.movie Pre-Register Domain - .movie Domain Information

18.1 Mission/purpose of .MOVIE
The mission of .MOVIE is to provide constituents of the motion picture industry with a de facto "home domain" for their online presence. We envision that it will become the preferred online namespace for the advertisement, exhibition, sale, critique, and discussion of movies and films. Given the descriptive nature of .MOVIE combined with strategic marketing campaigns designed to brand the domain, it will soon become the default for released movie titles, producers and directors, critics and movie enthusiasts alike to engage and share their content. The addressable need is significant. While difficult to verify, estimates indicate that over 500,000 movies and films have been produced worldwide, with Hollywood releasing an additional 1,000 per year. Furthermore, given that "movie" can be associated beyond Hollywood's traditional blockbuster movies, we think that numerous other market segments, such as foreign films, made-for-TV movies, and celebrity news will also find .MOVIE to be an attractive domain name solution.

18.2 How will .MOVIE benefit registrants, Internet users, and others?
.MOVIE seeks to offer registrants and the broader internet community, with a reliable, trusted, and secure top level domain (TLD) affiliated with the motion picture industry. This more relevant TLD option helps identify, and categorize the content of a site, ultimately aiding registrants with their marketing efforts. The descriptive identifier also provides a meaningful opportunity to structure and distinguish film-related content from the proliferation of other internet sites. Congestion in the current availability of commercial TLD names fundamentally advantages older incumbent players. Providing access to additional high-value second level domain names (i.e. shorter and more memorable) will provide an opportunity for new entrants to compete effectively for internet users' finite attention. The domain's coherent and consistent branding will assist registrants in developing meaningful emotional connection with users, allowing them to further differentiate themselves as premium destinations. These marketing efforts along with the initial adoption of key industry players, should reinforce the implicit attribution of "cutting-edge" and "innovativeness" upon its registrants. Prospective users benefit from the long-term commitment of a proven executive team that has a track-record of building and successfully marketing affinity TLD's (e.g., .CO targeting innovative businesses and entrepreneurs).

The demand for having an online presence continues to grow worldwide, especially as more people and businesses become active internet users, enjoying the increases in productivity and promotional effectiveness that the internet offers. A clear example of this is the number of worldwide internet users, which has grown at an average18% annual rate over the past decade, and domain registrations which have experienced similar adoption rates having grown from approximately 25mm in 2000 to over 225mm today.

In particular for small businesses and entrepreneurs, the Internet offers an incredibly useful way to promote themselves to a wider audience, both locally and globally. Moreover, it allows them to cost-effective offer their products and services directly to consumers, leveling the playing field with larger and more established competitors. A number of new and innovative business models have been established that were not possible prior to the Internet, creating substantial value for society.

However, until a few years ago it was difficult and costly for individuals and small businesses to establish an internet presence. This has changed as prices decreased dramatically and offerings became more accessible and intuitive. This is the result of having many retailers (i.e. registrars or resellers) that compete amongst each other on price, along with product and service differentiation. Differentiation has mainly centered around higher value-add services ancillary to the domain registration itself, such as hosting, web-site builders, SSL, e-mail, etc. The basic product (a domain) has not changed much, and until now, there have been few feasible alternatives to the commercial TLDs. The proposed new TLDs will provide users with more relevant and customized options. Just as ICANN opened up the market for the distribution and registration of domains and created the Registrar industry, which ultimately benefitted hundreds of millions of people and businesses worldwide, we expect that the introduction of new TLDs will yield similar benefits.

The experienced team behind this application initially launched and currently operates the .CO ccTLD. The intention is for .MOVIE to be added to .CO's product portfolio, where it can benefit from economies of scale along with the firm's experience and expertise in marketing and branding TLD properties. Their successful track record proves that properly branded affinity domains can help sites form deeper emotional connections with their users, providing significant value-add. The .CO re-launch is a great illustration of how a new option in TLDs can address the unmet needs an affinity group (e.g., small businesses and start-ups), and we continue to firmly believe that the new .MOVIE domain will provide better, more relevant solutions for entities in the worldwide movie industry.

