.hamburg Pre-Register Domain - .hamburg Domain Information

Hamburg, officially Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, is the second-largest city in Germany, the thirteenth largest German state, and the sixth-largest city in the European Union.

The city is home to over 1.8 million people, while the Hamburg Metropolitan Region (including parts of the neighbouring Federal States of Lower Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein) has more than 4.3 million inhabitants. Situated on the river Elbe, the port of Hamburg is the second largest port in Europe (after the Port of Rotterdam) and it is among the twenty largest in the world. Hamburg is the seat of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea.

Hamburgʹs official name, Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (German: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg), reflects Hamburgʹs history as a member of the medieval Hanseatic League, as a free imperial city of the Holy Roman Empire, and that Hamburg is a city-state and one of the sixteen States of Germany.

Hamburg is a major transport hub in Northern Germany and is one of the most affluent cities in Europe. It has become a media and industrial centre, with plants and facilities belonging to Airbus, Blohm + Voss and Aurubis. The radio and television broadcaster Norddeutscher Rundfunk and publishers such as Gruner + Jahr and Spiegel-Verlag are pillars of the important media industry in Hamburg. In total, there are more than 120,000 enterprises.

The city is a major tourist destination for both domestic and overseas visitors; Hamburg ranked 23rd in the world for liveability in 2009, higher in some alternate rankings and, in 2010, the city ranked 10th in the world.


* MISSION *

.HAMBURG is the top-level domain of the Community of Hamburg in the Internet. The local domain names available with the .HAMBURG top-level domain are concise and create an identity for citizens, companies and institutions. Those providing and looking for information, goods and services can thus intuitively come together. The .HAMBURG domain names strengthen the feeling of community amongst Hamburgers, improve communication and make interaction easier, thus providing a stimulus for innovation and development. Both for Hamburgers and for non-Hamburgers, Hamburg becomes more attractive as a place to visit, as a commercial location and as a place to live.


* PURPOSE *

The purpose of the .HAMBURG top-level domain is to serve the needs of the community of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg as well as for the metropolitan area of Hamburg on the Internet by its own top-level domain.

The Community consists of individuals and legal entities that can demonstrate an economic, cultural, social, historic or other relationship to the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg or the metropolitan area of Hamburg that can be verified by (i) a residence within the metropolitan area of Hamburg, or (ii) a Whois contact's residence within the metropolitan area Hamburg or (iii) other valid evidence.
The purpose reflects and incorporates the relationship towards the local conditions and the local interests of the relevant authorities, citizens and organizations. The needs of the Community in terms of the .HAMBURG top-level domain are defined in order to serve the purpose:

(i) To give the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg and the metropolitan area of Hamburg, the Hamburgers, their locations and their organisations a unique destination proposition (UDP) by an own digital identity in the Internet with individual .HAMBURG domain names.

(ii) To create a new namespace with attractive .HAMBURG domain names which are (i) demanded by the Community, which (ii) each member of the community may register and which (iii) are likely to create more and better search engine positions for the Community members.

(iii) To facilitate an intuitive search and access approach for Hamburg-associated content and service for citizens, tourists, investors, organizations and administration by a reasonable name space management including (i) the reservation and delegation of generic category domain names for special purposes such as directory services or for the support of the city's homepage, (ii) measures to mitigate domain grabbing, cybersquatting, speculation and other unlawful activities.

(iv) To aim at an active use of .HAMBURG domain names by citizens, organizations and administration for websites, email and other domain name related services by creating awareness and offering support and to do so especially for individual citizens and SMEs.

Hamburg Top-Level-Domain GmbH has worked from its start in 2007 with the community of Hamburg to incorporate their interests. The activities include information events together with the chamber of commerce, talks about the chances for companies by using the .HAMBURG TLD, press and media information about .HAMBURG and the continuous exchange for more than five years with representatives of the City of Hamburg and politicians as well as with local companies and associations of different branches. In addition to that, an incorporated society named "Initiative dotHamburg" was founded in 2007 in order to promote the new TLD .HAMBURG towards the local economy, citizens and politics.


*The Vision of .HAMBURG *

In the future, companies, individuals and institutions from Hamburg will be found under .HAMBURG domain dames.

The allocation of .HAMBURG domain names shall incorporate, in a fair and transparent manner, the many and varied interests of the citizen and institutions of Hamburg and their community in the top-level domain .HAMBURG. The .HAMBURG policies shall ensure that Hamburger citizens, their institutions and their organizations may benefit individually by a unique identity with a .HAMBURG domain name.

i.

* SPECIALITY: The Integrally connected namespace *

The speciality of the .HAMBURG top-level domain is that it aims to become a new namespace for the communication and interaction of all the various stakeholders of Hamburg such as Internet users, companies, local government, the media and public institutions. By becoming the essential source for community members, the .HAMBURG namespace integrally connects them on the Internet.

