.construction Pre-Register Domain - .construction Domain Information

Benefits to Industry:
Dot Construction, LLC, the applicant for the ".construction" gTLD (the "Registry") intends to develop and serve the global construction industry by enhancing communication, access to relevant information, and searchability. The dictionary defines construction as "the industry of erecting buildings or other structures". Countless businesses and individuals associate with this term in a wide variety of ways. The construction industry alone presently employs over 110 Million people globally. Economists value this global industry at upwards of 7 Trillion Dollars per year, accounting for approximately 9% of the world's GDP. The Registry will create an online community dedicated to the construction industry.

Benefits to Consumer:
The .construction gTLD will improve organization and accountability and will create transparency in the marketplace. A robust Whois will engender consumer trust by ensuring that domain names are registered to professional users, providers of services, and interested parties within industries related to construction. The Registry will be a digital environment dedicated to members of the construction community and those seeking their services. The .construction gTLD will create an environment for innovation, new opportunity, job creation, and economic growth among registrants, internet users, and others by bringing them together in a vertical marketplace.

The .construction gTLD will benefit registrants, internet users, and others by creating an internet space dedicated to the construction industry. Registrants will gain higher visibility and easier searchability as well as access to relevant and brand-centric domains in a way that is currently unavailable on other gTLDs. Internet users can better search for products and services with assurance of a reputable source. All others will benefit from the improved industry productivity and economic development generated by the vertical marketplace.
(i) The goal of the proposed gTLD in terms of areas of specialty, service levels, or reputation:
Specialty: The Registry seeks to support all aspects of the construction industry. It will bring together interested parties as well as facilitate dissemination and distribution of information between industry members. In addition to all specialties described above, consumers seeking construction supplies and services will instantly recognize and trust providers using a .construction domain. Because of this, the Registry envisions that construction service and supply providers will choose .construction domains as their portal for targeting consumers. Additionally, the introduction of a .construction gTLD provides the potential benefit of allowing shortened strings for existing domains and also the availability of more appropriate domains unavailable in other more-crowded TLDs.
Service Levels: Service levels provided by the .construction gTLD comply with required service levels defined in Specification 10 of the gTLD Registry Agreement detailed in the ICANN gTLD Applicant Guidebook.
Reputation: The Registry's priority is to establish a reputation as an innovative, stable, secure and accountable community; serving organizations and entities in the wide range of construction industries as well as all other interested parties. Further, the managers of the Registry have established their reputation through successful internet endeavors and years of quality work within the construction industry. ARI Registry Services ("ARI"), the Registry's selected registry services provider, has an established reputation for providing and operating a robust and reliable back-end registry service that enables multiple registrars to provide domain name registration services in the top-level domain. ARI's proven, reliable system supports multiple registries and many registrars. ARI has a long history of meeting its service level agreements as evidenced in the Registry Operator's Monthly Reports that ARI files with ICANN. The reports detail ARI's operational status and its compliance with applicable service level agreements. These monthly reports are accessible from the ICANN website at the following URL: http://www.icann.org/en/tlds/monthly-reports/. Moreover, the Registry has established a strategic relationship with industry-leading registrar Melbourne IT, thereby ensuring a first-rate consumer experience and compliance with all applicable industry policies and standards.