Since its launch, .CO's marketing has primarily focused on developing a worldwide ecosystem of innovative small businesses and entrepreneurs. To date, the .CO registry, .CO Internet S.A.S, has reached close to 1.3 million domains under management, with more than one million individual new Registrations in the first year alone and a renewal rate for domains purchased during launch of nearly 70% and a current average renewal rate of 65%. The renewal rate is one of the highest amongst the industry and especially high considering it has not yet reached the multiple year expiration dates, where it's expected to climb even higher. In addition, .CO has become the standard secondary option to .COM for the leading global registrars, having the most conversions when presented with a non-.COM option. Further, .CO has secured a strong position with the tech startup community by securing such high profile users as Twitter (t.co), Google (g.co), tech influencers like Angel list (angel.co) and 500 Startups (500.co), and entrepreneurship organizations like Startup America (s.co).

.CO has differentiated itself from other existing TLDs by combining innovative branding with the highest standards in trademark protection, unprecedented marketing campaigns, and pro-active security monitoring. We plan to implement a very similar strategy for .MOVIE in its launch, operation, promotion and growth.

We plan to target a similar community of entrepreneurs, startups, and progressive entities of the motion picture industry that are looking for an online presence with a suitable domain name. We anticipate the addressable community will continue to grow as traditional businesses choose to launch an online presence for their pre-existing operations and as entrepreneurs launch new start-ups. We intend to position the .MOVIE TLD as a premier domain for registering a business, service or product affiliated with the film industry. The domain's marketing strategy will utilize a 3 pillar framework, similar to that used with .CO:

- Awareness: We plan to launch marketing campaigns to both the small businesses and entrepreneurs promoting .MOVIE via a combination of:
o Media placements online and offline
o Social media campaigns
o Events
o Sponsorships
o Endorsements
o PR efforts
o Direct marketing
o Channel marketing

- Usage: We plan to foster the community of users of .MOVIE via a combination community engagement and outreach, use-case development and direct marketing to base.

- Distribution: The distribution will be done through the existing ICANN accredited registrar channel and will include marketing at the point of sale, packages and bundles, campaigns, etc.

The marketing plans will evolve depending on market conditions, but using .CO as an example, we implemented an awareness and branding strategy that included the creation of a brand identity and logo; mass media placements including 2 super-bowl commercials with one of our partners plus many TV placements; billboards and other outdoors campaigns; several online media campaigns including networks, re-targeting and videos; ongoing Twitter, Facebook engagements; sponsorship and presence in a variety of events for TMs (INTA), Tech startups (SxSW, Web 2.0, Internetweek, etc.), Startups (Task Rabbit TR.co), Community (ICANN, LACTLD, etc.), etc. We also implemented for .CO a strong usage promotion of the domain by creating and fostering a community of .CO users and case studies. We achieved this through a combination of events, sponsorships, and partnerships with different entities like Angel.co, 500.co, Startup America (s.co), founders institute (fi.co), etc. We also cultivated many case studies of successful .CO users, remaining in close contact with them. Finally, we implemented a rigorous channel marketing and sales plan that included marketing placements at the point of purchase plus co-marketing and community outreach.

While we do plan to follow a similar strategy to achieve widespread awareness, usage and distribution, the budget and actual placements for promoting .MOVIE will be scaled down accordingly, as neither its volume of registrations or revenues is expected to be in line with that of .CO.

By launching the .MOVIE domain we expect to provide more descriptive/ relevant options for end-users, including access to desirable second level domain names which are unavailable or occupied by current general TLD's. As illustrated with .CO, the rapid growth to 1.3 million domains is evidence of pent up demand in the marketplace for good, descriptive domain names. We expect that our marketing strategies will result in a new branded and available option that will emotionally connect with potential users and allow them to differentiate themselves through the use of a branded premium domain.

