.meme Pre-Register Domain - .meme Domain Information

18.a. Mission/Purpose of the Proposed gTLD

Charleston Road Registry is an American company, wholly owned by Google, which was established to provide registry services to the Internet public. Google is an American multinational public corporation and global technology leader focused on improving the ways its hundreds of millions of users connect with information. Since its formation, Google has been developing technology that can improve upon existing ways of doing business on the Internet. Google provides a variety of services and tools for Internet users and advertisers of all sizes, from simple search features and local ads to enterprise-scale business applications and global advertising solutions. These tools make it easier for people to make use of the world's information and enable entrepreneurs and publishers around the world to grow their businesses.

In line with Google's general mission, Charleston Road Registry's mission is to help make information universally accessible by extending the utility of the DNS while enhancing the performance, security and stability of the Internet for users worldwide. Charleston Road Registry aspires to create unique web spaces where users can learn about products, services and information in a targeted manner and in ways never before seen on the Internet. Its business objective is to manage Google's gTLD portfolio and Google's registry operator business. As discussed further in the responses to questions 23 and 31, Charleston Road Registry intends to outsource all critical registry functions to Google Registry Services.

The proposed gTLD will provide the marketplace with direct association to the term, ʺmeme.ʺ The term ʺmemeʺ connotes the echoing of a cultural idea, and was coined by Richard Dawkins in his book, ʺThe Selfish Gene.ʺ In the context of the .meme gTLD, the mission of the gTLD to provide a dedicated domain space in which registrants can enact second-level domains related to viral phenomenon, ideas, images, and videos. This mission will enhance consumer choice by providing new availability in the second-level domain space, creating new layers of organization on the Internet, and signaling the kind of content available in the domain. Charleston Road Registry believes that registrants will find value in associating with this gTLD, which could have a vast array of meanings and purposes for businesses, organizations and individuals. Charleston Road Registry expects these uses may include but are not limited to applications such as discoverthis.meme, needtoknow.meme, or memename.meme.

The proposed gTLD will also provide Charleston Road Registry with the means to meet its business objectives.

18.b. Benefits to Registrants, Internet Users, and Others

18.b.i.1 Specialty

The goal of the proposed gTLD is to create a new Internet environment that provides registrants, Internet users, and the public with the opportunity to associate with a meaningful term. Specialization will arise from this environment through market dynamics as entities align their offerings with the term.

The specialization goal of the proposed gTLD is to create a new Internet environment that provides registrants with the opportunity to associate with the term ʺmemeʺ and to provide content or offerings related to the registrantʹs interpretation of a meme. This specialization introduces a new domain name hierarchy with the express purpose of acting as an authoritative source for viral phenomenon, ideas and videos.

18.b.i.2 Service Levels

Through its association with Google, Charleston Road Registry is uniquely positioned to enable and support the proposed gTLD by providing its service reliability and speed of delivery as a part of its services. Google brings unique expertise and a proven record of excellence in infrastructure operations: Google now runs the largest DNS system in the world, has industry-leading uptime on its services, such as web search, and offers enterprise services on which governments and businesses depend.

Google is known for its high level of quality and speed, and Charleston Road Registry's service level goal for the proposed gTLD is to extend that high level of quality, speed, and service to registrars. Indeed, two of Google's core principles in providing Internet search and related goods and services are "focus on the user and all else will follow" and that "fast is better than slow."

Charleston Road Registry is committed to using the most technologically advanced, secure, and reliable registry services for all of the domain names in the gTLD so as to not compromise the service levels, security, and stability of the gTLD to users worldwide.

Charleston Road Registry will provide both Engineering and Customer Service support to registrars. All registrars will also have the same level of access to Charleston Road Registry resources to resolve disputes and technical and/or administrative customer service issues.

