.help Pre-Register Domain - .help Domain Information

".HELP" will provide an instantaneous resource to Internet users searching for useful information related to project "how to's", service and product manuals, and general assistance for everything from simple home repairs to origami instructions. ".HELP" is designed to assist users in quickly locating help-oriented information online and creating an easy to understand delineator to separate "helpful" content from product sales, research information, and commerce-based websites.

It is our mission that websites bearing the ".HELP" gTLD string would primarily contain content which directly supports the definition of the word ʹhelpʹ including, but not limited to; information that gives or provides what is necessary to accomplish a task, satisfy a need, render assistance, aid internet users, or explain content, products, and programs.

In the last 15 years, the Internet has become the primary supplier of information worldwide. Internet users call on search engines to locate businesses, shop for products, register for services and in general, inquire about history, news, and popular culture. The Internet acts as an infinite pool of facts and trivia, but more importantly an in-home resource to assist users in completing projects, using new products, finding maintenance or repair tips, and gaining knowledge relevant to tasks and services. Currently, users can find resources such as product manuals, how-to guides and help related topics buried in the content of a vast multitude of websites. The creation of the ".HELP" gTLD would allow businesses to separately delineate helpful content online, assisting Internet users in instantaneously locating the appropriate help-related materials.

In addition, ".HELP" could be viewed as an enhanced customer service tool for businesses which would allow them to create a main-streamed, easy to locate presentation of product manuals or service tips online. The ".HELP" gTLD would enhance customersʹ overall company experience by reducing the time it takes them to locate the information they need to accomplish their goals.

Webster's dictionary defines ʹhelpʹ as, ʺTo save or rescue, to make easier, to be useful, or to give or provide what is necessary to accomplish a task or satisfy a need.ʺ Based on that definition, the ".HELP" gTLD would be open to Registrants wishing to provide the following types of content:

1) Answers to "how-to" and "do- it- yourself" questions. This category could encompass everything from maintenance tips to how to oragami patterns; instructions on removing stains from clothing or building a bookshelf.
2) Help related resources in correlation with specific industries, organizations, or communities. This could include information such as industry specific documents, tech support or simply resources available to help certain communities.
3) Product specific information or manuals.
4) Community service, self-help, or organizations and businesses designed specifically to offer products and services, which assist in completing a task or satisfying a need.

Essentially ".HELP" would act as a worldwide identifier for the Internet user to delineate websites specifically interested in providing directions, assistance and generally useful tips to solve both everyday dilemmas and complex issues. It is our assumption that most Registrants interested in acquiring a ".HELP" domain would be businesses, organizations or individuals who intend to provide useful information to Internet users.

In addition to providing new internet name space and access to relevant user materials, ".HELP" could assist online advertisers in reaching a specific customer base. Due to the nature of ".HELP" domains, one could easily isolate consumers who utilize certain products, have specific interests, or live in specific communities. This knowledge would help advertisers in better representing their products or services to the appropriate markets and proportionately increase online advertising revenues. For example, one could assume that an Internet user visiting a ".HELP" site which provides "how-to" instructions related to monogramming and embroidery might be additionally interested in Singer sewing machines or fabric suppliers. This correlation would allow the company Singer, for instance, to advertise on sites geared towards their industry specific products and additionally allow consumers to view advertising directly related to their interests.

In order to achieve our goals and build name recognition, the ".HELP" team will be implementing a robust marketing initiative, focused on enhancing the value of the ".HELP" gTLD, by educating consumers on the type of content one might find on a ".HELP" site and promoting the importance of utilizing the ".HELP" gTLD to distribute useful materials to Internet users.

