.blog Pre-Register Domain - .blog Domain Information

.BLOG Top Level Domain

18(a).1 Mission of the .BLOG TLD

The mission of the .BLOG TLD is to be the designated namespace for all individuals, groups, businesses, organizations, and other related entities that engage in activities related to blogging.

18(a).2 Value Proposition of the .BLOG TLD

The .BLOG TLD is the online standard for blogging and blog related products and services.

18(a).3 The Purpose of .BLOG

The .BLOG TLD will be an Internet space that facilitates the ongoing growth of blogging as a means of communication and social networking by means of, but not limited to, websites, social networks, email, and other technologies. MLG will be adapting and broadening the scale and scope of these activities to ensure the successful launch of the .BLOG TLD.

MLG has a plan to develop, build, and sustain a unique value proposition for the .BLOG TLD, and a marketing strategy to ensure that the maximum number of people and organizations are aware of how a .BLOG domain can enhance their value proposition. A .BLOG domain will provide a competitive advantage to registrants through a multitude of scenarios. MLG's delivery of the .BLOG value proposition will provide an additional incentive for registrants acquiring .BLOG domains to leverage their resources and capabilities and develop their unique place on the World Wide Web.

MLG believes in being nimble, flexible, and well funded, with a long term vision for the .BLOG TLD. We have the ingenuity and partnerships to market and develop .BLOG in a manner that:
(1) quickly establishes a base of .BLOG registrants that will immediately utilize their .BLOG domain name to provide Internet users blog related content and information;
(2) preserves the integrity and promotes the development of various country and region specific .BLOG domains through accredited organizations;
(3) establishes customers who will immediately derive value from a .BLOG TLD;
(4) protects registered trademark holders without undue cost to them;
(5) builds and protects the value proposition of the .BLOG TLD;
(6) ensures the continued development of the .BLOG TLD through competition and innovation; and
(7) leverages assets, resources, and competencies to effectively and efficiently establish a registration base from target registrant markets and all other members of the global community and public who can benefit from an ever expanding .BLOG TLD.

MLG affirms that the Internet is a transformative technology that continues to empower people around the globe, spur innovation, facilitate trade and commerce, and enable the free and unfettered flow of information. The expanding role and influence of blogs and bloggers on the Internet has demonstrated the potential of the Internet as a transformative technology. MLG envisions .BLOG domains to be registered and used by anyone who is interested in communicating about and providing blogs or blog related products, services, or information. .BLOG domain registrations will not be restricted and everyone will have an opportunity to register a .BLOG domain name.

The introduction of a .BLOG TLD offers numerous benefits and opportunities to anyone that engages in blogging or provides blog related content or services on the Internet, as well as to the consumers of such information and services. MLG will work closely with CentralNic and Internet registrars to implement a focused marketing strategy with an emphasis on ensuring that the traditional blogging community adopts and builds on the .BLOG foundation while also encouraging innovative uses of .BLOG by the emerging blogging community. MLG is committed to fostering competition, consumer trust, and consumer choice within the .BLOG TLD Internet space and the broader global marketplace. MLG and its partners understand the intrinsic value, rarity, and non-imitability of the .BLOG TLD and have the expertise, strategy, and capacity to ensure the successful establishment and growth of the .BLOG TLD. Through our goals, policies, and operating rules, MLG is committed to managing the .BLOG TLD in a manner that maximizes benefits and mitigates costs for all stakeholders.

18(b).1 Benefits of the .BLOG TLD

The goal of the .BLOG TLD is to provide a distinct online presence for all individuals, groups, businesses, organizations, and other related entities that engage in activities related to blogging and the provision of blog related products, services, and information.

18(b).2 Benefits, Innovation, Competition, and Differentiation

An ample supply of relevant .BLOG domains will be made available for interested persons to claim within the .BLOG domain space. Currently, there is no generic TLD specifically devoted to blogging. Instead, relevant online blog content is dispersed among a variety of existing generic and country-code TLDs without the benefit of a unifying string.

