.vip Pre-Register Domain - .vip Domain Information

The registered, independent subsidiary of a british Ltd is defined in §13 e, Para 2 Sentence 1 HGB (http://dejure.org/gesetze/HGB/13e.html). The jurisdiction for a british Ltd. is defined in the British company law in the "Companies Act 2006" (http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2006/46/pdfs/ukpga_20060046_en.pdf).

The .VIP TLD has the mission to serve the needs of very important people (abbreviated: VIP) worldwide, their representatives and service providers for the VIP in terms of privacy, communication, publicity, promotion and exceptional services. VIP people are defined as people of great influence or prestige, like politicians, artists, actors, musicians, athletes, aristocrats and wealthy people. As of today VIPs do not have an own namespace on the internet, although according to statistics more than 11 Mio Individuals belong to the defined group according to the criteria mentioned above. Like other linguistic (.CAT), language (.ASIA), communications-related (.TEL, .MOBI) or industry-related (.MUSEUM, .JOBS) communities they deserve an own namespace on the internet.

The PURPOSE of the .VIP space is to cater to the unique needs and interests of important people and public figures worldwide, such as politicians, artists, actors, musicians, athletes, aristocrats and wealthy individuals, as well as their representatives and service providers.

With each domain registration the registrant supports the concept of I-REGISTRY, the Registry operator of .VIP, to donate parts of the proceeds to charitable causes. Donating to the needy is integral part among the VIPs in many cultures around the world. The purpose of .VIP is to incorporate this spirit and extend it to the Internet. Registrants of .VIP have the opportunity and are expected to participate in the allocation of donations. In doing so, .VIP will support bringing more attention to the needy and activating further donations.

The .VIP TLD and its domains names shall provide a unique digital identity, facilitate the exchange among the VIPs on the one side and on the other side facilitate communication between the VIPs, their representatives, service providers to VIPs, fans and Internet users in general more intuitively. .VIP shall contribute to more quality and reliability in communication among very important people, their representatives, relevant service providers, their fans and Internet users in general.

i.

SPECIALITY

The .VIP TLD and its domain names are dedicated and thereby specialized to create identity and content, facilitate communication and foster business in connection with the VIPs. Until today there are no specialized domain names available to this target group. The string is dedicated and thereby specialized for the comparably small group of people and entities which are very important.

SERVICE LEVEL

Service levels include privacy and confidentiality, Registrants will have the choice to use privacy / proxy services. As another service level of the .VIP top-level domain Internet users will have the certainty that all domain names cater to VIPs. They will understand that particularly VIPs may register a domain name and domain names which end on .VIP aim to represent VIPs and not someone who pretends to be very important. As another service level, exceptional services not tied to the domain name registration will be offered by third parties such as website builders, service offerings and many more.

REPUTATION

The SRS of Afilias, the registry service-provider for .VIP, is already connected to many hundreds of registrars worldwide. Adding further TLDs and implementing them on the registrars' systems is therefore simple and proven and eases the provision of the .VIP TLD worldwide. Beyond the easy provision of .VIP the Registry Operator will offer equal access to all registrars worldwide and does not plan to impose unnecessary processes during registration of a domain name to registrars.

It is our aim that such a secure namespace will gain quickly a substantial reputation among VIPs and their service providers, becoming a symbol of quality for Internet users worldwide. That way the reputation of VIPs worldwide will be strengthened.


ii.

COMPETITION

Due to its high price the domain names will not be in direct price competition to other existing gTLDs. However we expect that other existing or new gTLDs might also have a certain attractiveness for registrants who are VIPs and therefore .VIP will be in competition to certain other new or existing gTLDs which address dedicated interests or of VIPs, e.g. like .club, .luxe, .music or .art.

DIFFERENTIATION

The string will clearly differentiate the registrants (VIPs) from all other registrants. The TLD has a clear meaning to the targeted registrants, their service providers, and Internet users worldwide. Furthermore the string has a clear value to the targeted registrants and their service providers because the top-level domain caters to VIPs and their service providers. Until today there is no other TLD which is purely dedicated to this target group. Special services like customizable websites will be offered to easily create a presence on the internet.

