.social Pre-Register Domain - .social Domain Information

Q18a, Char 3380

The term "social" is a generic and broadly used word that holds particular affinity for people and organizations with interests ranging from social media to social issues and political ideals. Global in scope, today a passionate group of millions of individuals and organizations identify with this word. The mission and purpose of the .social TLD is to establish an easily recognized and accessible namespace for this large and dynamic group.

The .social TLD is proposed by United TLD Holdco Ltd. ("United TLD"), a well-funded company established by highly experienced domain industry executives for the express purpose of securing the rights to operate a portfolio of TLDs that increase choice, expression, affinity and relevance for millions of consumers, businesses and other organizations on the web.

As outlined in our response to Qs. 46, 47 and 48, United TLD has a large capital base available to fund start-up costs, acquire the rights to operate multiple TLDs and operate the registries in a world-class manner. Additionally, United TLD has prefunded a Continued Operations Instrument (COI) to protect future registrants.

PROTECTING CONSUMERS AND RIGHTS HOLDERS

United TLD team has a wealth of experience in the domain industry and has been a dedicated contributor to ICANN's new TLD program for many years as an active participant to internet policy development and implementation, working on topics like rights protection mechanisms and trademark clearing house. United TLD is committed to operating .social in a manner that promotes inclusiveness, while creating a safe environment for consumers and rights holders.

United TLD is implementing a broad array of protection mechanisms that we believe will make this TLD a safer place than existing TLDs, with fewer instances of abuse. These protections include eight innovative mechanisms that substantially exceed the protections specified in the TLD applicant guidebook. These mechanisms are:

1. Periodic audit of Whois data for accuracy;
2. Remediation of inaccurate Whois data, including takedown, if warranted;
3. A new Domain Protected Marks List (DPML) product for trademark protection;
4. A new Claims Plus product for trademark protection;
5. Terms of use that prohibit illegal or abusive activity;
6. Limitations on domain proxy and privacy service;
7. Published policies and procedures that define abusive activity; and
8. Proper resourcing for all of the functions above.

Our protection mechanisms also include fourteen new measures that were developed specifically by ICANN for the new TLD process. These are:

1. Controls to ensure proper access to domain management functions;
2. 24/7/365 abuse point of contact at registry;
3. Procedures for handling complaints of illegal or abusive activity, including remediation and takedown processes;
4. Thick Whois;
5. Use of the Trademark Clearinghouse;
6. A Sunrise process;
7. A Trademark Claims process;
8. Adherence to the Uniform Rapid Suspension system;
9. Adherence to the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy;
10. Adherence to the Post Delegation Dispute Resolution Policy;
11. Detailed security policies and procedures;
12. Strong security controls for access, threat analysis and audit;
13. Implementation DNSSEC;
14. Measures for the prevention of orphan glue records.

Q18b, Char 5643

i. what is the goal of proposed TLD in terms of specialty, service levels or reputation.

The .social TLD seeks to establish a widely recognized and desirable address. Creating a distinct sense of identity and belonging not achievable with existing TLDs, .social will provide a well-regarded address for the sharing of information, ideas, experiences, entertainment and the sale of relevant goods and services.

The desired reputation of .social is that of an open namespace where everyone is welcomed as engaged participants. As such, we expect that participants will create innovative and specialized products and services that connect with their audience. For example, organizations may promote their social media interactions to prospects, customers and press. Social media tools and service providers might market their offerings. Organizations and individuals may share information and experiences about specific social justice causes.

As the registry of an open namespace like .social, United TLD believes that the role of the registry is to educate the marketplace about the benefits of the namespace, facilitate the broadest levels of participation, expeditiously operate within the ICANN framework for managing all manners of dispute and provide the highest levels of responsiveness to registrants and registrars. When the registry does these things well, the namespace thrives and consumers benefit from the innovation and trust that follows.

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

This new TLD is highly differentiated from existing generic and community-sponsored TLDs in terms of the affinity, context and accessibility that it affords to registrants. As such, it presents a credible and desirable competitor to existing TLDs and ultimately benefits registrants, their audience, and the supporting ecosystem of registrars and value-added service providers that engage this group with new products and services.

The .social TLD will also incorporate the innovative consumer and rights protections measures outlined earlier in this question, further adding value above and beyond the current namespace.

iii. What goal does your proposed TLD have in terms of user experience?

Prospective registrants will encounter an easily understood and openly accessible registration process. Whether they are rights holders protecting their trademarks in the sunrise period or acquirers of domains during the period of general availability, each registrant will encounter a clear, responsive, dependable and consistent approach to the provision of registry services through United TLD's network of domain name registrars.