The creation and consumption of blog content has become one of the most popular activities on the Internet. A .BLOG TLD will help bloggers and blog related service and information providers to realize greater benefits and capitalize on more opportunities provided by the Internet. A .BLOG TLD presents an opportunity for all individuals, groups, businesses, organizations, and other related entities that engage in activities related to blogging to garner a more effective and differentiated online presence.

The .BLOG TLD will be a specialized domain space which will be developed into the online standard for blogging and blog related products and services.

The .BLOG TLD is a distinctive, succinct, and memorable TLD that epitomizes the global blogging industry. MLG's vision is to make .BLOG domain names prevalent among people, entities, and organizations that seek and supply blog related content, products, and services.

Bloggers by definition already have an online presence. However, a .BLOG TLD allows for greater differentiation on the Internet, simplifies users' choice when interacting and consuming blog content and services, and offers new benefits and opportunities to anyone that engages in activities related to blogging. Almost any individual could be a prospective registrant and will be accorded all the opportunities and benefits of the .BLOG TLD.

A .BLOG TLD will help level the playing field by providing a new, distinct channel for the production and consumption of blogs by Internet users. A .BLOG domain name will provide an enhanced platform for individuals and groups to broadcast and communicate their information to an online population which now numbers over two billion.

The opportunity to carry out our mission and deliver our value proposition will always be contingent upon providing benefits that matter to our registrants, Internet users, and the online population. To that end, MLG will strive to ensure that the .BLOG TLD provides the best value for creating and developing an online blog related presence. MLG's long term strategy is to ensure that .BLOG domains become a "must-have" for all individuals, groups, businesses, organizations, and other related entities that engage in activities related to the creation of blog content or the provision of blog related products and services.

A .BLOG domain will be the "best bang for the buck" registration by providing the best value for creating and developing distinct, clear, and credible online presence. MLG will ensure that .BLOG domains provide the best quality-to-price ratios by offering competitive registration pricing and leveraging the core competencies of MLG and CentralNic.

MLG believes that .BLOG registrants will offer a variety services and content related to blogging. .BLOG target markets are broad enough to maintain a financially viable TLD and distinct enough that the .BLOG TLD will not become ‘just another .info'. A .BLOG TLD will provide a unique space on the Internet for blogging information and services. It will allow anyone to register a domain name and develop a blog or a blog related product or service. MLG's vision for the .BLOG TLD mirrors the Internet's growth as a transformative technology that enables the free and unfettered flow of information.

The introduction of the .BLOG TLD to the Internet will increase competition, provide opportunities for differentiation, and promote innovation.

The .BLOG TLD will provide an alternative to the current TLDs by focusing on blogs and catering specifically to all individuals, groups, businesses, organizations, and other related entities that engage in activities related to blogging and the the provision of blog related products and services. .BLOG will serve as a force for differentiation as a distinctive namespace that simplifies users' choice to interact and communicate through blogs. MLG expects that users will be able to navigate to .BLOG domains and subdomains intuitively, saving them time and resources.

The .BLOG TLD will introduce more relevant domain names into the Internet domain space. This will increase competition which should compel other TLDs to increase the quality-to-price ratios of their online presence offerings.

MLG hopes that the use of .BLOG domains will increase differentiation on the Internet. It is expected that the .BLOG TLD will substantially meet the online needs of its registrants. One of MLG's goals with the introduction of the .BLOG TLD is to ensure that our target market registrants do not have to engage in unnecessary defensive registrations with other generic TLDs and country code TLDs. MLG will be marketing and branding the .BLOG TLD using strategies that continuously support and enhance the .BLOG TLD value proposition. MLG will continually invest in the .BLOG TLD brand to ensure that .BLOG registrants have a strong incentive to maintain their websites with substantive, regularly updated content that will lead to unique and sustained web traffic.