INNOVATION


The innovation will be that .VIP will be the first string which offers privacy for every registrant as a default feature, however registrants can decide not to use privacy services. As a novelty .VIP will create much more trust and reliability for Internet users due to the fact that domain names are registered and maintained by VIPs and their service providers. Beyond delivering trust and reliability providing a namespace which can be used in many non-Latin scripts will be innovative. As of today not many TLDs offer registrations of Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs). The introduction of IDN support under .VIP including all major European scripts (like Spanish, Swedish and Danish), Russian, Arabic and Asian scripts among others will lead to an intuitive and innovative way of communicating .VIP worldwide.

The TLD will complement the experience VIPs are having in other areas of their lives in terms of security, seclusion and exclusiveness.


iii.

Enhanced search engine rankings

Today Internet users do not know how to search for content about VIPs. With a .VIP domain Internet users will experience a much more intuitive way of finding equivalent content on the Internet. They will learn that many words will be a new top-level domain including keywords. They can type in exact domain names, reach domains which resolve instead of being just parking domains and thus type-in traffic might increase. Furthermore this will be supported by the algorithms of big search engines like Google, Yahoo and Bing. As of today ranking results in search engines incorporate, among many other elements, the top-level as well as the second-level in relation to the search. Therefore it is to be expected that search engines will incorporate .VIP domain names as being a relevant part of the search and giving ranking preference to .VIP domain names compared to other TLDs if internet users search for the term VIP. This will increase the visibility of the target group and their service providers worldwide.

Umbrella brand strategy

Under .VIP suppliers will be able to setup an umbrella brand strategy, with the TLD .VIP acting as the umbrella and their respective domain names (e.g. trademarks) as identifier to .VIP on the second level. Internet Users will then be able to connect the products with the target group even via domain names, for instance through luxurytravel.vip, access.vip and directory.vip.

Intuitive Access

Internet users will experience that they can find information about VIPs quicker on the one side since domain names will be ranked better and on the other side they will find information more intuitively. The top-level domain will act as a distinctive mark for VIPs.


iv.

The policies will support an open access for everybody of the VIP peer group. Registered domains and their usage are not allowed to abuse the goal and image of .VIP.

I. General principles

1. Purpose

The .VIP Top Level Domain (ʺTLDʺ) established by and for the use of I-REGISTRY, the Registry Operator for the TLD space. I-REGISTRY will, with the advice and assistance of the Registry Service Provider Afilias Ltd. and relevant governmental bodies, develop, maintain and enforce effective TLD management strategies to manage the .VIP space.

This Policy is intended to be updated and revised regularly to reflect the needs of I-REGISTRY and its TLD. The current version of this Policy will be made publicly available at the registry website when determined.
The purpose of the .VIP space is to cater to the unique needs and interests of important people and public figures worldwide, such as politicians, artists, actors, musicians, athletes, aristocrats and wealthy individuals, as well as their representatives and service providers.

2. Registration Policy

The .VIP space will operate following an unrestricted registration model, meaning that no eligibility criteria or registration restrictions will be imposed upon prospective registrants in the space.
The use of Privacy and/or Proxy registration services shall be permitted within this space.

II. Domain Allocation Rules

3. String Requirements and Reserved Names

String Requirements

Second-Level Domain names within the TLD must only include hyphens in the third and fourth position if they represent valid internationalized domain names in their ASCII encoding (for example ʺxn--ndk061nʺ), and must otherwise comply with any other applicable ICANN requirements.

Reserved Names

1. The label "EXAMPLE" shall be reserved at the second level and at all other levels within the TLD at which Registry Operator makes registrations.
2. Two-character labels. All two-character labels shall be initially reserved. The reservation of a two-character label string may be released to the extent that Registry Operator reaches agreement with the government and country-code manager. The Registry Operator may also propose release of these reservations based on its implementation of measures to avoid confusion with the corresponding country codes.
3. Second-Level Reservations for Registry Operations. The following names are reserved for use in connection with the operation of the registry for the TLD: NIC, WWW, IRIS and WHOIS.
4. The List of Reserved Names shall be compiled by I-REGISTRY and will be publicly posted online at the registry website. I-REGISTRY reserves the right to include new names in the list of reserved names.
5. Certain premium and/or generic keyword domain names may be reserved by the I-REGISTRY for release through the Landrush and/or Premium Landrush/Auction registration phases.

