.fans Pre-Register Domain - .fans Domain Information

These days the world is experiencing globalisation. Information about creative works, cultural and fashion trends infiltrates into all corners of the world and helps find followers worldwide.
In this world of globalisation, urbanisation and high pace of life .fans will give people on different continents a chance to become closer to each other, uniting those who share their affection to one and the same life phenomenon:

- music (fans of certain music bands, performers or genres)
- sports (fans of certain sports or clubs)
- politics (political movements or parties)
- culture (theatre, museums), etc.

It is envisaged that a high percentage of .fans registrants will be artists or celebrities who will be given a chance to secure the most intuitive, descriptive and convenient internet address for their supporters. Using the standard Rights Protection Mechanisms such as Sunrise period popular artists and celebrities - holders of corresponding trademarks - will be able to claim their stake in the .fans space without risking that the name will be taken by someone else.

Fan groups share an interest to their focal object - an interest that is often strong enough to influence their lifestyle, appearance, habits etc. .fans will be the first dedicated Top Level Domain that, recognising people's right to expressing themselves, will provide an attribute from the digital realm that links the person and his/her favourite subject. Such attribute can be an email address in the form john@favouriteband.fans.

We would like .fans to become a digital extension for human virtues such as loyalty and devotion.

(i) The .fans TLD is focusing, on the one hand, on personalities, groups and brands that are in the focus of people's attention, such as musicians, bands, sport clubs, entertainers and even popular brands or goods, and on the other hand, on their supporters and loyal consumers.

.fans will pay special attention to trademark holders as we believe the majority of our target customer base comes from that group. We would like to provide as much chances as possible for those brands who value loyalty of their fanbase, to get a domain name that their supporters could use to obtain relevant information and to communicate among each other.

(ii) .fans as a new TLD will increase the supply of digital identifiers and therefore provide a wider consumer choice. .fans will compete with generic Top Level Domains by providing a highly available, focused namespace that will generate most convenient and short internet addresses for its target audience.

.fans will be the first Top Level Domain dedicated to people's loyalty and devotion with a specific focus on the material world.

(iii) We hope that .fans will first of all be a good source of intuitive, self-explanatory and easy-to-remember internet addresses. Applicant will pay special attention on serving trademark holders so they can claim their brands for their especially esteemed supporters.
Besides we commit to provide a flawless TLD registry service to registrars, registrants and end users. 100% DNS availability, protection against security threats via DNSSEC, highest standards of technical and support services for registrars are our priorities in terms of user experience.

(iv) .fans TLD will be rolled out in several phases. During the first phase, Sunrise Period, trademark holders will be provided an opportunity to exercise their priority rights for their intellectual property. Sunrise Period will be run according to the ICANN requirements. Applicant will support the Trademark Clearinghouse and will accept registration requests from parties that have pre-validated their trademarks through the Trademark Clearinghouse. Full details about the Sunrise procedures and policies are available in section 29.
Applicant believes that its core registrant base are trademark holders and will therefore pay special attention to informing potential Sunrise customers about the .fans Sunrise Period.
The second registration phase will be Landrush where all interested parties will be able to register a .fans domain name (not allocated during Sunrise) by paying a premium price. Possible options for Landrush period include:
- auctions
- premium price first come first served registration
- requests for proposals
- tiered pricing for different classes of domain names
Applicant will conduct a market research to determine the best method of distribution of .fans domain names during Landrush. One or more options mentioned above may be implemented.
After the end of Landrush period the General Availability phase will start. Registrations will be provided on a first come first served basis at a normal price.
Besides the phased launch policies Applicant will adopt a comprehensive Acceptable Use Policy that will set forth the limits of acceptable use of .fans domains and the procedures the Registry will apply in case of violations of applicable laws or policies, including takedown procedures. The initial proposed Acceptable Use Policy is provided in section 29.

(v) Applicant in its capacity of a TLD registry operator does not intend to provide any special services for protecting privacy or confidential information of registrants or end-users apart from those required by applicable laws, policies, agreements or technical standards. Some registry services include as their integral part, protection of usersʹ confidential information. Examples of such services are:
- SRS (protecting confidentiality of the EPP transfer authorisation codes)
- Dissemination of TLD zone files (protecting confidentiality of zone file FTP accounts credentials)
All registry services, including those described above, will be provided in accordance with the ICANN requirements and specifications to the Registry Agreement. The data security measures adopted by the Applicant are described in detail in the answer to question 30 ʺSecurity Policyʺ.

(i) As mentioned above, our first priority will be ensuring that trademark holders receive the preferential treatment for their trademarks as established by the intellectual property laws and regulations. .fans Sunrise will be run with special care as Applicant expects to see its primary registrant base among trademark holders.
Normally the amount of contending Sunrise applications is minimal, but in case of multiple Sunrise applications for the same domain name they will be processed om a first come first served basis.

Applicant recognises there may be increased interest in registering .fans domain names once the TLD opens up for the general public and is prepared to deal with the launch effect through a special Landrush phase. Possible options for Landrush period include:
- auctions
- premium price first come first served registration
- requests for proposals
- tiered pricing for different classes of domain names
Applicant will conduct a market research to determine the best method of distribution of .fans domain names during Landrush. One or more options mentioned above may be implemented.

During the General Availability phase registrations will be provided on a first come first served basis.

(ii) Applicant is considering various marketing incentives, including bulk registration discounts and co-marketing programs, but at this stage it would be premature to commit to certain marketing initiatives as a comprehensive market research is need to determine the optimal strategy.

(iii) .fans domains will be made available for periods from 1 to 10 years, in accordance with the ICANN requirements. Applicant will not be making any contractual commitments regarding price changes, but will comply with the corresponding provisions regarding notice periods in the new TLD registry agreement.

Applicant has considered the relevant provisions of the new TLD Registries Agreement, the GAC Advice ʺGAC Principles Regarding new TLDsʺ and the procedures adopted by other gTLD registries and intends to use the procedure described below with regards to protection of geographic names in .fans.

Prior to its launch Applicant will compile a list of country and territory names that are subject to reservation on the second level.

Pursuant to the specification provided in ICANNʹs Applicant Guidebook, the list will include country and territory names based on the following internationally recognized lists:

- the short form (in English) of all country and territory names contained on the ISO 3166-1 list;
- 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
- 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;

As the above documents get updated from time to time, the exact list of reserved names will be compiled shortly before the TLD launch to account for any updates. The list of reserved names will be published on the Registry website.