* REPUTATION and SERVICE LEVEL: Secure and trustworthy namespace *

The .HAMBURG namespace managed under the legislation of Germany and technically operated by the operator of the .AT ccTLD brings with it security, reliability, trust and credibility in the same manner as already established by a national ccTLD like .AT or .DE. The registration policies and the start-up planning ensure that only community members may register a .HAMBURG domain name. Internet users can trust that information and services offered under .HAMBURG domains are from or for the community. This is a service level that is sought after by the global Internet community and which will contribute to the already positive reputation of the .HAMBURG namespace.

* SPECIALITY: Intuitive and memorable namespace *

Domain names under .HAMBURG are descriptive, precise and create identity for people and institutions related to the City of Hamburg. The .HAMBURG top-level domain and its domain names enables citizens, tourists, administration, organisations and companies to come together in a more intuitive manner than today. This is a special ability that is difficult to provide within existing top-level domains, but will become a standard in future descriptive top-level domains.


ii.

* COMPETITION - Local strength, competitive pricing and enhanced options for the Hamburg Community *

With .HAMBURG, community members will be enabled to choose from a wide pool of contextually relevant domain names and register those which best suit their communication needs. The .HAMBURG top-level domain will be welcome, since the national ccTLD .DE is overcrowded with nearly 15 million registered domain names. As an addition to gTLDs, ccTLDs and future gTLDs, .HAMBURG will be an ideal supplement. With a bigger choice the Hamburgers will experience a more competitive pricing for suitable domain names. Furthermore we expect that in addition to the attractiveness of the string many registrars will offer the registration of .HAMBURG domain names, which will lead to increased price competition among registrars. Hamburgers will have numerous options when registering a domain because .HAMBURG opens up a completely new namespace where all domain names are still available at launch. .HAMBURG also helps websites to achieve higher search engine relevance. The strong and unique local character of the .HAMBURG domain names brings about a natural competition in the global domain name business by introducing a dedicated namespace for a clearly delineated community.

The system of our registry service-provider is already connected to many hundreds of registrars in Europe. Adding further TLDs and implementing them on the registrars' systems is therefore simple and proven and eases the provision of the .HAMBURG TLD. Beyond the easy provision of .HAMBURG many registrars are expected to offer .HAMBURG domain names. We have been in talks with many registrars since the foundation of dotHAMBURG and beend told that many are interested to offer .HAMBURG domain names to their customers. With many registrars offering .HAMBURG domain names we expect that prices will be competitive for the Community.

This environment creates new business opportunities and fosters the development of innovative services for the benefit of the Hamburg Community and its members. With .HAMBURG domains, the Hamburg Community can enhance their search engine rankings by delivering more relevant search results. This will benefit in more traffic on their respective websites under .HAMBURG domain name and will increase their position in the local market. From a user perspective, Hamburgers and visitors of Hamburg will have a quicker and easier way to find businesses under names such as taxi.hamburg, public information under names such as taxoffice.hamburg or accommodations under a name such as hotel.hamburg. Alltogether .HAMBURG will become a prosperous and promising namespace.

* DIFFERENTIATION - A meaningful TLD *

The .HAMBURG top-level domain and its .HAMBURG domain names are clearly differentiated from existing TLDs, not only due to their descriptive and self-explanatory nature which has a clear meaning and value to the targeted registrants and Internet users but also due to their dedicated owners.

* INNOVATION - Connected services *
We are planning to support the Hamburg Community by innovative domain name connected services such as making websites more easy accessible for mobile devices, offering directory services and search engine optimization. The new .HAMBURG domain names will be suitable for search engines and other forms of communication.


iii.

* Eligible Users only *

Users will understand that in the .HAMBURG namespace only eligible registrants can register their names, thus heightening the local identity and solidarity. The intuitive and descriptive domain names under a "meaningful TLD" like .HAMBURG will enable consumers to navigate and search more easily for information and services in and about Hamburg on the Internet. It is also expected that search engines will give ranking preference to .HAMBURG domain names compared to other TLDs, if the .HAMBURG namespace is managed well and offers advantages over other TLDs. This will increase the visibility along with the strong marketing efforts for .HAMBURG by Hamburg Top-Level-Domain GmbH and its media partners from the Hamburg community.

* Equal Access for eligible Registrants *

The barrier to register and operate a .HAMBURG domain name is low. Even Registrants who are new to the Internet can easily register a domain name. They will become a part of the global Internet community and be able to participate in global communications, exchange and business. Additional services like a website builder support those registrants to setup a website.


iv.

.HAMBURG second-level domain names are restricted to the community of Hamburgers and their organizations (Registrants). Hamburg Top-Level-Domain intends to offer the registration of domain names under .HAMBURG according to the following policies.