Currently it is difficult to find relevant and easily recognizable domain names from existing TLDs. Even if one is found, pricing can be prohibitive where the domain name is only available on the secondary market. The .BLOG TLD will allow people, businesses, organizations and entities with an interest in blogs to register a relevant domain name immediately and the freedom to develop as many uses for their .BLOG online presence as they can imagine. An ample supply of relevant, generic .BLOG domain names will be available immediately and the innovative uses for these domain names will pay dividends for the online community in ways that are not currently quantifiable.

18(b).3 User Experience

The .BLOG TLD will enhance users' Internet experience.

The .BLOG TLD will function with leading-edge technologies and adopt business practices to ensure a trustworthy and positive user experience. MLG will work with registrants and relevant stakeholders through a .BLOG Advisory Board that will continuously garner feedback, advice, and suggestions, and when appropriate, suggest practices, technology, and policies that help meet and exceed the expectations of .BLOG TLD users. One of MLG's goals for the .BLOG TLD is to ensure that the .BLOG online infrastructure and aggregation of websites and services encourages Internet users to interact online more frequently and to rely on .BLOG domains for all their blogging needs.

MLG intends for users to recognize the .BLOG TLD as a trustworthy platform of online blog content and information. MLG will adopt industry leading standards and policies to provide a safe and legitimate Internet space, enhance user experience by mitigating security-associated risks which are further described in our responses to Questions 26, 27, 28, and 29.

18(b).4 Registration Policies

The .BLOG TLD will adopt contemporary registration policies.

The .BLOG TLD will be open and unrestricted, allowing anyone to select an appropriate .BLOG domain name for their own legitimate purposes. Illegal uses of .BLOG domain names will not be tolerated. MLG will implement an Acceptable Use Policy as further described in response to Question 28, and will implement the UDRP, URS, and all other ICANN-required rights protection mechanisms. Further, MLG will implement additional rights protection mechanisms as described in response to Questions 28 and 29. Registrants offering services not related to blogging will have lessened interest in the .BLOG domain because .BLOG has limited intuitive appeal outside the blog realm. The price point of .BLOG will help ensure that .BLOG domains are competitive against other TLDs.

18(b).5 Registration Policies

The .BLOG TLD will adopt contemporary privacy policies.

We recognize and affirm the need for security of private and personal information on the Internet. We also recognize that the operation of a TLD necessarily involves the collection of personal information. MLG intends for users to recognize the TLD as a trustworthy indicator of the source of online information and services. User trust is enhanced when users are confident that their private or confidential information is securely protected. We intend to minimize any risks to our registrants by maintaining industry standard protocols for the protection of the personal and confidential information of registrants. With respect to Whois data, MLG will comply with ICANN policies and otherwise to ensure that complete and accurate Whois information is readily accessible for every .BLOG domain name. Moreover, MLG will offer additional Whois verification of each registrant's email address as discussed in response to Questions 26, 28 and 29.

MLG will deploy DNSSEC and to comply with all of the other policies and practices required by ICANN in the Registry Agreement and/or via any Consensus Policy. And of course, MLG will comply with all applicable laws and regulations relating to Internet security and the privacy of users' confidential information. Furthermore, CentralNic already employs commercially reasonable practices with respect to the security of online transactions and users' private or confidential information.

Our approach to privacy on the Whois service is two-fold:
1. Our Whois service is rate limited to prevent ʺdictionaryʺ attacks where attackers try to obtain large volumes of Whois records by making repeated queries.
2. Contact objects associated with natural (as opposed to legal) persons can ʺopt outʺ of display in the Whois service, though their information is still made available via the secure Searchable Whois Service (SWS).

Additional details can be found in our response to Question 26.

