.theater Pre-Register Domain - .theater Domain Information

The mission of .theater is to provide diverse internet users an enhanced online experience while enriching society with artistic and cultural diversity through high quality content, information and authentic connected experiences centered on live theater, musicals, opera, ballet and other performing arts, Broadway, and other related concepts, topics and activities. .theater will be a branded top level domain operated by KBE GTLD Holding Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Key Brand Entertainment (KBE), and intends to function, per the ICANN-Registry Operator Registry Agreement, as a Specification 9 exempt system that will seek to provide internet users with the confidence that all of the programming, information, social media, shopping and lifestyle opportunities found on the .theater branded top level domain is authentic, genuine, safe, trusted, and secure and affiliated with the KBE's broadway.com brand.

The goal of .theater is to provide high quality, authentic information and online experiences for individuals interested in live theater, musicals, opera, ballet and other performing arts, Broadway, and other related concepts, topics and activities. The reputation of KBE, through its operation of broadway.com, is well recognized as a single source for high quality access to tickets, content, information and programming related to live theater. The level of service to its customers is highly regarded as the single most trusted source for Broadway and live theater entertainment.

Internet users will benefit because .theater will provide an enhanced online experience from the existing broadway.com through its ability to build more personalized experiences for internet users seeking artistic and cultural diversity. .theater will provide Applicant greater control over the domain as a registry operator, enabling the domain to be operated with the same exceptional values KBE has shown to users through the operation of broadway.com. Additionally, new communities can be identified and formed to connect internet users with others interested in theater and other performing arts and entertainment.

.theater intends to function, per the ICANN-Registry Operator Registry Agreement, as a Specification 9 exempt system and will carefully monitor and safeguard the user experience to provide users confidence that they will experience the same high quality content, information, experiences and security that they would with the well-known, famous brand broadway.com that they know and trust. New users will quickly come to recognize that .theater stands for authentic, high quality, trusted sources for information about live theater and other performing arts, entertainment, experiences, products and services.

.theater will provide users who navigate within .theater privacy protection similar to what is currently provided on broadway.com. Applicant will annually review and audit these policies to ensure that best practices are being utilized to protect the safety, security and confidentiality of its users.

.theater will further enhance brand consistency by creating numerous subdomains under the .theater TLD that have not been available under the existing top level domain namespace. Further, the .theater TLD creates the possibility that these to-be-created subdomains will be more precisely targeted to internet users that will use them, more focused on content associated with the TLD under which they will reside, and more relevant to the TLD.

.theater intends to function, per the ICANN-Registry Operator Registry Agreement, as a Specification 9 exempt system. All second level domains will be for the benefit of .theater users and its affiliates. All other subdomain names intended to be used within .theater registry will be controlled and managed by KBE GTLD Holding Inc., for the benefit of itself or affiliates.

It is the intent of the Applicant to request an exemption from the new gTLD Code of Conduct per Section 6 of Specification 9 of the Registry Operator Code of Conduct. As such, Applicant intends to function in such a way that all domain name registrations in the TLD shall be registered to and maintained by Applicant and Applicant will not sell, distribute or transfer control of domain name registrations to any party that is not an Affiliate of Applicant as defined in the ICANN-Registry Operator Registry Agreement. All domain name registrations intended to be used within Applicant's registry will be registered to and controlled and maintained by Applicant and for the benefit of Applicant and its users, parents, sisters and Affiliates.

In the event that Applicant is not granted an exemption from Specification 9, Applicant will partner with a corporate registrar with expertise in running a registry to support such efforts. Applicant intends to partner with its current corporate registrar or one of similar technical capability and expertise and allocate the appropriate funds and human resources to ensure that both itself, as the registry operator, and its selected registrar are at all times in compliance with ICANN guidelines.

The Applicant will initially reserve country names from use in the second and other levels of the TLD, and other such names designated by ICANN and pursuant to Specification 5 and ICANN's ongoing policies and regulations. In this regard, Applicant will at all times comply with ICANN's geographic and all other reservation requirements as outlined in the Registry Agreement and Applicant's reserved name list mentioned below. Applicant's TLD will be operated as a Specification 9 exempt system, and the Applicant may, over time, utilize the reserved country names in the second and other country levels in order to organize content within the domain in a meaningful way. However, in such event, before the Applicant begins using such initially reserved country names, Applicant will provide a window during which governments, ICANN, public authorities or IGOs may submit a demand to block names with national or geographic significance at the second level of the TLD at no cost to the blocking authority. In the event of such occurrence, Applicant will at all times comply with all ICANN mandates and shall establish a notice mechanism and blocking procedure to effectuate such action.

All geographic and geopolitical names contained in the ISO 3166-1 list from time to time shall initially be reserved at both the second level and at all other levels within the TLD at which the Applicant provides for registrations. All names shall be reserved both in English and in all related official languages as may be directed by ICANN or the GAC. In addition, Applicant shall reserve names of territories, distinct geographic locations, and other geographic and geopolitical names as ICANN may direct from time to time. Such names shall be reserved from registration during any sunrise period, and shall be registered in ICANNʹs name prior to start-up and open registration in the TLD. Applicant shall post and maintain an updated listing of all such names on its website, which list shall be subject to change at ICANNʹs direction. Upon determination by ICANN of appropriate standards and qualifications for registration following input from interested parties in the Internet community, such names may be approved for registration to the appropriate authoritative body.

Pursuant to any ICANN directive allowing release after the blocking period has concluded, a contact will be delegated and information posted to enable governments, public authorities, or IGOs to challenge abuses of names with national or geographic significance at the second level of the TLD during the operation of the TLD. Challenges will be reviewed on their merits and resolved in a way that demonstrates that the Applicant respects sensitivities regarding terms with national, cultural, geographic and religious significance while enabling Applicant to provide content to users in a logical and organized fashion.

Additionally, Verisign, as Applicant's back-end registry provider, provides a mechanism through their registry solution for reserving second-level domain names that prevents them from being registered. This functionality includes a list of strings that the system will not allow to be registered. Strings can be added and removed from this list as needed.

For the protection of geographic names for the Applicant's TLD, the country and territory names contained in the following internationally recognized lists shall be blocked initially:

* The short form (in English) of all country and territory names, including the European Union, contained on the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 3166-1 list located at: 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 (UNGEGN), Technical Reference Manual for the Standardization of Geographical Names, Part III Names of Countries of the World: http://unstats.un.org/unsd/geoinfo/UNGEGN/publications.html

* 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. The most recent list of country names approved by the Working Group was submitted on behalf of UNGEGN for the Ninth UN Conference on the Standardization of Geographical Names in August 2007: E/CONF.98/89 Add.1 http://unstats.un.org/unsd/geoinfo/ungegn/docs/9th-uncsgn-docs/econf/9th_UNCSGN_e-conf-98-89-add1.pdf

As new versions of these three internationally recognized lists are published, Verisign will update the list of names reserved by the Verisign registry system to reflect any changes.

In addition to providing protection for geographic names, this reserved name functionality will be used to reserve other names specifically ineligible for delegation.

For example, Section 2.2.1.2.3 of the Applicant Guidebook lists strings associated with the International Olympic Committee and the International Red Cross and Red Crescent organizations to be prohibited from delegation per the Government Advisory Committee (GAC) request.

All the strings on these lists as well as any others put forth by the GAC and approved by ICANN will be included in the list of reserved names.

There are no plans at this time to release any of the reserved names. If, however, Applicant intends to release any of the names at a future date, we will follow the appropriate procedures, outlined in Section 5 of Specification 5, on the release of reserved names.