Consumers, registrants and rights holders will also experience a safer namespace due to the implementation and enforcement of numerous innovative protection mechanisms.

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

United TLD will be inclusive in its registration policies for this broad and generic TLD. We will not limit registrant eligibility for second-level registrations and will provide registration services to all legitimate registrants. However, we may elect to reserve and hold back certain strings from second-level registration at the time we launch the TLD.

We will not tolerate illegal activity in this TLD and will have strict policies and enforcement that provide for takedown or other appropriate forms of remedy. United TLD will adhere to and uphold all ICANN-required registration policies and comply with the requirements of the registration policy portion of the Registry Agreement.

v. Will the TLD impose measures for protecting privacy of confidential information of registrants or users? If so, describe.

As described in our response to Q. 30, United TLD will provide a safe and secure environment for protecting confidential registration and user data.

United TLD will cooperate with government authorities to the extent required to comply with all applicable laws regarding privacy and data protection.

We anticipate permitting the use of proxy and privacy services for registrations in this TLD in a manner consistent with the limitations provided in our response to Qs. 28 and 29 in the technical portion of the application. We believe these proxy and privacy services provide a valuable option to potentially protect registrants from identity theft, spam and other online perils.

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

United TLD intends to publicly promote .social in order to educate prospective registrants and registrars about the existence, marketplace value and availability of the TLD.

Awareness will be created through the appropriate mix of media relations, social media outreach, advertising, educational tools and the amplification of key messages by key influencers and distribution partners.

Innovation will be fostered by actively participating in industry level conversations and encouraging ecosystem participants to pursue the development of uniquely valuable goods and services.

Expanded choice will be achieved as the TLD is made available through an active network of registrars and resellers of registrars that are engaged to distribute second-level domains to a broad audience.

Value and trust will be reinforced by the frequent and visible promotion of positive and noteworthy examples of the .social TLD being used in practice by registrants.

Q18c, Char 1372

What operating rules will you adopt to eliminate or minimize social costs. (eg time or financial resource costs, as well as various types of consumer vulnerabilities)

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

In the Sunrise phase of the launch of .social, we will offer the ability for validated rights holders to reserve the corresponding second-level names. If there are competing applications from multiple validated rights holders, we will conduct an electronic auction.

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

The .social TLD may be offered with discounted pricing for multi-year registrations. In some instances, bulk purchasing pricing may be offered as well.

iii. Do you intend to make contractual commitments to registrants regarding price escalations? If so, describe.

United TLD will comply with ICANN-specified requirements for advance notice of renewal price increases, advance notice of price increases for initial registration pricing and the allowance of registrants to renew for up to ten years at the current price.

We do not intend to make contractual commitments to registrants regarding pricing.

Q22, Char:3266

United TLD Holdco Ltd. has been following the advice given by the Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) in accordance with new TLDs and proposes the following measures for protection of geographic names at the second and other levels in this TLD. Our proposed measures are in accordance with Specification 5 of the new gTLD Registry Agreement which states that the Registry Operator shall initially reserve country and territory names at the second level and at all other levels within the TLD at which the Registry Operator provides registrations.

United TLD supports this requirement by using the following internationally recognized lists to develop a comprehensive master list of all geographic names that are initially reserved:


- The short form (in English) of all country and territory names contained on the ISO 3166-1 list, 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.

- The list of UN member states in six official UN languages prepared by the Working Group on Country Names of the United Nations Conference on the standardization of Geographical Names

- The 2-letter alpha-2 code of all country and territory names contained on the ISO 3166-1 list, including all reserved and unassigned codes


Names on our comprehensive lists will be reserved and prevented from registration from the beginning. With the understanding that the reservation of specific country and territory names may be released to the extent that Applicant reaches agreement with the applicable government(s), provided that Applicant may also propose release of these reservations, subject to review by ICANN's GAC and approval by ICANN.

Applicant's list of geographic names will be transmitted to Registrars as part of the onboarding process and will also be made available to the public via the TLD website to inform Registrars and Registrants of geographic reserved names. We expect the comprehensive list to have minimal changes but will revise the list as changes are made to the above lists, which will be reviewed on a regular basis.

For purposes of clarity the following will occur for a domain name that is reserved by the registry:
- An availability check for a domain in the reserved list will result in a "not available" status. The reason given will indicate that the domain name is reserved.
- An attempt to register a domain name in the reserved list will result in an error.
- An EPP info request will result in an error indicating the domain name was not found.
- Queries for a reserved name in the WHOIS system will display information indicating the reserved status and indicate it is not registered nor is it available for registration.
- Reserved names will not be published or used in the zone in any way.
- Queries for a reserved name in the DNS will result in an NXDOMAIN response.