Policy
The Applicant defines abuse as any activity that may harm the stability and security of the DNS and Internet, including, but not limited to:

- Illegal or fraudulent activities;
- Phishing;
- Pharming;
- Using or distributing malicious software (malware);
- Sending unsolicited bulk messages (spam);
- Posting, trading, or exchanging information that harms minors;
- Posting, trading, or exchanging child pornography;
- Posting information that encourages illegal acts, crimes, murders, or suicides; and
- Posting information that is offensive to public order or morals.

The Applicant reserves the right to deny, cancel or transfer any registration or transaction, or place any domain name on lock, hold or similar status, at its sole discretion, to enforce the policy.

In addition, the Applicant intends to set up an abuse support service (abuse report form and abuse support window) that will be operated 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

In case an abuse use is reported, the Applicant will take appropriate measures in accordance with the suspension flow provided separately (Please refer to Question 28).

2. Accuracy of Registration Information
In order to ensure that Internet users can interact with the .MAIL namespace with confidence, registration data associated with domain names must be appropriate and accurate, and there should be no fraudulent registration or usage. For this reason .MAIL registrants are obligated to provide and maintain correct, complete, and current registration information (Whois information).

Failure to comply with this policy may result in the domain name registration being denied, cancelled, or transferred; the Registry Operator shall also be entitled, in such cases, to delete any such domain names, or place them on lock, hold, or similar status.

3. ICANN Policies
The Applicant will adopt and comply with the Uniform Rapid Suspension System, Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy, and all other mandatory ICANN consensus policies, regulations and rules (collectively the "ICANN policies"). All .MAIL domain name registration will be subject to the ICANN policies.

v. Will your proposed gTLD impose any measures for protecting the privacy or confidential information of registrants or users? If so, please describe any such measures.

.MAIL will comply with the applicable laws of Japan, as well as applicable ICANN consensus policies. As part of its responsibility as the registry operator of the .MAIL TLD, the Applicant will exercise due care to protect all information it receives from registrants or users through registrars, and will not disclose such information to any third party, with the exception of public Whois data.

The Applicant does not provide any additional measures beyond its obligation as a registry operator. The Applicant places no restrictions on the use of Whois proxy services, to the extent permissible by law.

Describe whether and in what ways outreach and communications will help to achieve your projected benefits.

In order to achieve the projected benefits, .MAIL must gain substantial mindshare among Internet users. The Applicant believes that the primary method of increasing recognition and registration numbers in the TLD is to gain strong support from .mail registrars. For that reason, the Applicant intends to:
- Maintain regular communication with registrars;
- Attend ICANN meetings and domain name/Internet related events and have face to face meetings with registrars; and
- Organize events for registrars
Feedback from registrars will be then taken into account, and integrated into public relations and marketing activities that the Applicant organizes where appropriate.

i. How will multiple applications for a particular domain name be resolved, for example, by auction or on a first-come/first-serve basis?

Multiple applications for a particular domain name for general registration will be resolved on a first-come-first-served basis as are other gTLDs. However, multiple applications for a particular domain name during the .MAIL initial launch phase will be resolved as follows:

- Sunrise Registration Process: Auction
- Landrush Process: Auction


ii. Explain any cost benefits for registrants you intend to implement (e.g., advantageous pricing, introductory discounts, bulk registration discounts).

The Applicant intends to price .MAIL in a range reasonable enough to ensure it is universally accessible but not so low that it risks damaging the value of the TLD. The planned registration fee is around USD10.00 per year.

In order to encourage new registrations and renewals of .MAIL domain names, the Applicant will run campaigns or rebate programs from time to time. The Applicant believes it is important to run campaigns that meet the needs of registrars; therefore, it will exchange opinions with registrars and make an effort to run campaigns that reflect registrars' needs. The Applicant promises equal treatment for all .MAIL registrars.

