THE MISSION AND PURPOSE OF THE NEW RESTRICTED .GALLO gTLD IS TO BENEFIT INTERNET USERS BY ENSURING INCREASED TRUST AND CONFIDENCE THROUGH THE ELIMINATION OF USER CONFUSION AND ASSURANCE OF BRAND AUTHENTICITY.
The new .gallo gTLD will operate as a restricted registry, in which Gallo Vineyards Inc. (Gallo) can create and control domain spaces that promote its brand’s identity and authenticity. In this regard, the .gallo will be used by Gallo to provide information, services and resources to consumers in a way that promotes trust, convenience and utility. The .gallo gTLD will provide an authoritative internet space for Gallo. Second and third level domains can then be utilised to establish a centralized presence for the provision of information and promotion of Gallo, its brands and associated products. The new gTLD is intended to be one of the primary places to provide new, accurate and geographically personalized information and access to the company, its products and brands.
Gallo Vineyards is a wholly owned subsidiary of E & J Gallo. E & J Gallo is a leader in the US wine industry and a leading provider of Californian wines to markets. The winery was established in Modesto, California in 1933 and has been operating as a family owned winery for over 75 years. E& J Gallo is one of the most highly acclaimed wineries in the world, having earned major awards from prestigious wine competitions in the US and internationally. Gallo winery aims to provide its customers with world-class products from growing regions all over the world. E. & J. Gallo Winery prides itself on innovation and was recognized as the first winery in the US to receive the International Standards Organizationʹs ISO 14001 certification, created to assist companies reduce impacts on the environment.
Since the inception of the current domain name system, business activities conducted on the internet are constantly changing and evolving with increased complexity. The volume of commercial transactions over the internet is constantly growing and bringing benefits of simplicity and lowered transaction costs to businesses and consumers. However, at the same time, criminal activities over the internet including data breach, hacking and phishing activities have also become more sophisticated resulting in loss of consumer confidence beyond mere monetary harm. The .gallo gTLD will facilitate greater trust and assurance from internet users connecting with Gallo and its Gallo brand online, whilst still allowing convenient and efficient interaction.
Gallo’s mission and purpose of the proposed new gTLD share ICANN’s initiatives to promote public interest. Gallo is committed to contribute towards achieving such initiatives in line with ICANN’s Affirmation of Commitments, which includes:
- consumer trust: the .gallo gTLD registry will be operated in a centralised manner with a restrictive registration policy. Registration of domain names will only be available to Gallo, which will provide added consumer trust that .gallo domain names are trustworthy. As .gallo domain names are subject to registration standards, policies and procedures under Gallo’s control, this eliminates the possibility of malicious conduct within the .gallo domain space;
- competition: the proposed new gTLD is not intended to instigate competition and consumer choice at the level of registration of domain names among prospective registrants. Instead it is anticipated to contribute to ICANN’s initiatives to promote public interest through its operation focused on promoting consumer trust. Increased trust in the .gallo gTLD will drive existing and new top level domain (TLD) registry operators to make improvements in mechanisms to improve consumer trust of their TLDs; and
- consumer choice: the proposed new gTLD will enable user-driven improvements and innovations assisting Gallo’s marketing efforts through its ability to create new second and third level domain names on demand. These names will provide the consumers with more choices for interacting with Gallo. As Gallo has effective control over the registration and use of domain names under .gallo domain space, this will also contribute towards general service innovations on the internet.
Given the restricted nature of the .gallo gTLD, the projected number of registration is likely to be limited. It is anticipated that a more limited number of domain names (50) will be registered in the first year. However, over the next few years, the number of registrations is likely to increase to about 350 domain names as Gallo develops and implements new services and marketing campaigns.
As the new .gallo gTLD expands and evolves, Gallo will continue to comply with all operational, technical and policy requirements, as well as maintaining consumer trust and the stability of the internet. Gallo will keep ICANN reasonably informed of any material developments relating to .gallo gTLD including compliance with the continued operations instrument obligations as set out in Specification 8 of the Registry Agreement.
Gallo intends to create relevant domain names for use including product, services or geographic names in the second or third level domain names. In accordance with registration policy and the proposed measures for protection of geographic names as outlined in response to Question 22, Gallo will use geographic names to localise its websites in the countries in which it operates. The use of geographic names is intended to:
- connect internet users with relevant information as applicable to the territory; and
- comply with required rules and regulations in the national territory.
Gallo does not intend to utilise Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs) at the second level initially. However, as the use of the .gallo gTLD evolves, Gallo may wish to utilise IDNs to allow internet users to engage with .gallo in their native language, creating a more positive user experience and encouraging diversity.
E & J Gallo, as parent company, licences the use of its intellectual property rights to Gallo Vineyards Inc. Gallo is a well-recognised global brand with its “Gallo” trademark registered in 132 countries and territories for Class 33 – Alcoholic Beverages (except beers). E & J Gallo wineries have been using the “Gallo” mark since the winery was founded in 1933.
Further, Gallo has an extensive domain name portfolio including 64 existing domain names that are an exact match “Gallo” trademark in the following TLDs:
- gTLDs: gallo.com
- Country Code TLDs (ccTLDs): gallo.de, gallo.eu, gallo.be, gallo.ca, gallo.pl, gallo.ie, gallo.co.jp.
Futhermore, E & J Gallo has an additional 161 domains that contain the terms “Gallo” across a number of gTLDs and ccTLDs. |