To do so, the following marketing strategies will be put in place:

1) Build strong relationships with Registrar services in order to accurately depict the mission of ".HELP" and capture new domain registrations.
2) Create a prominent and consistent image representative of our mission and expressed clearly through branding, advertisements, and corporate relationships.
3) Secure "key" Registrants through our founders program (described further in question 29 of this application) that will act as innovative leaders to assist us in appropriately representing the usefulness of the ".HELP" gTLD.
4) Cultivate relationships with both domestic and global businesses and organizations, which provide products and services reflective of the content defined in this application. Partnerships with these organizations and others like them would increase ".HELP"'s exposure in the market and further promote the importance of choosing a ".HELP" domain.
5) Partner with global marketing firms to ensure a wide reaching and effective marketing campaign. This process would allow ".HELP" to efficiently structure our marketing materials to reach the desired Registrants worldwide.
6) Increase exposure for ".HELP" by creating a strong international presence through attendance at conferences appropriate to our visibility in the market.
7) We intend to implement a focused marketing blitz, which would specifically target companies that specialize in manufacturing products, creating industry specific manuals, or publishing "help" specific documents in order to capture a beneficial number of Registrants in those fields.

It is our goal to provide an efficient and secure registration process by minimizing the input required by the Registrant and creating a streamlined application process. In order to do so and uphold the integrity of our mission to provide sites containing "help" related content. "HELP" will implement the following registration guidelines and naming conventions:

1).HELP registration is open to all individuals, businesses, and organizations wishing to distribute information, tips or instructions they deem useful to Internet Users. Specifically, Registrants whose content would directly support the definition of the word help including, but not limited to: information that gives or provides what is necessary to accomplish a task, satisfy a need, render assistance, aid Internet users, or explain content, products or programs.

2) Registrants will be asked to submit, at minimum their contact information and agree to a statement indicating that it is their primary intention to utilize their ".HELP" domain to meet the criteria described in # 1 above.

3) Content on all awarded ".HELP" sites are expected to primarily represent the Registrant's help related purpose. Sites will be randomly selected for review to ensure compliance with this guideline. Should Registrant's be found in violation of this guideline, they will be notified in writing of the violation and given a 30 - day probationary period in order to correct the content deficiencies of their site. If Registrants are unable to comply with this guideline within the 30 - day probationary period, ".HELP" will revoke the Registrant's domain name and it will be returned to general availability. Should a Registrant's domain name be revoked due to their content deficiencies, all funds paid by the Registrant to date will be considered non-refundable. ".HELP" or it's designated agents will perform all tasks related to content monitoring in order to not further burden their registrar partners.

4) Registrant's should understand that name availability is not guaranteed and that names will be issued on a first - come, first - served basis. Should a Registrant's requested name be unavailable, the Registrant will be offered the option of re-wording, changing, or adapting their initial naming request until a suitable solution is found.

5) Registrants will not be allowed to register names that infringe on the legal rights of other individuals or companies, allude to criminal activities, or contain in any part racially offensive language.

6) ".HELP" reserves the right to deny, cancel, or transfer any registration or transaction (as more fully described in our Abuse Policies in question 28 below), or place any domain name(s) on registry lock, hold, or similar status, that it deems necessary ; (1) to protect the integrity and stability of the registry; (2) to comply with applicable laws, government rules or requirements, or court orders; (3) to avoid any liability, civil or criminal, on the part of ".HELP" as well as its affiliates, subsidiaries, officers, directors, and employees; (4) to correct mistakes made by the ".HELP" registry services provider, or any Registrar in connection with a domain name registration; (5) during resolution of any dispute regarding the domain; and (6) if a Registrant's pre-authorization or payment fails; or (7) to prevent the bad faith use of a domain name that is identical to a registered trademark and being utilized to confuse users.

7) ".HELP"'s registry services operator will provide thick WHOIS services that are fully compliant with RFC 3912 and with Specifications 4 and 10 of the Registry Agreement. Additionally, ."HELP" will provide a Web-based WHOIS application, which will be located at www.whois.help. The WHOIS Web application will be an intuitive and easy to use application. A complete description of these services can be found in Question 26 below.
8) All Registrants awarded a ".HELP" domain will agree to a one year minimum contract, which will need to be renewed on an annual basis. Renewal is the sole responsibility of the Registrant. Registrant's failing to renew their awarded domains by their expiration dates will be given a 60-day renewal grace period prior to their domain being revoked and returned to general availability.

