18.1 Mission and Purpose of .NORTON
Symantec Corporation (“Symantec”) is a leading global provider of information security and protection, serving the needs of consumers around the world, with more than 18,500 employees and operations in numerous countries. Symantec’s products are available for purchase online to consumers and Symantec’s online content is accessible in the .COM gTLD and in multiple ccTLDs, including .CA, .DE, .EU, and .RU. Symantec is applying for two branded gTLDs: .SYMANTEC and .NORTON.
The intended future mission and purpose of the .NORTON gTLD is to serve as a trusted, hierarchical, secure, and intuitive namespace provided by Symantec for its consumers. Symantec is committed to moving forward with a .NORTON gTLD application; however at the time of filing this application, there has not been enough time, and currently there is not enough market information available, to fully analyze and evaluate all potential use case options.
Symantec will be analyzing and evaluating other .BRAND gTLD applications as well as general market adoption to determine short- and long-term potential best-in-class use case options to most effectively serve and enhance Symantec’s online strategy as a leading provider of information security and protection. As a company, Symantec’s unique focus is to eliminate risks to information, technology, and processes independent of the device, platform, interaction, or location. Symantec helps individuals, small and medium-sized businesses, and global organizations ensure that their information, technology infrastructures, and related processes are protected and easily managed. Symantec delivers solutions that allow customers to access information when they need it and make it available to all of those who should have access to it. The .NORTON gTLD will be in line with the company’s current focus by providing a trusted, hierarchical, secure, and intuitive namespace.
Although ICANN has not specifically recognized a .BRAND gTLD specification in the current version of the Applicant Guidebook, it is widely anticipated within the brand-owner community that this will become a specialty subset of gTLDs. The .NORTON gTLD is planned as a .BRAND gTLD with the goal of protecting Symantec’s online presence and identity; expanding its marketing and promotion efforts; providing a secure channel for online products and services; and offering a platform through which to consolidate many of the intellectual property activities of Symantec.
Symantec intends to initially limit registration and use of domain names within the .NORTON gTLD to Symantec and its qualified subsidiaries and affiliates. This initial limited use will allow Symantec to establish its operations and achieve full sustainability. This limited distribution coupled with the other requirements set forth in Specification 9 of the template Registry Agreement is intended to exempt Symantec from its annual Code of Conduct Compliance requirements.
After Stage 3 (see below), Symantec will evaluate whether opportunities exist to carry out the business strategy for the gTLD through expansion that continues the sustainable operations of the registry through fee-based registrations to parties other than Symantec and its qualified subsidiaries and affiliates.
Symantec currently plans a four-stage rollout for the .NORTON gTLD:
Stage 1: The initial stage of implementation of the gTLD will involve Symantec registering a limited number of .NORTON second-level domain names.
This initial use will provide Symantec’s IT and security personnel the time to run a number of tests to ensure seamless and secure access using the .NORTON gTLD domain names, interoperability with various software and Web-based applications, and unbroken and secure use of all names. This initial allocation will also allow the appropriate Symantec staff to coordinate with the internal and external staff responsible for the delegation and setup phases of the .NORTON gTLD to ensure a proper transition from delegation to full operation.
Stage 2: Once all testing has been successfully completed, Symantec will begin allocating domain names in .NORTON for more widespread internal corporate use. During this same period of time, Symantec will begin evaluating strategies to potentially migrate traffic away from its current patchwork network of second-level domain names, which are registered in a variety of TLDs, to Symantec’s new gTLDs.
It is in Stage 2 that Symantec will evaluate expanding the operations of the gTLD to permit registration by other registrants such as licensees or strategic partners. Should an assessment of its expansion strategy lead to a decision to extend registration rights to other parties, this expansion is currently planned to take place during Stage 3. However, any expansion would be conditioned upon a review of Specification 9 (Registry Code of Conduct) set forth in the template Registry Agreement to ensure compliance with Symantec’s business model.
Stage 3: Depending on the analysis of the evaluations undertaken in Stage 2, Symantec may begin to implement the permanent migration of Internet traffic away from the TLDs in which Symantec’s domain names are currently registered, and toward the new Symantec branded gTLDs. It is in this stage that Symantec may implement its decision to extend registration rights to licensees or strategic partners, depending upon compliance with Specification 9 as noted above. The dates of such expansion are subject to change depending upon business, strategic, and industry factors at the time.
After consideration of the following factors: analysis of Symantec’s existing domain name portfolio; internal analysis of marketing initiatives; and the fact that Symantec will have full control over the number of registrations in the .NORTON gTLD namespace, Symantec is confident that the number of domain name registrations will be less than 10,000 in the first five years of operation.
Stage 4: Based on its experience with any expansion implemented in Stage 3, Symantec will assess whether its business plan and expansion strategy should be augmented by extending registration rights to a broader class of licensees, potentially including customers of Symantec. It is anticipated by Symantec that changes to the domain name industry, and particularly the impact of .BRAND gTLDs, will take at least five years to be realized and assessed. Any decision to expand the gTLDs beyond corporate, partner, and licensee use will take into account this experience as well as the technical analysis of potential expansion.
The potential use of the .NORTON gTLD will also be driven by Symantec’s future business strategies as identified in its annual report and investor filings, see: http:⁄⁄investor.symantec.com⁄phoenix.zhtml?c=89422&p=irol-reports.
Utilizing current projections based upon Symantec’s existing businesses, future business plans, current domain name portfolio, and other strategic factors, Symantec estimates second-level domain name registrations to be in line with the projections set forth in the financial template provided in response to Question 46 of this application.
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