Charleston Road Registry will provide all registrars with 24-hours-a-day, 7-days-a-week Customer Support in the form of telephone, email, and/or web chat for technical and non-technical issues relating to the operation of the gTLD system. Charleston Road Registry will provide all registrars with the same level of access to customer support via telephone, email, and Charleston Road Registryʹs website; email and web-based interactions will be the primary method of provisioning customer service support to registrars.

Additionally, Charleston Road Registry will implement strict policies and procedures to minimize abusive domain name registrations and uses and other activities that have a negative impact on Internet users. It will dedicate ample resources for the purpose of responding promptly to abuse complaints from government, judicial and/or law enforcement.

18.b.i.3 Reputation

Google has a proven record of providing high-quality, secure online services. Charleston Road Registry seeks to enhance Google's reputation for excellence, superior quality, and high level of security and become known as an exemplary domain name services provider. When registrants assess opportunities in the marketplace to obtain a name, they will have confidence in Charleston Road Registry's ability to meet ongoing needs as the registry operator for the proposed gTLD. When Internet users visit a domain name in the proposed gTLD environment, they will be able to reliably expect and experience the high level of security and quality on which Google's reputation has been built.

The registry will be structured so that Charleston Road Registry allows registrars to register and oversee second-level domain names in the proposed gTLD; that registrars develop and deploy a reasonable process for ensuring that those domain names are used for gTLD-relevant purposes as specified in the registry-registrar agreement; and per Specification 4 that the WHOIS is thick and reliable; and that the registry is responsive to legal rights owners (if applicable) who may have complaints about potentially abusive registrations.

In addition, Charleston Road Registry's operation of the new gTLD will provide the opportunity for registrars and registrants to build and/or bolster their unique brands and brand reputation in association with the proposed gTLD.

18.b.ii.1 Competition

Charleston Road Registry supports the advancement of registry operators as a whole and the diffusion of gTLDs amongst diverse stakeholders to generate increased competition for the benefit of the Internet public. Increased competition will result in more competitive prices for consumers, generate efficiencies and increase productivity in enterprises, and spur innovation in the gTLD space.

The proposed gTLD, .meme, will provide a new mechanism whereby registrants can offer information, products and services related to memes. As an alternative to existing second-level domains, Charleston Road Registry anticipates that the .meme gTLD will increase competition among registrars by increasing consumer choice and creating new opportunities for registrar pricing differentiation. Charleston Road Registry also anticipates the .meme gTLD will help grow the volume of culturally relevant ideas and trends on the Internet, thereby increasing competition among all such content providers. Charleston Road Registry further anticipates the .meme gTLD may contribute to an increase in online advertising given the specific nature of the domain. Entities will compete to advertise their goods and services that are specific to any particular .meme second-level domain.

Managing this Internet space will allow Charleston Road Registry to provide to registrars and registrants the high level of technical operations quality and service for which Google is known, which in turn will incent other existing and new gTLDs to improve the quality of their offerings.

Charleston Road Registry will facilitate a fair and equitable registrar process, providing open access to any registrar who meets ICANN accreditation guidelines by fully complying with the Registry Operator Code of Conduct. Charleston Road Registry is committed to treating all registrars equitably and will not offer preferential treatment to Google in its capacity as registrar.

18.b.ii.2 Differentiation

Charleston Road Registry believes in the commercial viability of alternatives to existing gTLDs such as .com and .net. The proposed gTLD will provide the marketplace with opportunities for differentiation not currently available in the gTLD space.

The .meme gTLD will provide a new mechanism whereby registrants can differentiate their content by signifying that their content is or is related to a meme. This signification is not currently available in the gTLD space.

Given its association with Google, Charleston Road Registry offers a unique value proposition to registrars resulting from the strength of Google's trusted brand, technical leadership, and support for free speech on the Internet. Registrars will have the opportunity to leverage this brand in devising their own market positions.

18.b.ii.3 Innovation

The proposed gTLD will foster innovation by creating a new space for the categorization and classification of online content. It will therein provide a mechanism by which registrars and registrants can better brand and manage their online presence by associating it with the .meme namespace. This namespace delivers value to the public through the provision of new and differentiated content, goods, and services to Internet users.