Country and Territory Names

The country and territory names contained in the following internationally recognized lists shall be initially reserved at the second level and at all other levels within the TLD at which the Registry Operator provides for registrations:
1. 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〉;
2. 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
3. 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; provided, that the reservation of specific country and territory names may be released to the extent that Registry Operator reaches agreement with the applicable government(s), provided, further, that Registry Operator may also propose release of these reservations, subject to review by ICANN's Governmental Advisory Committee and approval by ICANN.
III. Registration and Licensing Rules

4. Registration period and renewals

A .VIP domain name may be registered, and renewed at the end of each registration period, subject to the current terms and conditions offered by the concerned Registrar.
Registrations in the .TLD-D space shall generally follow a first-come, first-served model. The space will also utilize Landrush and Premium Landrush allocation phases (first-come, first-served or auction).
IV. Acceptable Use of .VIP Domain Names

5. Acceptable Use

I-REGISTRY intends that no domain name in the .VIP space shall be used in a manner which:
-infringes any other third parties' rights
-is in breach with any applicable laws, government rules or requirements
or for the purposes of:
-undertaking any illegal or fraudulent actions, including spam or phishing activities.
Failure to comply with the above provisions may result in the suspension or termination of the domain name registration by the Registry Operator.

V. Dispute Resolution Policies

6. Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (ʺUDRPʺ)

The Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (ʺUDRPʺ) shall apply to any challenges to registered domain names on the grounds that: 1) such domain names are identical or confusingly similar to a trademark in which the complainant has rights, 2) the registrant lacks rights or legitimate interests in the domain name, and 3) the domain name has been registered and used in bad faith.. The full text of the UDRP is located at the following address: http://www.icann.org/dndr/udrp/policy.htm

7. Uniform Rapid Suspension System ("URS")

The Uniform Rapid Suspension System ("URS") shall apply to any challenges to registered domain names on the grounds that: 1) such domain names are identical or confusingly similar to a trademark in which the complainant has rights, 2) the registrant lacks rights or legitimate interests in the domain name, and 3) the domain name has been registered and used in bad faith. The full text of the URS is located at the registry website when available.

8. Trademark Post-Delegation Dispute Resolution Procedure (Trademark PDDRP)

The Registry Operator for .VIP shall agree to be bound by the Trademark Post-Delegation Dispute Resolution Procedure (Trademark PDDRP). The Trademark PDDRP applies to challenges by trademark holders claiming that one or more of its marks have been infringed, and thereby the trademark holder has been harmed, by the registry operator's manner of operation or use of the gTLD. The full text of the Trademark PDDRP is located at the registry website when available.

* Startup Schedule *

The .VIP domain name allocation plan has several phases:
1.Reserved: Reservation of domain names in connection with the operation, management and purpose of the TLD, domain names on ICANN's requirements and for premium domain names phase during Landrush or operations.
2.Sunrise (TMCH): Domain names will be allocated according to the rules which ICANN will set-up for the Trademark Clearinghouse.
3.Premium Landrush: A defined list of valuable target group-specific domain names with a fixed price will be allocated on a first-come/first-serve basis, alternatively an Auction may be performed.
4.Landrush (General Availability): Domain names will be allocated on a first-come/first-serve basis.
5.Premium domains allocation: A defined list of valuable target group-specific Premium domain names will be allocated in a later phase.


v.

.VIP will be a gTLD where domain names can be secured by a proxy service or privacy service as an option to protect the personal data of registrants. Since .VIP will be used globally, registrants might need to use proxy or privacy services because of their country, security issues or general conditions. To inform registrants how their personal data might be used by I-REGISTRY, we will notify registrars of the purposes for which personally identifiable data are collected and used.

The WHOIS data of all .VIP domains will be visible to the public, although a captcha module prevents from automated inquiries. Bulk access to WHOIS data will not be allowed according to ICANN specifications. In addition I-REGISTRY will establish an abuse point of contact.


vi.

Our company and managers are long-standing members of the VIPs and will use domains under .VIP as ambassador and therefore support outreach to the global target group. In addition existing global contacts of the managers to many target group members will enhance and benefit the global outreach. In particular, relationships to some well-known target group members, will act as multiplier.

Direct communication activities by I-REGISTRY will focus on measures exclusively for the VIP target group. In addition extensive marketing, communication and pr measures for registrars will be setup to support registrars in promoting and selling .VIP. This will include online and offline marketing and pr activities as well as sales material and joint sales activities.

Our back-end service provider Afilias will support the projected benefits with the extensive network to all relevant ICANN accredited registrars and their marketing, communication and pr capabilities.