9) ".HELP" is not liable or responsible in any way for any errors, omissions or any other actions by any third party (including any Registrar service) arising out of, or related to a given Registrant's application for, registration of, renewal of, or failure to register or renew a particular domain name.

10) Through the registration process, all Registrants will be expected to designate an administrative contact for their application, which would possess all the rights granted by ".HELP" or its designated agents to act in respect to the given domain including, but not limited to, managing the domain name or any services associated thereto.

11) ".HELP" will implement a reserved names policy consisting of both names ".HELP" wishes to reserve for our own purposes as the registry operator and names protected by ICANN. ".HELP" will respect all ICANN reserved names including, but not limited to, two letter country codes and existing TLD's. Additionally, ".HELP" will seek ICANN approval on any additional names we plan to reserve in order to appropriately secure them prior to the opening of general availability.



".HELP" will additionally implement a series of Rights Protection Mechanisms (RPM) included, but not limited to: Support for and interaction with the Trademark Clearinghouse ("Clearinghouse"), use of the Trademark Claims Service, segmented Sunrise Periods allowing for the owners of trademarks listed in the Clearinghouse to register domain names that consist of an identical match of their listed trademarks, subsequent Sunrise Periods to give trademark owners or Registrants that own the rights to a particular name the ability to block the use of such name, stringent take-down services and Uniform Dispute Resolution Policies.

".HELP" will collect personal information from it's Registrants via any of our approved Registrars. In order to maintain the integrity of the ".HELP" gTLD and minimize the negative consequences to consumers and business owners, the following policies will be adhered to:

a) No information collected from our Registrants will be used for marketing purposes.
b) Data collected will not be traded or sold.
c) All data collected on any Registrant will be available to the Registrant free of charge.
d) Registrants will be allowed to address and correct data inaccuracies as needed.
e) All data will be kept secure.

".HELP" will strictly uphold the rules set forth in their registration guidelines in order to accurately service our Registrants and mitigate any negative consequences to consumers or Internet users.

".HELP" does not plan to offer registrations to Registrants directly. Therefore, our pricing commitments will be made within our Registry-Registrar Agreements. It is our intention that these commitments will percolate down to Registrants directly and that the contractual commitments contained within our Registry-Registrar agreements will be reflected in the retail sale process of our gTLD, thus minimizing the negative consequences that might be imposed on Registrants via the retail process.

".HELP" plans to offer bulk registration benefits to Registrars during the first 6 months of operation. Registrars wishing to purchase bulk registrations of 1,000 names or more would be offered a 5% discount at the time of purchase. Additionally, ".HELP" , through our founders program will provide a 25% discount to founders participants as a participation incentive. It is possible that ".HELP" would offer additional pricing benefits from time to time as relative to the market. All future pricing discounts not detailed in this application will be submitted through the appropriate ICANN channels for approval prior to introduction to the market.

DOT Tech, LLC has thoroughly reviewed ISO 3166-1 and ISO 3166-2, relevant UN documents on the standardization of geographic names, GAC correspondence relating to the reservation of geographic names in the .INFO TLD, and understands its obligations under Specification 5 of the draft Registry Agreement. DOT Tech, LLC shall implement measures similar to those used to protect geographic names in the .INFO TLD by reserving and registering to itself all the geographic place names found in ISO-3166 and official country names as specified by the UN. DOT Tech, LLC has already discussed this proposed measure of protecting geographic names with its registry services provider, Neustar, and has arranged for such reservation to occur as soon after delegation as is technically possible.

As with the .INFO TLD, only if a potential second-level domain registrant makes a proper showing of governmental support for country or territorial names will DOT Tech, LLC then relay this request to ICANN. At this point, DOT Tech, LLC would wait for the approval of the GAC and of ICANN before proceeding to delegate the domain at issue.