The proposed gTLD, .meme, will promote innovation among registrars by providing for the sale of a second-level domain in a gTLD that will attract a specific segment of registrants. This provides registrars with the opportunity to create and offer tailored new products and services that benefit registrants and/or improve user experience in association with the registration of a second-level domain in the .meme gTLD. In addition, the concentration of meme-related content providers in the .meme gTLD space will likely invite user comparison among second-level domain sites, encouraging second-level domain registrant content and/or service innovation as a point of differentiation.

In addition, the proposed gTLD will promote innovation in the marketplace by providing additional second-level domain options for the public's use. This will invite new entrants to establish a domain name presence, facilitating innovation in their offerings, and their interactions with Internet users.

Charleston Road Registry considers the proposed gTLD to be a platform for innovation with existing and future Google products and services. Charleston Road Registry, therefore, may incorporate these new offerings into future registry service options (subject to the ICANN approval process), infusing new ideas into the gTLD for the betterment of the public.

Google consistently aims to improve upon technologies that connect people with information, as demonstrated by a proven record of innovation and iteration. Charleston Road Registry strives to offer its constituents this same level of continuous development in advancing its management and operation of the gTLD, engendering benefits to registrars, registrants, and end users.

18.b.iii User Experience

Charleston Road Registry will strive to provide the highest level of user experience through operational stability, security, and performance to serve the interest of registrants in the proposed gTLD. Charleston Road Registry is uniquely positioned to provide this level of experience given its relationship with Google; Google invested over $3 billion in its IT infrastructure in 2011 and maintains a record of excellence in infrastructure operations.

The proposed gTLD will provide registrants with the opportunity to differentiate their dedicated domain space such that the end users are able to discern the type of content intended to be found within the proposed gTLD. This will enable increased user visibility of registrants' offerings, as well as provide registrants with the opportunity to enhance their respective content offerings and innovate in new ways.

The proposed gTLD will provide a more trusted and user-friendly environment where domain names and content related to the .meme gTLD can flourish. Charleston Road Registry seeks to have users deem the gTLD trustworthy and reliable and recognize it as an aggregated source of targeted goods, services, and information.

The proposed gTLD, furthermore, facilitates an improved online user experience through greater structure and categorization on the Internet.

18.b.iv Registration Policies

Charleston Road Registry believes that given its wide variety of uses, the .meme gTLD will best add value to the gTLD space by remaining totally open and unencumbered by registrant restrictions. There will, therefore, be no restrictions on second-level domain name registrations in the proposed gTLD, .meme.

Charleston Road Registry will make access to Registry Services, including the shared registration system, available to all ICANN-accredited registrars. Domain names within the proposed gTLD will be available to the general public for registration and use.

Charleston Road Registry is committed to implementing strong and integrated intellectual property rights protection mechanisms. Doing so is critical to Google's goals of model Internet citizenship and fostering Internet development, especially in emerging regions. Accordingly, Charleston Road Registry intends to offer a suite of rights protection measures, which builds upon ICANNʹs required policies while fulfilling our commitment to encouraging innovation, competition and choice on the Internet.

18.b.v Protection of Privacy and Confidential Information

Charleston Road Registry will strive to ensure the appropriate level of privacy and security will be met for its users. Charleston Road Registry and its provider of registry services, Google, have imposed measures to achieve this protection; additional specifics regarding the practices for the registry include but are not limited to the following:

- All data transmitted from registrars to the registry will be encrypted using transport layer security (TLS) or other similar data protection schemes to ensure that third parties cannot access personally identifying information or other sensitive data as it crosses the Internet.

- Charleston Road Registry will attempt to prevent the misuse of WHOIS data for improper purposes such as spam, intellectual property theft, or phishing. Charleston Road Registry will attempt to identify patterns of abusive usage of the WHOIS and will appropriately use CAPTCHA, query throttling or other techniques to prevent information scraping.