* START-UP SCHEDULE *

The .HAMBURG TLD will have a simple and straight forward start-up schedule with the phases noted below:

Phase 1 - RESERVATION

- Reservation of names for local and national authorities and their departments (public offices and functions etc.)
- Reservation of names for defined interest groups of the Hamburg community including (i) names for the representation of the economic and non-commercial interests of the City of Hamburg (associations, location marketing, culture, advertising, etc.) and directory-services in accordance with the purpose of the .HAMBURG top-level domain
- Reservation of names for the technical operation, the namespace management, marketing and purpose of the .HAMBURG top-level domain as defined in #18a
- Reservation of premium names for a later allocation in accordance with the requiements of the City of Hamburg
- Reservation of names in accordance with the ICANN specification 5 (2-characters, country names, others)
All lists of reserved names and the reserved names in detail are part of the obigations to which dotHamburg is bound by a contract with the City of Hamburg.

Phase 2a - LOCAL SUNRISE

Depending on approval by ICANN a Sunrise for local businesses from the Hamburg Community will be executed. Eligible are all registrants who meet the eligibility criteria of .HAMBURG described below and whose trademarks are valid in Germany. The Local Sunrise has a duration of 30 days; allocation follows the first-come, first-served principle.

The Local Sunrise are part of the obigations to which dotHamburg is bound by a contract with the City of Hamburg.

Phase 2b - TMCH SUNRISE

Sunrise under the Trademark Clearinghouse (TMCH) rules. Eligible are all registrants who meet the eligibility criteria of .HAMBURG described below and whose trademarks were validated by the Trademark Clearinghouse. The TMCH Sunrise has a duration of 30 days; allocation follows the first-come, first-served principle.

Phase 3 - LANDRUSH

Registration of domains names for the community members. Eligible are all registrants who can demonstrate their eligibility. Allocation follows the first-come, first-served principle.

Sale of fixed price premium domain names during the Landrush on a first-come, first-served basis; eligible are all registrants who meet the .HAMBURG eligibility criteria described below.


* DESCRIPTION of the REGISTRATION POLICIES *

The following text is a shortened and descriptive version of the full registration policies which highlights the relevant information.

Registration requirements in detail:

* NAMESPACE STRUCTURE *

The namespace under .HAMBURG is not divided into second-level domain names. The registration of domain names will be exclusively under the top level .HAMBURG. The establishment of sub-domain names below the domain names registered under .HAMBURG is permitted and subject to the exclusive responsibility of the registrant.

* CHARACTERS *

A .HAMBURG domain name can only consist of digits (0-9), hyphens, the letters a through z and the Latin Unicode character sets (Basic, Extended-A and Extended-B). It must neither start with nor end with a hyphen nor must there be hyphens in the third and fourth place. The minimum length of a domain is one (1), the maximum length sixty-three (63) characters. If the domain contains special characters, the maximum length is determined in accordance with RFC 3490. If the domain is an IDN, the maximum length is determined in accordance with RFC 5890 and RFC 5891.

* PRIORITY *

If no special allocation method is provided for a domain name, it is assigned categorically to this eligible registrant whose application has been first received by the Registry in the technically correct manner and in accordance with the .HAMBURG registration policy and has been first written in the .HAMBURG Registry database (also called priority principle, ʺfirst come, first servedʺ). By registering the domain name it is no longer available for further registrations until the registration expires and is not renewed or until the domain is canceled.

* ELIGIBILITY *

Since .HAMBURG is intended to serve the community of the Hamburgers in general, the group of eligible registrants is limited. Exclusively eligible to register a domain name under the top-level domain .HAMBURG is any natural person, legal person, organization or association of persons, if they can demonstrate that they have an economic, cultural, historical, social or any other connection to the metropolitan area of Hamburg, verifiable by

- their residence or second home, office or place of business, a branch or permanent establishment in the metropolitan area of Hamburg, or

- a contact listed in the Whois database with a domicile in the metropolitan area of Hamburg, or

- other appropriate proof e.g. the certification by an employer to enroll at a school or college, or birth certificate.

With the registration of a .HAMBURG domain name each registrant implicitly signs the registration policies and agrees with the fact that he acknowledges compliance with the registration guidelines. A review of whether the applicant meets the required eligibility, does not take place regularly on the date of registration, however, anyone can check compliance with the registration requirements by initiating an extrajudicial dispute resolution procedure (ʺ.HAMBURG Eligibility Requirements Dispute Resolution Policyʺ) or an objection process.

* CONTENT / USE *

The contents of websites under .HAMBURG must be accessible under a domain directly related to the registration criteria of .HAMBURG.

The Registry has in its discretion developed restrictions on the content and use of any domain name. Such restrictions apply to any domain name registration that occurs after such restrictions come into effect.

Each domain name must, within one year following the date of registration, and thereafter throughout the term of the domain name, be used as the domain name for a website displaying Hamburg Community related content relevant to the domain name, or in such other manner (such as email) that the Registry may approve after review. Domain names used as contemplated above may resolve directly to the relevant website or be forwarded or redirected to another domain name displaying content relevant to the domain name.