The planned campaigns/rebate programs are as follows:

New Registration Promotion
This is a promotion that provides discounts on first year registration fees of new domain names registered during a predetermined period. The discount will be provided in the form of a rebate credit to the registrar's account at the end of the campaign period. Registrars interested in the promotion will need to sign up and may be required to deliver the benefit to registrants in some way (i.e. provide registrants with discounts on new registrations).

Bulk Registration Rebate Program
This is a promotion that provides a volume discount on the first year registration fee of new domain names registered during a predetermined period. The amount of rebate will depend on the volume of the new registrations made during the campaign. The discount will be provided in the form of a rebate credit to the registrar's account, at the end of the campaign period. Registrars interested in the promotion will need to sign up.

Co-Marketing Program
This program is aimed at expanding recognition of the TLD whereby the Applicant will bear part of the marketing cost of promotions relating to the TLD, conducted by registrars. All registrars interested in the program will be required to sign up and discuss details of the marketing plan in advance with the Applicant.

iii. Note that the Registry Agreement requires that registrars be offered the option to obtain initial domain name registrations for periods of one to ten years at the discretion of the registrar, but no greater than ten years. Additionally, the Registry Agreement requires advance written notice of price increases. Do you intend to make contractual commitments to registrants regarding the magnitude of price escalation? If so, please describe your plans.

The registration period for .MAIL domain names is as follows:
General Registration:
- Minimum of 1 year and maximum of 10 years (but no greater than 10 years)

All Phases other than General Registration Phase
- Minimum of 2 years and maximum of 10 years (but no greater than 10 years)

The Applicant will provide an advance written notice of price increases as required by the Registry Agreement. The Applicant does not intend to make contractual commitments to registrants regarding price escalation.

GMO Registry, Inc. (the Applicant) will comply with Specification 5 "Schedule of Reserved Names at the Second Level in gTLD Registries" of the ICANN New gTLD Agreement. In particular, names covered under the Country and Territory Names section of the said schedule shall be initially reserved on the second level. The names are:

- 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 〈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 6 official United Nations languages prepared by the Working Group on Country Names of the United Nations Conference on the Standardization of Geographical Names;

At a later time, the registry may propose that ICANN release specific country and territory names, subject to the registry reaching agreement with the applicable government(s), the Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) review and approval by ICANN. Rules and procedures for the release of such names will be agreed upon between ICANN and the Applicant.

The Applicant is considering the following procedures for releasing specific country and territory names, subject to ICANN approval:

1. In order for specific country and territory names to be released and become available for .MAIL stakeholders to register, the Applicant shall submit a proposal letter to ICANN and the GAC including, at minimum, the following:
A. The list of country and territory names which the registry requests for release; and
B. Purpose of releasing the names listed above;
2. ICANN and the GAC review the proposal letter and inform of the proposal to the relevant government(s);
3. Each of the relevant governments takes the following action:
A. If the government approves or does not object to the proposal, it replies with its decision of "approval" or "non-objection" by a due date set and agreed upon by ICANN, the GAC, and the Applicant; or
B. If the government does not approve the proposal, it replies with a "non-approval" decision by a due date set and agreed upon by ICANN, the GAC, and the Applicant.
4. If a reply is not received by the due date agreed upon by ICANN, the GAC and the Applicant, or the government replied with an "approval" or "non-objection" decision, the names may be released for registration.
5. In case the government replied with a "non-approval" decision, the government and the Applicant may enter negotiation to attempt to reach agreement, and only upon reaching agreement shall the name(s) be released.
6. Potential applicants of the names shall send registration requests to the Applicant. The request must include the following information:
A. Domain name(s) the applicant wishes to register;
B. A pledge the registrant understands the purpose and rules of the domain name registration and use included in the proposal letter described 1.A. above; and
C. A pledge the registrant abides by the purpose and rules of the domain name registration and use included in the proposal letter described 1.A. above;
7. The Applicant reviews the request and checks availability of the requested name. In case the Applicant approves the request, it issues a "code."
Note: The availability check is conducted to see whether the requested domain name has been already requested and registered by another registrant.
8. Using the "code," the registrant requests the domain name registration through a .MAIL accredited registrar.