- Google will restrict access to data and information systems maintained by the registry to a specific list of individuals involved with supporting the Google Registry system in production. Google will review this list on a periodic basis to ensure that the level of access granted to individuals is appropriate. Google uses two-factor authentication and other mechanisms to ensure that staff with access to user information are properly identified prior to using registry systems.

- Google data backups stored offsite are encrypted with passwords that are securely managed on Google's internal systems. Google can effectively remove the ability to access this data by destroying the relevant encryption password.

- Supplying Google account information will be optional for registrants unless the domain registration is directly associated with another Google product offering. Google will not disclose Google account information except for any contact information provided by the user that is required by ICANN (per Specification 4) to be displayed in response to a WHOIS query.

- Registrar billing and payment information will not be stored alongside domain name registration information. All registrar billing and payment information will be stored in a payment card industry (PCI)-compliant billing system similar to that used by Google Ads.

- Data will not be shared with third parties without the permission of registrants, except as required for registry operations or as required under the law, such as in response to a subpoena, other such court order, or demonstrated official need by law enforcement.

Beyond these specific mechanisms, both Charleston Road Registry and Google will govern its approach to privacy by the Google Privacy Policy. This policy applies to registrars, registrants and end users of registry services such as DNS zone publication and WHOIS data publication. The Privacy Policy is located at http://www.google.com/policies/privacy/.

18.b.vi. Outreach and Communications Efforts

Once Charleston Road Registry begins developing public-facing resources in its gTLD, it intends to inform the public about the gTLD and the opportunity to obtain domain space there through investments in marketing and public relations.

Charleston Road Registry intends to promote gTLDs in its portfolio, such that the public gains an awareness and understanding of new gTLDs and the availability of new second-level domain space on the Internet. Charleston Road Registry believes that this approach will make the strongest impact in modifying consumer behavior and is the best path to achieving success for all new gTLDs collectively.

Charleston Road Registry will reach out to the Internet community via a number of different outreach and communications methods and venues to deliver its mission and message to the public, including but not limited to: press briefings, videos posted on various Internet sites, blogs and other social media, and paid advertising. In addition, when developing resources for localized Internet registrars in different global regions, Charleston Road Registry will use local marketing and communications platforms as needed.

18.c. Minimizing Social Costs and Other Negative Consequences

18.c.i
Registration will be managed by Charleston Road Registry in three phases.

Phase 1 - The first phase will be an extended 60-day sunrise phase. Only owners of trademarks listed in the Trademark Clearinghouse may participate in this phase, and such owners may register domain names that consist of an identical match to their listed trademarks. If multiple qualified parties express an interest in registering the same domain name, Charleston Road Registry will award the domain name on a strictly first come, first served basis. At the end of the sunrise phase, at a minimum, Charleston Road Registry will follow ICANN rules for subsequent attributions of trademarked second-level domains and will offer other protections for trademark owners, including but not limited to an extended Trademark Claims Service of indefinite length.

Phase 2 - The second phase will be a four-week open registration phase. During this phase, any interested applicant may apply for all second-level domain names not previously registered in the sunrise period. Trademarked terms will be subject to the Rights Protection Mechanisms set forth in Response 29. At the end of the second phase, if multiple parties have expressed an interest in registering the same second-level domain name, Charleston Road Registry will award the domain name through an auction to the highest bidder.

Phase 3 - The third phase will be a steady state phase for the duration of registry operation. During this phase, any interested applicant may apply for all second-level domain names not previously registered in an earlier phase. Trademarked terms will be subject to the Rights Protection Mechanisms set forth in Response 29. If multiple parties express an interest in registering the same domain name, Charleston Road Registry will award the domain name on a strictly first come, first served basis.