18(b).6 Outreach and Communications

MLG will engage in extensive outreach initiatives and communications campaigns for the .BLOG TLD

The use of .BLOG domains will effectively communicate the availability of the TLD to the intended audience, not only for the specific purpose at hand but also for more general or intuitive purposes. For example, a user who first sees an advertisement for ‘productname.blog' may later directly navigate to ‘company.blog' to search for other products of that producer. In addition to MLG's own specific efforts to communicate the new TLD to its intended audience, MLG expects that audience and relevant media to further communicate the TLD as they discover the many domain names, websites and services located at .BLOG domains. As the first generic TLD targeted to the blogging and blog related products and services, MLG expects a substantial degree of publicity and a high level of word-of-mouth marketing within that market.

18(c).1 Social Cost Minimization

The .BLOG TLD will function with leading-edge technologies and adopt business practices that ensure a trustworthy and positive user experience. MLG will work with registrants and relevant stakeholders through a .BLOG Advisory Board that will continuously garner feedback, advice, and suggestions and when appropriate, suggest practices, technology and policies that help meet and exceed the expectations of .BLOG TLD users. One of MLG's goals for the .BLOG TLD is to ensure that the .BLOG online infrastructure and aggregation of websites and services encourages Internet users to interact online more frequently and rely on .BLOG domains for all their blog related needs.

MLG intends for users to perceive the .BLOG TLD as a trustworthy platform of online blog information. MLG will adopt industry leading standards and policies to provide a safe and legitimate Internet space, enhance user experience by mitigating security-associated risks which are further described in our responses to Questions 26, 27, 28 and 29.

MLG will adopt policies that develop the .BLOG TLD in a manner that provides an easily navigable and predictable domain name space--for example, ‘geographicalname.blog' for localized websites, and ‘product.blog' for blog content related to the product. All of this will enhance users' experience online by lessening confusion when browsing and interacting online.

18(c).2 .BLOG Advisory Council

A volunteer .BLOG Advisory Council will be established.

We recognize that there are significant interests at stake in the .BLOG TLD. We believe that members of the blogging community, including bloggers, blog service providers, and consumers of blogging sites in general will have suggestions and concerns regarding the continued operation and growth of the .BLOG TLD. We believe that these groups should be heard. MLG will establish a non-commercial volunteer .BLOG Advisory Council and additional web-based feedback mechanisms for interested parties. This combination will provide a foundation for all interested parties to express their thoughts and ideas, and will help us develop policies so that the intended benefits of the .BLOG TLD are realized and maximized.

The Advisory Council will be made up of representatives from a broad spectrum of associations, organizations and institutions who have and will indicate an interest in the .BLOG TLD. In addition to representation from MLG and CentralNic, we anticipate including members who will represent bloggers, the business community, the international community, and the Internet using public. The Council will be invited to provide MLG with feedback on specific issues as well as valuable advice to the .BLOG management team. These issues may range from policy to the introduction of new services, and the Council will serve as a resource for management as it seeks to incorporate the broadest possible input for important decisions.

18(c).3 Feedback Website

A .BLOG TLD dedicated feedback website will be established.

Members of the broad Internet community should have a means of learning about and commenting on initiatives underway with the .BLOG TLD. Similarly, .BLOG management should be able to tap into the community for input on important issues. To facilitate this communication, MLG will establish a .BLOG feedback website to both inform and solicit input from interested parties. Key elements of the site will include (1) a news feed for up to date information on the development of .BLOG, (2) Discussion forums for posting comments and other items of interest to .BLOG, (3) A polling capability in order to assess interests or needs of the community from time to time.

18(c).4 Domain Name Contention

The .BLOG TLD will adopt current domain name contention policies.

.BLOG will comply with all of ICANN's requirements for implementation of rights protection mechanisms, including the Trademark Clearinghouse, the Uniform Domain-Name Dispute Resolution Policy and the Uniform Rapid Suspension Policy. MLG will offer additional rights protection mechanisms as described in response to Questions 26, 28 and 29.