Restrictions may include, but are not limited to, a requirement to develop a website that uses the registered domain name, to ensure that each registered domain name resolves to a working website, or to ensure that each website using a registered domain name, or redirected from a registered domain name presents content related to the registered .HAMBURG domain name.

The .HAMBURG Registry will, from time to time in its sole discretion or upon evidence or advice, but at least once a year, conduct continuing or recurring audits of domain names registered to ensure continued compliance with these requirements. Failure to comply will result in a notice providing a timeframe to comply. Non-compliance following such a notice period may result in take-down of the relevant domain name, at the discretion of the Registry.

* NAME SELECTION *

The Registrant undertakes as part of the registration guidelines not to register any domain names that violate the statutory provisions of the European Union and Federal Republic of Germany, that intervene in the rights of others or violate them, or for abusive, speculative or anti-competitive purposes. Concomitantly, the registrant obliges himself not to spread criminal, illegal, offensive, racist, discriminatory or pornographic content under the top-level domain .HAMBURG. The Registrant further undertakes not to register domain names, which create the erroneous impression that these are domain names, content or services by public bodies or their affiliated organizations, so-called plagiarising authority domain names.

The registrant agrees not to register domain names that violate ethical or criminal law principles (illegal, violent, racist, ethnically offensive, harmful to minors, indecent, offensive or domain names that violate morality and public order) or may hurt the reputation of the City of Hamburg. In addition, domain names are not permitted that use the words or parts of words that could generally perceived as offensive. These include insulting, abusive or agitational words or words or word elements, which could violate the ethical, religious or moral sensibilities of Internet users.

* EQUIVALENT RIGHTS *

The Registry will accept registration requests on a "first-come, first-served" basis. In the event an application does not meet the requirements of the Registry Policies, then such .HAMBURG domain names will remain in the general pool of available names.

* ENFORCEMENT *

The .HAMBURG Registry will, from time to time in its sole discretion or upon evidence or advice, but at least once a year, conduct continuing or recurring audits of domain names registered to ensure continued compliance with these requirements. Failure to comply will result in a notice providing a timeframe to comply. Non-compliance following such a notice period may result in take-down of the relevant domain name, at the discretion of the Registry.

The Registry is entitled to lock, cancel, initiate the gTLD-deletion cycle or transfer domain names that do not meet the registration criteria if certain cirumstances appear.

Without prejudice to further legal rights, as part of abusive use rules required by ICANN for gTLDs (ʺ.HAMBURG Anti-Abuse Rulesʺ) the registry can under certain circumstances, remove a domain name and its technical data from the name servers for top-level domain .HAMBURG (disconnection), change the contact data, or delete a domain name.


v.

The use of proxy and privacy services to protect the privacy or confidential information of registrants or users will be allowed in the own discretion of registrars and registrants. However the registrars and registrants are obliged to fulfill the eligibility criteria. The WHOIS data of all .HAMBURG domain names will be visible to the public, a CAPTCHA module prevents from automated inquiries. Bulk access to WHOIS data will not be allowed according to ICANN specifications. In addition dotHAMBURG will establish an abuse point of contact. 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.


vi.

Hamburg Top-Level-Domain GmbH started its outreach to the Hamburg community in 2007, and has since then worked with registrars, especially in Germany, on processes, prices and marketing and sales plans. The website for the .HAMBURG initiative, is online since 2007 under dotHAMBURG.de, supplemented by Facebook and Twitter

In preparation of the forthcoming launch and beyond Hamburg Top-Level-Domain GmbH will use its extensive network of local associations, multipliers, media and advertising partners to promote .HAMBURG in order to reach the projected domain name registrations and to transport the benefits of .HAMBURG to the Community. Outreach and communication will be carried out in close cooperation with the City of Hamburg and its facilities.

In particular, Hamburg Top-Level-Domain GmbH and its network will cooperate with the media department of the City of Hamburg, as well as with a number of publishing, online and broadcasting partners from the Hamburg Community, to plan and implement a comprehensive communication strategy with the aim to gain further awareness within the community. We will continue to communicate the benefits of .HAMBURG domains names within the community. We are confident that our broad outreach program, which is part of our marketing efforts, will help us to achieve the projected benefits of .HAMBURG.

i.

All available .HAMBURG domain names will be registerable on a "first-come, first-served" basis, except of reserved names which may be allocated on a "first-come, first-served" basis or via other mechanisms. All allocation mechanisms shall be in accordance with the community-based purpose of .HAMBURG. The reserved names in Phase 1 (see #18b iv) have special allocation mechanisms as described as follows:

- Reservation of names for the local authorities and their departments. These names will be released by the Registry upon request of the City of Hamburg and can be registered by appointed community members.

- Reservation of names for defined interest groups of the Hamburg community in accordance with the purpose of the .HAMBURG top-level domain. These names will be released by the Registry in an allocation procedure according to German law.