18.c.ii
While Charleston Road Registry reserves the right to charge different prices for unique second-level domains within the gTLD, once Charleston Road Registry determines the price for a particular second-level domain, Charleston Road Registry will not price discriminate among ICANN-accredited registrars. Charleston Road Registry does not intend but reserves the right to offer introductory discounts and bulk registration discounts. Volume discounts, marketing support and incentive programs may be made available, and if so will be offered to all ICANN-accredited registrars without preference.

18.c.iii
Pursuant to the ICANN-Registry Operator Agreement, Charleston Road Registry will provide written notice a minimum of 30 days prior to any increases in price for initial registrations, as well as written notice 180 days prior to any increase in registration renewals. Further, Charleston Road Registry will offer uniform pricing for renewals as specified in the ICANN-Registry Operator Agreement.

Charleston Road Registry does not currently intend to make contractual commitments to registrants regarding the magnitude of price escalation. Charleston Road Registry does, however, intend to keep its practices competitive and aligned to activity in the marketplace.

As is specified throughout this application, Charleston Road Registry (CRR) plans to operate the top-level domain as a closed registry and shall not permit any party to register or operate any second-level domain names within the TLD. In accordance with ICANN's recommendations in the January 11, 2012, version of the New gTLD Applicant Guidebook, Specification 5 of the Registry Agreement, and in the spirit of sections 2.2 and 2.7 of the GAC Principles Regarding New gTLDs, CRR shall reserve to ourselves the following:

(1) all of the English country and territory names found in ISO 3166-1 and their specified short form abbreviations;
(2) all the of names found in the United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names, as found in the Technical Reference Manual for the Standardization of Geographical Names, Part III (Names and Countries of the World); and
(3) all of the names of the United Nations member states as prepared by the Working Group on Country Names of the United Nations Conference on the Standardization of Geographical Names in the six official languages of the United Nations.

As noted above, the top-level domain shall not permit the public to register domains at the second-level. The registry shall not use or license the use of any full country name in English, or any other reserved language, as a second-level domain except in accordance with Specification 5 of the New gTLD Agreement. With regard to the abbreviated country and territory names found in ISO 3166-1, CRR plans to reserve current and future country abbreviations for use at the second-level. This follows the spirit and function of the procedures that the .info TLD utilized.

As with the .info TLD, CRR shall ensure that all geographic abbreviation identifiers contained within the ISO 3166-1 list will be reserved to us as the registry operator. Unlike the .info TLD, however, the registry shall not make any of these identifiers publicly available for registration. CRR plans to make these these two letter geographic abbreviation identifiers available to Google to provide localized content via second-level domains. Googleʹs Web Search and other services are customized for a number of countries and regions across the world, and these two letter second level domain names would be used to provide a namespace to which that customization could be applied. For example, bw.Google could provide search results that would be most relevant for users in Botswana. It could allow Google to direct users to the site that can give them the most relevant results.

CRR notes that confusion regarding whether the second-level domain is an official conduit of the affected country should be of minimal concern for governments in the context of a closed registry whose TLD is the trademark of a private entity and where all usage of the domain is directly tied to Google's brand and offerings. Unlike .info, there should be a minimal possibility of creating geopolitical conflicts in the top-level domain resulting from confusion associated with national government websites. Further, it is not CRR desire to serve TLDs that compete with national ccTLDs, rather to serve Google's users more localized content in a given region.

Google's core business functions include facilitating searches for Internet content and communications among Internet users. In connection with these functions, CRR intends to fully utilize the abbreviated country code names to harness the TLD to provide localized content, especially to the developing world. Throughout 2011, several chapters of the Internet Society in developing nations have found that despite growing connectivity in their nations, Internet usage and electronic commerce were not thriving due to a lack of localized content. Google's localized sites shall help provide a means of rectifying this situation, ensuring that Internet users in developed and developing nations have access to substantive content that is relevant to their lives.

While the development and deployment of specific localized sites will depend upon global and local demand and the technological integration of new gTLDs into the larger Internet fabric, Google's goal is to continually expand its usage of localized sites in the top-level domain.