MLG will offer a phased launch, consistent with many prior generic TLD domain name launches. First, a Sunrise Period will be offered as required by ICANN, for trademark holders to register domain names that correspond to their marks. If there is more than one qualified Sunrise applicant, then they will be invited to participate in an auction to select the registrant of the contested name. After the close of the Sunrise Period, MLG will conduct a Premium Name Availability Period, accepting applications for registrations of any available .BLOG domain names. In the event of more than one applicant contending for any domain during this Period, all such applicants will be invited to participate in an auction to select the registrant of the contested name. After the Premium Name Availability Period, MLG will make unreserved names generally available for open registration by any interested person or entity, on a first-come/first-served basis.

Any changes to pricing plans or other .BLOG policies will be announced well in advance via e-mail to the registered owner of any domains, and via public announcement to all registrars that offer .BLOG registrations - all as required by the Registry Agreement. MLG also will make contractual commitments to registrants regarding the magnitude of price escalation upon renewal.

In accordance with Specification 5 of the New gTLD Registry Agreement, the Registry Operator must initially reserve all geographic names at the second level and at all other levels within the TLD at which the Registry Operator provides for registrations.

MLG will support this requirement by using the following internationally recognized lists to develop a comprehensive master list of all geographic names that will be initially reserved:

1. The 2-letter alpha-2 code of all country and territory names contained on the ISO 3166-1 list, including all reserved and unassigned codes
[http://www.iso.org/iso/support/country_codes/iso_3166_code_lists/iso-31661_ decoding_table.htm];

2. The short form (in English) of all country and territory names contained on the ISO 3166-1 list, 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-31661_ decoding_table.htm#EU];

3. 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. This lists the names of 193 independent States generally recognised by the international community in the language or languages used in an official capacity within each country and is current as of August 2006
[http://unstats.un.org/unsd/geoinfo/ungegn%20tech%20ref%20manual_M87_combined.pdf]; and

4. The list of UN member states in 6 official UN languages prepared by the Working Group on Country Names of the United Nations Conference on the standardization of Geographical Names [http://unstats.un.org/unsd/geoinfo/UNGEGN/docs/9th-uncsgndocs/ econf/9th_UNCSGN_e-conf-98-89-add1.pdf]

Names on this reserved list in the TLD registry will be prevented from registration, unless and until any such names are released from reservation per MLG's release procedures generally described below.

A corresponding list of geographic names will be made available to the public via the Registry Operator's website in order to inform Registrars and potential Registrants of the reserved status of such names. The lists previously noted, will be regularly monitored for revisions and the reserved list, both within the registry and publicly facing, will continually be updated to reflect any changes.

In addition to these requirements, CentralNic is able to support the wishes of MLG in regards to the reservation of additional terms on a case by case basis. The .BLOG TLD registry allows such additions to the reserved list to be made by appropriately authorized staff, with no further system development changes required.

The following applies to all Domain Names contained within the .BLOG TLD registry reserved list:

1. Attempts to register reserved Domain Names will be rejected;

2. Whois queries for listed Domain Names will receive responses indicating their reserved status;

3. Reserved names will not appear in the TLD zone file; and

4. DNS queries for reserved domain names will result in an NXDOMAIN response.

22.1 Procedures for Release of Geographic Names

We understand that if and when MLG wishes to release any reserved names at a later date, this will require further approval from ICANN.

In order to release reserved names, MLG will have in place a special release mechanism, described below.

Consistent with the .info release of geographic names, as referenced in the New GTLD Application, MLG will present the GAC Representatives with an option, at no charge, of objecting to release and use of any initially reserved names at the second level. The at-no-charge objection will remain an option for the GAC Representatives, in compliance with current ICANN requirements regarding geographic reserved names.

Generally, it is extremely unlikely that MLGʹs authorized use of any countryname.blog or cc.blog domain name could be confusing to users, or otherwise offensive to any country. To the extent that use of any .BLOG domain was ever deemed confusing or offensive, MLG will have a strong desire to resolve the situation quickly and respectfully to any affected country's sovereign interests. At minimum, MLG will ensure that its designated abuse contact is aware of the additional sensitivities that may potentially arise with respect to use of cc.blog or countryname.blog domains, such that any complaints of this nature are prioritized accordingly.