- Reservation of names for the technical operation, the namespace management, marketing and purpose of the .HAMBURG top-level domain as defined in #18a. These names will be released by the Registry for its own use or in accordance with the Code of Conduct.

- Reservation of premium names for fixed prices. These names will be released by the Registry for a fixed price on a first-come, first-served basis.

- Reservation of names in accordance with the ICANN specification 5. These domain names may be released based on ICANN defined procedures and than be registered by eligible registrants.

- Disputed Domain Names - The Registry may set aside during regular operations domain names that are being reviewed under dispute resolution procedures. These domain names may become available for registration after the dispute is concluded.


ii.

As of today dotHAMBURG will, in its own discretion and depending on the development of the .HAMBURG namespace, decide to implement cost benefits, if appropriate. Our prices are based on our outreach to the registrar community, especially in Germany, which will lead to fair and reasonable wholesale prices.


iii.

.HAMBURG domain names will be available through ICANN accredited registrars who will be provided non-discriminatory access to registry services.
Hamburg Top-Level-Domain GmbH reserves the right to reduce pricing for promotional purposes in a manner available to all accredited registrars. Hamburg Top-Level-Domain GmbH reserves the right to work with ICANN to initiate an increase in the wholesale price of domains if required. Hamburg Top-Level-Domain GmbH will comply with the rules specified by ICANN in the "Draft New gTLD registry Agreement" to provide reasonable notice to the registrars of any approved price increase.

