Q18A SV CHAR: 7979
ABOUT DONUTS
Donuts Inc. intends to increase competition and consumer choice at the top level. It will operate carefully selected TLDs and securely in a shared resources business model. Donuts has recruited executive management with proven track records of excellence and contributions to industry policymaking.
ABOUT DONUTS’ RESOURCES
Donuts has raised more than US$100 million from a number of capital sources. Our well-resourced and skilled organization will operate these TLDs and benefit Internet users by:
1. Providing the operational and financial stability necessary for TLDs of all sizes, but particularly for those with smaller volume (which are more likely to succeed within a shared resources model);
2. Competing more powerfully against incumbent gTLDs; and
3. More thoroughly and uniformly executing consumer and rights holder protections.
THE .INVESTMENTS TLD
This TLD is attractive and useful to end-users as it better facilitates search, self-expression, information sharing and the provision of legitimate goods and services. Along with the other TLDs in the Donuts family, this TLD will provide Internet users with opportunities for online identities and expression that do not currently exist. In doing so, the TLD will introduce significant consumer choice and competition to the Internet namespace – the very purpose of ICANN’s new TLD program.
This TLD is a generic term and its second level names will be attractive to a variety of Internet users. Making this TLD available to a broad audience of registrants is consistent with the competition goals of the New TLD expansion program, and consistent with ICANN’s objective of maximizing Internet participation. Donuts believes in an open Internet and, accordingly, we will encourage inclusiveness in the registration policies for this TLD. In order to avoid harm to legitimate registrants, Donuts will not artificially deny access, on the basis of identity alone (without legal cause), to a TLD that represents a generic form of activity and expression.
INVESTMENTS will be appealing to registrants with personal or professional interest in the commitment of time, capital and resources in economically constructive ways. Investing is a widespread human and business endeavor, and a foundation of the world’s economy. Registrants in .INVESTMENTS will be extremely broad and diverse, and assuredly will include investment services providers, capital managers, brokerages, real estate companies, insurance providers, banks, financial counselors and myriad others who provision investment services and products in multiple jurisdictions. The TLD is also a natural forum for the extensive interest in investments and their global impact, and will attract registrants including individuals, financial journalists, accountants, and analysts. The TLD is inclusive beyond the scope of financial investing, of course, and could include discussions and interchanges about the investment of time, energy, human potential, and other means of achievement and advancement. Importantly as well, the term naturally creates a distinction between true investing and speculation or gambling, and offers an intuitive pathway for end-users to find information and data that is constructive. .INVESTMENTS would be operated securely and in the best interest of all registrants.
DONUTS’ APPROACH TO PROTECTIONS
No entity, or group of entities, has exclusive rights to own or register second level names in this TLD. There are superior ways to minimize the potential abuse of second level names, and in this application Donuts will describe and commit to an extensive array of protections against abuse, including protections against the abuse of trademark rights.
We recognize some applicants seek to address harms by constraining access to the registration of second level names. However, we believe attempts to limit abuse by limiting registrant eligibility is unnecessarily restrictive and harms users by denying access to many legitimate registrants. Restrictions on second level domain eligibility would prevent law-abiding individuals and organizations from participating in a space to which they are legitimately connected, and would inhibit the sort of positive innovation we intend to see in this TLD. As detailed throughout this application, we have struck the correct balance between consumer and business safety, and open access to second level names.
By applying our array of protection mechanisms, Donuts will make this TLD a place for Internet users that is far safer than existing TLDs. Donuts will strive to operate this TLD with fewer incidences of fraud and abuse than occur in incumbent TLDs. In addition, Donuts commits to work toward a downward trend in such incidents.
OUR PROTECTIONS
Donuts has evaluated the ideas of international law enforcement, consumer privacy advocacy organizations, intellectual property interests and other Internet industry groups to create a set of protections that far exceed those in existing TLDs, and bring to the Internet namespace nearly two dozen new rights and protection mechanisms to raise user safety and protection to a new level.
These include eight, innovative and forceful mechanisms and resources that far exceed the already powerful protections in the applicant guidebook. These 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.
They 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; and
14. Measures for the prevention of orphan glue records.
Due to the level of end-user trust potentially associated with this string, and consistent with the requirements of Question 30, Donuts will employ these additional four, protections:
1. For this string, to supplement the periodic audit documented above, a deeper and more extensive verification of Whois data accuracy, with associated remediation and takedown processes.
2. Exclusion of registrars with a history of poor compliance;
3. Regular monitoring by the registry of registered domains for pharming, phishing, spam, botnets, copyright infringement and other forms of abuse, and remediation and takedown processes; and
4. In addition to registry-based procedures, requirements that registrars have a 24⁄7⁄365 abuse contact, and remediation and takedown processes.
DONUTS’ INTENTION FOR THIS TLD
As a senior government authority has recently said, “a successful applicant is entrusted with operating a critical piece of global Internet infrastructure.” Donuts’ plan and intent is for this TLD to serve the international community by bringing new users online through opportunities for economic growth, increased productivity, the exchange of ideas and information and greater self-expression.
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