(ii) What the proposed gTLD anticipates adding to the current space, in terms of competition, differentiation, or innovation:
Competition: The proposed gTLD will promote competition by creating a digital environment dedicated to commercial aspects of the massive construction vertical market, one of the largest in the world. As such, .construction will have a competitive advantage over other gTLDs with respect to this industry. Further, the website www.domaintools.com indicates there are currently over 176,000 domain names that include the word "construction" in their string.125,000 of those domain names end with the word "construction". As such, the .construction gTLD presents an opportunity to shorten string length for these existing domains and provide an appealing and intuitive opportunity for registrants. Beyond just allowing for string shortening, the gTLD will allow new registrants to create domains for sharing their construction interests, liaising with industry contacts and connecting with similarly interested parties. With a dedicated platform for the construction sector, new, improved and/or shorter domain names will be sought by participants; thereby contributing to competition in the current space by offering consumers more choice and registrants more marketable domains.
As the public increasingly accepts new gTLDs, the Registry envisions registrants will seek out TLDs that describe their nature or activities. Accordingly, members of construction and other building industries will look to the .construction gTLD first when establishing their web presence, and will register domain names as tools to interact with consumers, liaise with colleagues, share new products and services, link to various social networks, sell merchandise, etcetera.
Differentiation: The fundamental difference between .construction and all other gTLDs is its dedication to the business of construction. The proposed gTLD will create a space associated with the construction industry. To achieve this differentiation, beyond simply providing domain names, the Registry will, in accordance with Specification 9 of the Registry Agreement, proactively develop and maintain multiple innovative and branded websites to create and enhance industry-specific communities dedicated to this major global market and its massive base of over 100 million constituents.
Innovation: The proposed gTLD will catalyze innovation by creating an online community devoted to the various construction sectors as well as their stakeholders. This will bring largely untapped brick and mortar industries online. Registrants and users may in turn take advantage of the opportunities for increased communication, access to information, visibility and commerce to develop new methods of advancing their interests. All will benefit from this vibrant and dynamic collaborative process. For example, category and geography-based search functionality will connect more consumers and organizations, allowing for a more robust and efficient exchange of information. The additional data provided by .construction registrants will allow for the following innovations:
• Optimized and customized search capability
• Industry specific premium names that will be utilized for the benefit of the online construction community
• Industry knowledge married with technology
• Create the foundation for an industry-specific e-commerce platform
• Ability to create and analyze industry metrics
• Targeted advertising
These innovations will add new experiences and opportunities to the space, directly benefiting registrants and indirectly benefiting users and others.
(iii) Goals the proposed gTLD has in terms of user experience:
The Registry envisions a greatly enhanced user experience by facilitating streamlined searches for services and products, further refined by geography and/or category. The quality of the user experience will improve as the Registry provides resources to its constituents including interest-specific information, communication channels, markets, collaborative applications and business opportunities. The goal of the .construction TLD is to be the destination and home for all online activity related to construction. As such, certain premium domains may be branded for consistency of user experience and quality of content on this unique platform.
Moreover, ARI will ensure that all pertinent services consistently meet the prescribed defined in Specification 10 of the Registry Agreement, helping to ensure the user experience is satisfactory. In addition, ARI will comply with any other applicable ICANN policy or procedure, thereby helping to ensure the user experience provided is both secure and stable. Strategic partner Melbourne IT will ensure top quality consumer interface and policy compliance.
(iv) Description of the intended registration policies in support of the goals listed above:
The Registry may partner with construction associations around the globe to attract potential registrants, users and others. Following a Sunrise and Landrush period, the Registry intends to make domains available to all interested parties willing to complete the registry's application process and comply with registry policies and ICANN requirements. Registration requests for available names will be allocated by the Registry through accredited registrars on a first-come, first-served basis, subject to the Registry policies and ICANN requirements. The Registry will establish and enforce dispute resolution procedures concerning compliance with all TLD registration policies.
The Registry plans to reserve the right to retain additional names on a reserved name list at any time at its sole discretion, in accordance with Specification 5 of the Registry Agreement; and to allocate such names in accordance with ICANN requirements and registry policies.
(v) The proposed gTLD will impose measures for protecting the privacy or confidential information of registrants or users:
The Registry will protect the privacy and confidential information of registrants and users through industry standard security technology, provided by ARI and through a contractual privacy policy statement. ARI, the Registry's selected provider of registry services, provides a comprehensive security solution - independently audited - to ensure that registrants' privacy and confidential information is protected. These measures include registry databases that are access controlled, encrypted data escrow procedures, and a broad ranging security policy addressing physical, cyber, and personnel security threats. Further details of these security policies are provided in response to Question 30, Security Policy. In compliance with the Registry Agreement's Specification 4, data fields defined in the specification are made publicly available through the Registry's Whois service offering.
User security is enhanced by the use of Domain Name System Security Extensions ("DNSSEC") providing an important layer of overall Internet security. ARI's DNSSEC implementations adhere to key security standards and guidelines as required by Federal Information Processing Standards ("FIPS") 140-2 Level 3. Through ARI's proven DNSSEC implementation, the .construction gTLD helps to protect the privacy and confidential information of its users.

(vi) Description of whether and in what ways outreach and communications will help to achieve projected benefits:
The Registry will engage in outreach and communications as follows:
• Partnerships with construction associations, to promote the Registry to members through partnership agreements and registrar reseller arrangements.
• Strategic alliances, advertising and registrar reseller agreements with other aggregators of constructions services and suppliers.
• Build relationships with associations whose members provide goods and services to industries involved in any sort of construction.
• Industry-specific outreach through conferences, tradeshows and publications.
By reaching out to industry specific sources, this will achieve projected benefits by helping to establish the Registry's professional reputation and increase awareness around our industry-specific gTLD. This outreach and education will develop the Registry's base of registrants and direct and increase web traffic.
Beyond this, the Registry will engage in targeted advertising and outreach by working with a wide range of strategic partners to promote the Registry to all legitimately interested in any category of the construction market. The enhanced visibility of geographic and category-specific domains developed by the Registry and optimized for searches will further help communicate the Registry's commitment to its mission. Targeted advertising will benefit both registrants and advertisers by promoting competition and facilitating efficient communication. Community-building platforms may be employed to enhance the development of communities oriented towards construction. Moreover, the opportunities for better and greater communication amongst registrants themselves will help to establish the Registry's community reputation and develop its base.