* DELINEATION * The Commmunity for the .HAMBURG top-level domain has been defined together with Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg officials by contractual definitions based on the natural community of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg and the Hamburg Metropolitan Area. Since .HAMBURG is intended to serve the Community of the Hamburgers in general, the group of eligible registrants is limited. Exclusively eligible to register a domain name under the top-level domain .HAMBURG is any natural person, legal person, organization or association of persons, if they can demonstrate an economic, cultural, historical, social or any other connection to the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg or the metropolitan area of Hamburg, verifiable by - their residence or second home, office or place of business, a branch or permanent establishment in the metropolitan area of Hamburg, or - a contact listed in the Whois database with a domicile in the metropolitan area of Hamburg, or - other appropriate proof e.g. the certification by an employer to enroll at a school or college, or birth certificate. By this the .HAMBURG Community is delimited clearly from Internet users generally, since the government of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg has decided that the definition above reflects a clear and exclusive approach towards a Community definition. By this definition the individuals and entities named above are natural members of the .HAMBURG Community. The delineation is based on a geographic approach - the borders of the metropolitan area of Hamburg. * STRUCTURE and ORGANIZIATION * The Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg is one of 16 German states, therefore the Mayor of Hamburg is a minister-president and a city mayor at the same time. Since 7 March 2011 Olaf Scholz (Social Democrates - SPD) is mayor. As a German state government, it is responsible for public education, correctional institutions and public safety; as a municipality, it is additionally responsible for libraries, recreational facilities, sanitation, water supply and welfare services. Hamburg is made up of 7 boroughs (German: Bezirke) and subdivided into 105 quarters (German: Stadtteile). There are also 180 localities (German: Ortsteile). The urban organization is regulated by the Constitution of Hamburg and several laws. Most of the quarters were former independent cities, towns or villages annexed into Hamburg proper. The last large annexation was done through the Greater Hamburg Act of 1937, when the cities Altona, Harburg and Wandsbek were merged into the state of Hamburg. The Act of the Constitution and Administration of Hanseatic city of Hamburg established Hamburg as a state and a municipality. Some of the boroughs and quarters have been rearranged several times over the years. Each borough is governed by a Borough Council (German: Bezirksversammlung) and administered by a Municipal Administrator (German: Bezirksamtsleiter). The boroughs of Hamburg are not independent municipalities. The power of borough governments is limited and subordinate to the Senate of Hamburg. The borough administrator is elected by the Borough Council and thereafter requires confirmation and appointment by Hamburgsʹ Senate. The quarters have no governing bodies of their own. In 2008 the boroughs of Hamburg were Altona, Bergedorf, Eimsbüttel, Hamburg-Mitte, Hamburg-Nord, Harburg and Wandsbek. Altona is the westernmost urban borough on the right bank of the Elbe river. From 1640 to 1864 Altona was under the administration of the Danish monarchy. Altona was an independent city until 1937. Politically, the following quarters are part of Altona: Altona-Altstadt, Altona-Nord, Bahrenfeld, Ottensen, Othmarschen, Groß Flottbek, Osdorf, Lurup, Nienstedten, Blankenese, Iserbrook, Sülldorf, Rissen, Sternschanze. Bergedorf consists of the quarters Allermöhe, Altengamme, Bergedorf—the centre of the former independent town, Billwerder, Curslack, Kirchwerder, Lohbrügge, Moorfleet, Neuengamme, Ochsenwerder, Reitbrook, Spadenland and Tatenberg. Eimsbüttel is split into nine quarters: Eidelstedt, Eimsbüttel, Harvestehude, Hoheluft-West, Lokstedt, Niendorf, Rotherbaum, Schnelsen and Stellingen. Located within this borough is former Jewish neighbourhood Grindel. Hamburg-Mitte (ʺHamburg Centreʺ) covers mostly the urban centre of the city of Hamburg and consists of the quarters Billbrook, Billstedt, Borgfelde, Finkenwerder, HafenCity, Hamm-Nord, Hamm-Mitte, Hamm-Süd, Hammerbrook, Horn, Kleiner Grasbrook, Neuwerk, Rothenburgsort, St. Georg, St. Pauli, Steinwerder, Veddel, Waltershof and Wilhelmsburg. The quarters Hamburg-Altstadt (ʺold townʺ) and Neustadt (ʺnew townʺ) are the historical origin of Hamburg. Hamburg-Nord contains the quarters Alsterdorf, Barmbek-Nord, Barmbek-Süd, Dulsberg, Eppendorf, Fuhlsbüttel, Groß Borstel, Hoheluft-Ost, Hohenfelde, Langenhorn, Ohlsdorf, Uhlenhorst and Winterhude. Harburg lies on the southern shores of the river Elbe and covers parts of the port of Hamburg, residential and rural areas, and some research institutes. The quarters are Altenwerder, Cranz, Eißendorf, Francop, Gut Moor, Harburg, Hausbruch, Heimfeld, Langenbek, Marmstorf, Moorburg, Neuenfelde, Neugraben-Fischbek, Neuland, Rönneburg, Sinstorf and Wilstorf. Wandsbek is divided into the quarters Bergstedt, Bramfeld, Duvenstedt, Eilbek, Farmsen-Berne, Hummelsbüttel, Jenfeld, Lemsahl-Mellingstedt, Marienthal, Poppenbüttel, Rahlstedt, Sasel, Steilshoop, Tonndorf, Volksdorf, Wandsbek, Wellingsbüttel and Wohldorf-Ohlstedt. The metropolitan area of Hamburg is the compilation of 8 rural districts in the German federal state of Lower Saxony, 6 districts in the federal state of Schleswig-Holstein and the city-state of Hamburg. This area covers an area of app. 19,000 square km and is home to 4.266 million inhabitants. On 1 January 2006, the office of the Hamburg metropolitan region opened, as agreed in a state treaty of cooperation (Staatsvertrag über Zusammenarbeit) between Hamburg, Lower Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein * ESTABLISHMENT and ACTIVITIES * The City of Hamburg has been established as the core of the .HAMBURG Community and has been founded in the year 808. The name Hamburg derives from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in 808. The castle was built on rocky terrain in a marsh between the River Alster and the River Elbe as a defence against Slavic incursion. The castle was named Hammaburg, burg meaning castle or fort. The origin of the Hamma term remains uncertain, as does the exact location of the castle. The activities of the City of Hamburg include all political, economic, cultural, social and other activities a metropolis may pursue. * SIZE, MEMBERSHIP and GEOGRAPHIC EXTENT * The Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg comprises of about 1.8 million inhabitants, about 120,000 registered companies and all institutional organizations such as the relevant local authorities of Hamburg and its boroughs. The membership eligibility is defined above. The geographic extent of the City of Hamburg is 755 km2 (292 sq mi). More information can be found at the offical website at www.hamburg.de. * SUPPORT for .HAMBURG * The introduction of .HAMBURG is being supported by relevant organisations and local authorities in the city. The City of Hamburg fully supports our application for .HAMBURG as is evidenced by the attached Letter of Support. .HAMBURG will be used according to policies developed by the City of Hamburg and the applicant. The City of Hamburg has worked closely together with the applicant in the development of this application.