We will also follow the same ICANN rules and distribution methods of major gTLDs thereby ensuring Registrars and Resellers do not have to change their systems to distribute the .MOVIE domain. As our systems are already integrated with largest registrars in the world and we have implemented industry best practices, the transition to delegation and launch should be seamless to the registrar channel as well as consumers.

We will also implement a thick whois and adopt any ICANN recommendations or requirements in the future. In order to protect the privacy of our users, we will allow the use of Privacy or Proxy registrations by reputable registrars that comply with applicable policies specified by ICANN. We find this service is highly valuable for registrants that want to ensure their information is not available online and would like to maintain a higher level privacy.

18.3 .MOVIE operating rules to benefit consumers
We plan to follow all ICANN policies, including the best practices and recommendations for gTLDs. This will allow us to ensure end-users, have an easy way to register/purchase, administer, and use their domains. Adopting these policies will also prevent malicious behavior by third parties and ensure a smooth operation of the domain. The plans for the launch will be similar to the launch process used in .CO, which included:

- Gradual Offering Plan: The .CO launch included a very comprehensive gradual opening plan that both protected trademarks and provided transparency to end users. The launch was lauded by ICANN for its comprehensiveness and management. For the launch of .MOVIE we will follow ICANN's policies especially as it relates to the Trademark Clearinghouse which was similar to the process we used for .CO:
-
o Sunrise: Provide a period of a few weeks to allow the TM and IP community to register their .MOVIE domains prior to the opening to the public. Trademark validations will be done by the Trademark Clearinghouse or as specified by ICANN in their policies. If there are multiple validated applications, these would go to auction and allocated based on these results.
o Landrush: Provide a period of a few weeks to allow domain investors and others that are interested in premium domains to apply for these domains. Once the period of the Landrush phase is over, a process to check the applications will determine if these were unique or if there were multiple applicants. If single applicants, then the domain is awarded at that time. If multiple applicants then the domain would go to an auction in which all applicants would be able to participate. For .CO this process included close to 30,000 applications and the resulting auctions were managed by Pool.com. The process was very successful managing to allocate very efficiently domains according to their perceived value by applicants and bidders at the resulting auctions.

- General Availability: For .CO we had 100k registrations in the first 10 minutes and we didn't have a single issue nor service degradation through the launch or afterwards. We achieved this through a combination of strong planning between our partners, especially Neustar our back-end provider; communication with our Registrars prior and during the launch in a very structured way; strong infrastructure planning and provisioning; and effective load, contingency, and disaster recovery planning. We plan to use similar methods for the launch of .MOVIE.
o First come first serve during GA and afterwards, which we believe is the best mechanism to ensure a fair allocation of domains once the domain has been launched.
o Use of UDRP and any other best-practices in rights protection mechanisms
o Highly managed General Availability launch
- Premium Domains: We will keep some domains for premium sales and these will be restricted prior to the Gradual Offering Plan begins, but can be applied for during the Sunrise phase. These premium domains will be brokered or sold via auction directly or through an accredited 3rd party. With .CO we used this mechanism as a way to allocate high value domains and also to promote the usage of the domain by high profile companies including Twitter with t.co, Google with g.co, Startup America with s.co, as well as a myriad of smaller startups and other endorsements.

In preparation for answering this question, NU DOTCO, LLC (NU.CO) 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.pdf?version=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

NU.CO 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 .MOVIE gTLD at which domain name registrations will be provided. Specifically, NU.CO 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 Future Release of Two Character Names

While NU.CO foresees no immediate need for plans to make use of these initially reserved country names at the second level within the .MOVIE namespace, NU.CO 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 NU.CO will come in connection with the un-reservation and allocation of two-letter .MOVIE domain names, e.g. US.MOVIE, UK.MOVIE, etc. If NU.CO 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, NU.CO believes that its request would be favorably granted.

Creation and Updating the Policies

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