The Registry will enact rules to eliminate any social costs associated with the creation of a new TLD. The proposed gTLD will adopt policies that preemptively address negative consequences, in addition to analyzing behavioral trends to identify issues as they emerge. Registry's evaluation of the market and its potential registrants suggests that registrations of .construction domains will be active rather than defensive in nature, as with .com and other open TLDs. Due to the existence of significant communities of interest relating to construction, the TLD presents registrants with opportunities aligned to their pursuits. Registrants will have the opportunity and the incentive to work together in promotion of their shared interests.

To accomplish this, the Registry will be compliant with all relevant laws and statutes, and all ICANN policies and procedures, including without limitation, the Digital Millenium Copyright Act ("DMCA"), Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy ("URDP"), and Uniform Rapid Suspension system ("URS"). The Registry will also adopt protection mechanisms against spam, phishing, data theft, IP infringement, and Domain Naming system ("DNS") attacks.
(i) Method for resolving multiple applications for a particular name:
During the Sunrise period, multiple applications for a particular domain, assuming all are properly listed in the Trademark Clearinghouse and/or otherwise verified in accordance with ICANN policies and procedures, will be resolved through an auction.
During the Landrush period, multiple applications for a particular domain name will be resolved through an auction process.
During the general registration process, multiple applications for a particular domain name will be resolved on a first come first serve basis.
(ii) Cost benefits to registrants intended for implementation:
The Registry reserves the right to offer introductory discounts and advantageous pricing to industry leaders or other entities that enhance the professional reputation and visibility of the gTLD.
The Registry may coordinate with registrars to offer price discounts for customers purchasing multiple domains or bundled services.

(iii) Intended contractual commitments to registrants regarding the magnitude of price escalation:
The Registry will comply with the Registry Agreement and will make contractual commitments to registrants regarding the pricing policy(ies). This includes complying with all pricing requirements detailed in Article 2.10 of ICANN's New gTLD Registry Agreement. The gTLD may from time to time adjust prices in accordance with market rates and other applicable factors throughout the internet community.

Dot Construction, LLC, the applicant applying for the ".construction" gTLD (the "Registry"), plans to temporarily reserve a list of geographic names as required in Specification 5 of the draft Registry Agreement, and also intends to adopt policies for releasing and registering these reserved names with the further approval of ICANN and/or relevant members of ICANN's Governmental Advisory Committee (the "GAC").

Reserved Names: The Registry intends to initially reserve the country and territory names contained in the following internationally recognized lists (the "Geographic Names"), at the second level and at all other levels within the TLD at which the Registry provides for registrations:

1. The short form (in English) of all country and territory names contained on the ISO 3166-1 list, as updated from time to time, 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-3166-1_decoding_table.htm#EU〉;

2. 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; and

3. The list of United Nations member states in 6 official United Nations languages prepared by the Working Group on Country Names of the United Nations Conference on the Standardization of Geographical Names

A corresponding list of geographic names will be made available to the public via the ARI Registry Services (ARI)'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, ARI is able to support the wishes of the Registry in regards to the reservation of additional terms on a case by case basis. The managed 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 managed TLD registry reserved list:
-Attempts to register reserved Domain Names will be rejected;
-WhoIs queries for listed Domain Names will receive responses indicating their reserved status;
-Reserved names will not appear in the TLD zone file; and
-DNS queries for reserved domain names will result in an NXDOMAIN response.

2. PROCEDURES FOR RELEASE
We understand that if and when the Registry wishes to release any reserved names at a later date, this will require further approval from ICANN.
In order to release reserved names, the Registry 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, the Registry will present the GAC Representatives with an option, at no charge, of objecting to release and use of any initially reserved names. The Registry reasonably believes that very few GAC Representatives, if any, would exercise this option. Nevertheless, the at-no-charge objection will remain an option for the GAC Representatives, in compliance with current ICANN requirements regarding geographic reserved names. The Registry will reserve the Geographic Names for a temporary reservation period of one year following the delegation of the gTLD. When the temporary reservation terminates, those country names that have not been registered at that time will be made available for use by the Registry or auction. Those not selling at auction will fall into the pool of available names for private registration on a first-come-first served basis.
Generally, it is extremely unlikely that the Registry's authorized use of any geographic ".construction" domain name could be confusing to users, or otherwise offensive to any country. To the extent that use of any such domain was ever deemed confusing or offensive, the Registry is likely to have a strong desire to resolve the situation quickly and respectfully to any affected country's sovereign interests. At minimum, the Registry will ensure that its designated abuse contact is aware of the additional sensitivities that may potentially arise with respect to use of such domains, such that any complaints of this nature are prioritized accordingly.