* RELATIONSHIP TO COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS * Hamburg Top-Level-Domain GmbH has worked closely with the Hamburg Government and its relevant different departments since 2007 on the topic of .HAMBURG. The Letter of Support issued by the Senate of Hamburg (see #21 f) is also an explicit expression of a long-standing relationship to the City of Hamburg. Hamburg Top-Level-Domain GmbH is an active member of relevant Hamburg-specific organizations representing the majority interests of the Community of Hamburgers like - IHK zu Hamburg (Hamburg Chamber of Trade and Commerce), http://www.hk24.de/en - Hamburg@work, http://www.hamburg-media.net/ - Initiative dotHamburg e.V. Hamburg Top-Level-Domain GmbH is also an active member of other organizations representing interests of the Community of Hamburgers and others: - eco - Verband der deutschen Internetwirtschaft e.V. (the association for the German Internet economy), www.eco.de - Hamburg@work, http://www.hamburg-media.net/ Hamburg Top-Level-Domain GmbH is a Hamburg-based company; its founder and CEO was born in Hamburg as a 4th generation citizen. This reflects a deep and intense relationship to the Community as well. * RELATIONSHIP TO THE COMMUNITY PARTS * The founder and CEO of Hamburg Top-Level-Domain GmbH is a native Hamburger in the 4th generation. The applicant's organization, Hamburg Top-Level-Domain GmbH, was founded in 2007 in Hamburg and is located in Hamburg. The Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg is a shareholder of Hamburg Top-Level-Domain GmbH. Please review the attachments in #20f for more details. * ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISMS * 1. Annual Reports Hamburg Top-Level-Domain GmbH is obliged by the Government of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg to publish monthly reports on the application and operations of the .HAMBURG top-level domain and to inform the public annually on other relevant developments in the .HAMBURG name space. 2. Steering Committee Hamburg Top-Level-Domain GmbH and the Government of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg have established a steering committee that oversees the management of the .HAMBURG top-level domain. Its tasks include the adoption of new developments, the management of reserved names lists, the discussion of policies and many other topics. include the adoption of new developments, the management of reserved names lists, the discussion of policies and many other topics.

* REGISTRANTS * Eligible and intended registrants of .HAMBURG domain names are any natural person, legal person, organization or association of persons, if they can demonstrate an economic, cultural, historical, social or any other connection to the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg or the metropolitan area of Hamburg, verifiable by - their residence or second home, office or place of business, a branch or permanent establishment in the metropolitan area of Hamburg, or - a contact listed in the Whois database with a domicile in the metropolitan area of Hamburg, or - other appropriate proof e.g. the certification by an employer to enroll at a school or college, or birth certificate. * END-USERS * Intended users of .HAMBURG second-level domain names are members of the .HAMBURG Community and Internet users worldwide. * ACTIVITIES * Hamburg Top-Level-Domain GmbH in its sole discretion has carried out plenty of activities to define and serve the purpose of the .HAMBURG namespace. This included numerous multi-stakeholder meetings and presentations on the .HAMBURG top-level domain creation, documents and conceptual materials presented to the Senate of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg. Hamburg Top-Level-Domain GmbH and the City of Hamburg together have defined a set of activities that are intended to serve the purpose of the .HAMBURG namespace. These include - Measures to facilitate an intuitive search and access approach for Hamburg-associated content and service for citizens, tourists, investors, organizations and administration by a reasonable namespace management - Reservation and delegation of generic category domain names for special purposes such as directory services or for the support of the city's homepage - Safeguards to avoid and mitigate domain grabbing, cyber-squatting, speculation and other unlawful activities - Policies against domain name abuse and an Eligibility Requirements Dispute Resolution Policy (ERDRP) * LASTING PURPOSE * Hamburg Top-Level-Domain GmbH and its shareholders have entered into an exclusive 10-year agreement with the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg on the application and operation of the .HAMBURG top-level domain which may be extended for further periods. Hamburg, the .HAMBURG top-level domain and its purposes are of a long-lasting nature since digital marketing and distribution and individual digital addresses (domain names) have become an integral component of general business and individual and personal practices and thereby also for the .HAMBURG Community as a whole. It is foreseeable and anticipated that digital instruments and tools such as .HAMBURG domain names will play an ever increasing role for any societies interaction within the next decade and beyond. The .HAMBURG top-level domain will thereby serve the Hamburg Community and its members in a lasting nature and will fulfill its purpose of providing verified, meaningful and easily recognizable domains.

* RELATIONSHIP TO THE COMMUNITY * The proposed top-level domain name, "HAMBURG", has been the name of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg for more than a thousand years. It is thus a string which is known worldwide to identify the .HAMBURG Community and its members. Therefore there is a very strong relationship between the applied-for string and the name of the community. * RELATIONSHIP TO THE COMMUNITY MEMBERS * The .HAMBURG Community in the metropolitan area of Hamburg consists of about 4.3 million inhabitants, about 420,000 registered companies and enterprises and all institutional organizations such as the relevant local authorities of Hamburg. There cannot be a stronger relationship between the members of the .HAMBURG Community and the applied-for string, since the string "HAMBURG" is the word that is uniting them all. * FURTHER CONNOTATIONS * The name HAMBURG is known worldwide and undoubtedly associated with the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg. However, there are some 24 cities, towns and villages with the name Hamburg located in various countries of the world, although any one of them reaches at a maximum 1% of the size of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg in terms of inhabitants. Most of these have been founded by individuals who emigrated from Hamburg, Germany, or had another connection to it. Of course, the world famous Hamburger, originally the Hamburg Steak, is a descendant of the City of Hamburg, too.