In addition the donation process will give many opportunities to communicate about the contributions, the level of contributions, the mechanisms how to allocate donations and to whom as well as why and how revenues from .VIP are donated to the needy.

We believe that due to our marketing budget a focused outreach to our target group (end customers) and registrars, which will be the main part of our marketing efforts, will help us to achieve the projected benefits of .VIP.

Due to competitive reasons we have not yet published a website, but will do this once ICANN awarded .VIP to us.

i.

For the Sunrise Phase we will incorporate the respective rules set forth by ICANN for use of the Trademark Clearinghouse. Trademark claims service according to ICANN specifications will be implemented for Landrush to minimize costs and resources for trademark owners.

During Landrush domain names will be generally allocated on a first-come first-served basis to minimize social costs and time resources of registrants. This may include the Premium Landrush as well (alternatively Premium Names may be auctioned). Further allocation phases might include the allocation of domain names via auction or tender processes. In addition a fixed-price allocation for premium names might be deployed to avoid speculation and enable a fair and transparent allocation of domain names.


ii.

Registrants of .VIP domain names are VIPs, their representatives or service providers of VIPs. We are currently not planning any cost benefit programs.


iii.

I-REGISTRY does not plan to make contractual commitments to registrars. As of today estimates about future market and price developments will be purely speculative and therefore not reasonable. However I-REGISTRY will comply with the rules for price increases set forth in the new gTLD Registry Agreement. .VIP domains will be available through accredited registrars who will be provided equal (non-discriminatory) access to registry services. The sunrise registration term is aimed at 2 years and landrush for one to ten years.

According to the details as specified in the New gTLD Registry Agreement I-REGISTRY will have the right to reduce pricing for promotional purposes in a manner available to all accredited registrars. In case of price increases I-REGISTRY will comply with the rules ICANN established to initiate an increase in the wholesale price of domains. In case of price increases I-REGISTRY will notify their accredited registrars well in advance.

We will protect names with national or geographic significance by reserving the country and territory names at the second level and at all other levels within the TLD, as per the requirements in the New TLD Registry Agreement (Specification 5, paragraph 5).
Furthermore the names of all Capital Cities and Seat of Government (where different) will initially be reserved in English (and their respective language), as well as all metropolises according to the "Internationalen Statistikkonferenz von 1887 - International Statistics Conference of 1887" in English (and their respective language).
We will employ a series of rules to translate the geographical names required to be reserved by Specification 5, paragraph 5 to a form consistent with the ʺhost namesʺ format used in domain names.
Considering the Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) advice "Principles regarding new gTLDs", these domains will be blocked, at no cost to governments, public authorities, or IGOs, before the TLD is introduced (Sunrise), so that no parties may apply for them. We will publish a list of these names before Sunrise, so our registrars and their prospective applicants can be aware that these names are reserved.
We will define a procedure so that governments can request the above reserved domain(s) if they would like to take possession of them. This procedure will be based on existing methodology developed for the release of country names in the .INFO TLD. For example, we will require a written request from the country's GAC representative, or a written request from the country's relevant Ministry or Department. We will allow the designated beneficiary (the Registrant) to register the name, with an accredited Afilias Registrar, possibly using an authorization number transmitted directly to the designated beneficiary in the country concerned.
As defined by Specification 5, paragraph 5, such geographic domains may be released to the extent that I-REGISTRY reaches agreement with the applicable government(s). Registry operator will work with respective GAC representatives of the country's relevant Ministry of Department to obtain their release of the names to I-REGISTRY.
If internationalized domains names (IDNs) are introduced in the TLD in the future, we will also reserve the IDN versions of the country names in the relevant script(s) before IDNs become available to the public. If we find it advisable and practical, we will confer with relevant language authorities so that we can reserve the IDN domains properly along with their variants.
Regarding GAC advice regarding second-level domains not specified via Specification 5, paragraph 5: All domains awarded to registrants are subject to the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP), and to any properly-situated court proceeding. We will ensure appropriate procedures to allow governments, public authorities or IGO's to challenge abuses of names with national or geographic significance at the second level. In our registry-registrar agreement, and flowing down to registrar-registrant agreements, I-REGISTRY will institute a provision to suspend domains names in the event of a dispute. We may exercise that right in the case of a dispute over a geographic name.