.menu Pre-Register Domain - .menu Domain Information

Wedding TLD2, LLC, the applicant for the ".menu" gTLD (the "Registry") will serve a broad spectrum of the global public by providing an online community for all activities and interests related to restaurants and their menus. By building communities around these pursuits, the Registry will enhance communication, access to relevant information and searchability, foster innovation, job creation, economic growth, and creative opportunities among registrants, internet users and others.

The Registry intends to develop two components of this gTLD. The first is the traditional registry model - a domain registration wholesale-retail model. Beyond this, the Registry plans to establish Registry-owned domains and websites, in accordance with Specification 9 of the Registry Agreement, centered around different menu categories, such as: Italian, French, Sushi, German, Ethiopian, Mexican, Indian, to name just some examples. A dedicated domain and website for each of these categories will be a content-rich environment driving Search Engine Optimization (ʺSEOʺ) and viewership, and serving as an information, pricing, reviews and communication resource for its participants. Each domain will also contain a directory of enterprises wishing to gain greater exposure to the users of the site.

The .menu gTLD will benefit proposed registrants, internet users and others by offering an internet space exclusively dedicated to restaurant menus of all kinds, and their affiliated constituents. Registrants will gain higher visibility and easier searchability as well as access to relevant and brand-centric domains unavailable on other crowded gTLDs. Internet users can better search their desired restaurant menus in a streamlined, geographic and category-specific manner. Others will benefit from the economic development and innovation fostered by this "menu" oriented community space.
(i) The goal of the proposed gTLD in terms of areas of specialty, service levels, or reputation:
Specialty: The Registry will focus on restaurant menus, supporting and building directories around each category of dining by geography. It will bring together interested parties, facilitating the dissemination and distribution of menu content, and expanding interconnectivity. Dedication to this subject will allow the Registry to become the chosen destination for all seeking restaurant and menu information. The introduction of the .menu gTLD provides the benefit of allowing shortened strings for existing domains and also availability of more appropriate domains.
Service Levels: Service levels provided by the .menu 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, ethical, stable, secure and accountable community; serving organizations, entities and individuals interested in any subject matter related to restaurants and their menus. ARI Registry Services ("ARI"), the Registry's selected provider of registry services, 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. These 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 all social, informational and commercial aspects of restaurants and their menus. Currently, there exists a significant market for domain names related to menus. The website "www.domaintools.com" indicates there are over 109,000 domain names that include "menu" in their string. According www.zfbot.com, the string "menu" resides in roughly 10,015 registered domains, immediately preceding various TLDs (e.g. www.mymenu.com). The addition of a ".menu" TLD will shorten the string length for these existing domains (e.g. www.about.menu) 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 menus, liaising with industry contacts and connecting with similarly interested parties. With a dedicated platform for menus, new, improved, and/or shorter domain names will be available to participants. This will contribute to competition in the current space by offering consumers more choice and registrants more marketable domain names.
As the public increasingly accepts new gTLDs, the Registry envisions registrants will seek out TLDs that describe their nature or activities. Accordingly, members of the restaurant industry will look to the .menu TLD to convey their menus to interested parties, and will register domain names as tools to interact with consumers, liaise with colleagues, share new menu offerings, services and promotions, link to various social networks, sell merchandise, etcetera.
Differentiation: The fundamental difference between .menu and all other gTLDs is its dedication specifically to the menu offerings of restaurants. To achieve this differentiation, beyond simply providing domain names, the Registry will proactively develop and maintain multiple innovative websites to create and enhance industry-specific directories dedicated to the global restaurant industry, and its massive constituent base.
In addition, the Registry will establish category and geography-specific community directory websites, providing dining establishments the opportunity to showcase their menus in a direct and intuitive way to consumers. Conversely, consumers will simplify their searches by identifying restaurants by category, geography and rating, and see user ratings for the individual items/dishes offered within a particular restaurant's menu.
Innovation: The proposed gTLD will catalyze innovation by creating an online community devoted to the menus of the global restaurant industry - approximately 500,000 restaurants in the United States alone. 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 restaurants, allowing for a more robust and efficient exchange of information. In addition, .menu will allow for the following innovations:
• Search: optimized and customized
• Community-specific premium domains that will be utilized for the benefit of all interested parties
• Targeted and more cost-effective advertising
• The ability to create and analyze community metrics
• Lay the foundation for a community-specific e-commerce platform
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 relating to restaurants and their menus, 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 and business opportunities. Registrants will have the opportunity to contribute their own content to the space, thereby enhancing the community-nature of the gTLD. The goal of the .menu TLD is to be the destination and home for all online activity related to restaurant menus.
Moreover, ARI, the gTLD's registry service provider, will ensure that all pertinent services consistently meet the levels prescribed in Specification 10 of the Registry Agreement, helping to ensure a top quality user experience. In addition, ARI registry services will comply with any other applicable ICANN policy or procedure, thereby ensuring 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 will reach out to entities within the restaurant community-building platforms to generate publicity for the proposed gTLD and will welcome all registrants seeking a .menu domain. Following a Sunrise and Landrush period, the Registry intends to make domains available to anyone willing to complete the Registry's application process and comply with Registry policies and ICANN requirements. The Registry will collect limited demographic information from registrants, which will be used to streamline searches and target communications. 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 dispute resolution procedures concerning compliance with TLD registration policies and shall enforce such registration policies.
The Registry will seek out strategic partners to utilize premium names of significance to the community. It also plans to reserve the right to retain additional names on a reserve name list at any time at its sole discretion and to allocate such names in accordance with ICANN requirements and Registry polices.
(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 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 publically 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 .menu 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 targeted advertising and outreach by working with a wide range of strategic partners to promote the Registry to all invested in the restaurant industry. The enhanced visibility of geographic and category-specific domains developed by the Registry and optimized for SEO 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. The establishment of an e-commerce platform will similarly benefit the target demographic. Community-building platforms may be employed to enhance the development of community directories oriented toward restaurants. 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 social costs associated with the creation of a new TLD. The proposed gTLD may adopt policies that preemptively address negative consequences, in addition to analyzing market trends to identify issues as they emerge. The Registry's evaluation of the market and its potential registrants suggests that registrations of .menu domains will be active rather than defensive in nature. Due to the existence of significant communities and directories relating to restaurants and their menus, 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.

The Registry will be compliant with all relevant laws and statutes, and all ICANN policies and procedures, including without limitation, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act ("DMCA"), the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution ("UDRP"), the Post-Delegation Dispute Resolution Procedure ("PDDRP") and the 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 at the Registry's discretion, 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 community reputation and visibility of the gTLD.
The Registry may coordinate with registrars to offer price discounts to 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. This includes complying with all pricing requirements detailed in Article 2.10 of ICANN's New gTLD Registry Agreement. The Registry may from time to time increase prices in accordance with market rates and other applicable factors throughout the internet community.

Wedding TLD2, LLC, the applicant applying for the ".menu" 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 ".menu" 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.