.HAMBURG second-level domain names are restricted to the community of Hamburgers and their organizations (Registrants). Hamburg Top-Level-Domain intends to offer the registration of domain names under .HAMBURG according to the following policies. * DESCRIPTION of the REGISTRATION POLICIES * The following text is a shortened and descriptive version of the full registration policies which highlights the relevant information. Registration requirements in accorance with the community-based purpose in detail: * ELIGIBILITY * Since .HAMBURG is intended to serve the community of the Hamburgers in general, the group of eligible registrants is limited. Exclusively eligible to register a domain name under the top-level domain .HAMBURG is any natural person, legal person, organization or association of persons, if they can demonstrate that they have an economic, cultural, historical, social or any other connection to the metropolitan area of Hamburg, verifiable by - their residence or second home, office or place of business, a branch or permanent establishment in the metropolitan area of Hamburg, or - a contact listed in the Whois database with a domicile in the metropolitan area of Hamburg, or - other appropriate proof e.g. the certification by an employer to enroll at a school or college, or birth certificate. With the registration of a .HAMBURG domain name each registrant implicitly signs the registration policies and agrees with the fact that he acknowledges compliance with the registration guidelines. A review of whether the applicant meets the required eligibility, does not take place regularly on the date of registration, however, anyone can check compliance with the registration requirements by initiating an extrajudicial dispute resolution procedure (ʺ.HAMBURG Eligibility Requirements Dispute Resolution Policyʺ) or an objection process. * CONTENT / USE * The contents of websites under .HAMBURG must be accessible under a domain directly related to the registration criteria of .HAMBURG. The Registry has in its discretion developed restrictions on the content and use of any domain name. Such restrictions apply to any domain name registration that occurs after such restrictions come into effect. Each domain name must, within one year following the date of registration, and thereafter throughout the term of the domain name, be used as the domain name for a website displaying Hamburg Community related content relevant to the domain name, or in such other manner (such as email) that the Registry may approve after review. Domain names used as contemplated above may resolve directly to the relevant website or be forwarded or redirected to another domain name displaying content relevant to the domain name. Restrictions may include, but are not limited to, a requirement to develop a website that uses the registered domain name, to ensure that each registered domain name resolves to a working website, or to ensure that each website using a registered domain name, or redirected from a registered domain name presents content related to the registered .HAMBURG domain name. The .HAMBURG Registry will, from time to time in its sole discretion or upon evidence or advice, but at least once a year, conduct continuing or recurring audits of domain names registered to ensure continued compliance with these requirements. Failure to comply will result in a notice providing a timeframe to comply. Non-compliance following such a notice period may result in take-down of the relevant domain name, at the discretion of the Registry. * NAME SELECTION * The Registrant undertakes as part of the registration guidelines not to register any domain names that violate the statutory provisions of the European Union and Federal Republic of Germany, that intervene in the rights of others or violate them, or for abusive, speculative or anti-competitive purposes. Concomitantly, the registrant obliges himself not to spread criminal, illegal, offensive, racist, discriminatory or pornographic content under the top-level domain .HAMBURG. The Registrant further undertakes not to register domain names, which create the erroneous impression that these are domain names, content or services by public bodies or their affiliated organizations, so-called plagiarising authority domain names. The registrant agrees not to register domain names that violate ethical or criminal law principles (illegal, violent, racist, ethnically offensive, harmful to minors, indecent, offensive or domain names that violate morality and public order) or may hurt the reputation of the City of Hamburg. In addition, domain names are not permitted that use the words or parts of words that could generally perceived as offensive. These include insulting, abusive or agitational words or words or word elements, which could violate the ethical, religious or moral sensibilities of Internet users. * ENFORCEMENT * The .HAMBURG Registry will, from time to time in its sole discretion or upon evidence or advice, but at least once a year, conduct continuing or recurring audits of domain names registered to ensure continued compliance with these requirements. Failure to comply will result in a notice providing a timeframe to comply. Non-compliance following such a notice period may result in take-down of the relevant domain name, at the discretion of the Registry. The Registry is entitled to lock, cancel, initiate the gTLD-deletion cycle or transfer domain names that do not meet the registration criteria if certain cirumstances appear. Without prejudice to further legal rights, as part of abusive use rules required by ICANN for gTLDs (ʺ.HAMBURG Anti-Abuse Rulesʺ) the registry can under certain circumstances, remove a domain name and its technical data from the name servers for top-level domain .HAMBURG (disconnection), change the contact data, or delete a domain name.

Hamburg Top-Level-Domain will protect names as per the requirements in the New TLD Registry Agreement (Specification 5, paragraph 5) by reserving the country and territory names at the second level and at all other levels within the TLD. A list of those names will be compiled and published to relevant audiences before the TLD is introduced. These domains will be blocked following the Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) advice "Principles regarding new gTLDs", at no cost to the relevant organization, so that no parties may register them as a domain name.

Together with the respective governments and ccTLDs as well as with ICANN we will define procedures and set-up agreements by which the above reserved domain(s) may be released to the Registry Operator and may be registered consecutively by eligible and appropriate parties.