gTLD	Full Legal Name	E-mail suffix	Detail
.luxury	Luxury Partners, LLC	mjconcepts.com	View

The .luxury gTLD will benefit registrants, internet users, and others by creating a virtual community dedicated to all types of luxury, serving luxury providers and consumers of their products and services. 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 will experience improved search functionality in a streamlined, geographic and field-specific manner. Moreover, others will benefit from the economic development and innovation fostered by this niche 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 luxury goods and services, as well as their consumers, in order to support all parties interested in luxury. Both providers and consumers will have a dedicated online environment they can utilize to promote their respective luxury-related interests. Websites within this TLD will be able to specify their focus based on category, geography and target audience, expanding visibility through improved accessibility. Conversely, customers will have an enhanced user experience in locating the products, services and information for their specific luxury-related interests, through direct and relevant search results. Additionally, the introduction of a .luxury gTLD provides the potential benefit of allowing shortened strings for existing domains and also the opportunity to obtain more appropriate domains presently unavailable in other more-crowded TLDs.

Service Levels: Service levels provided by the .luxury 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 those involved in the numerous vertical categories traditionally associated with luxury, including providers, consumers and aficionados of luxury goods and services. Further, the managers of the Registry have established their reputation through a variety of extremely successful business endeavors and years of professional experience at the highest levels. 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. 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 all social, informational and commercial aspects of the massive vertical luxury market and its interested parties. As such, .luxury will have a competitive advantage over other gTLDs with respect to all categories of luxury goods and services. Further, the website www.domaintools.com indicates there are currently over 103,000 domain names that include the word “luxury” in their string. Beyond domain names embodying the term luxury, there are thousands of businesses and brands around the world that promote luxury without actually using the term. As such, the .luxury 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 enable new registrants to create domains for sharing their luxury interests and connecting with similarly interested parties. With a dedicated platform for the luxury 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, purveyors and consumers of luxury goods and services will look to the .luxury 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 .luxury and all other gTLDs is its dedication to the luxury experience. The proposed gTLD will create a space associated exclusively with the luxury lifestyle and all of its component parts. 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, global constituent base.

Innovation: The proposed gTLD will catalyze innovation by creating an online community devoted to luxury retailers and consumers. 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. The luxury customer today is a better-educated customer; and therefore the luxury industry continues to become more complex than branded names. Within this evolving luxury marketplace, all will benefit from this vibrant and dynamic collaborative environment our Registry will offer. For example, understanding consumer priorities and trends will be evermore important in adapting luxury to a wide variety of circumstances. The searchability and aggregation of such trends will connect consumers with organizations, and help brands continue to innovate and reinvent themselves as the luxury definition evolves. In addition, as the world becomes evermore digital and connected, the social networking component of the Registry will afford brands the ability to offer its customers more exclusive levels of service. The additional data provided by .luxury registrants will allow for the following innovations:

• Optimized and customized search capability
• 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
• Development and sale of interactive applications

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 providing resources to its constituents, including interest-specific information, communication channels, social networking, easy market specific organization, and collaborative business opportunities designed to appeal to those with luxury-based interests. The quality of the user experience will improve over time as the Registry provides these resources and participation in the .luxury TLD expands. Registrants will have the opportunity to contribute their own content to the space, thereby enhancing the scope and community nature of the gTLD. The goal of the .luxury TLD is to be the destination and home for all luxury-related online activity.
While this is not a community application, the Registry intends to create virtual communities around the various markets, experiences and products traditionally associated with luxury. Certain premium domains may be branded for consistency of user experience and quality of content in a unique portal.

Moreover, ARI, the gTLD’s registry service provider, 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 a top quality consumer interface and policy compliance.

(iv) Description of the intended registration policies in support of the goals listed above:
The Registry may reach out to vendors of luxury products and services around the globe, as well as use community-building platforms to generate publicity for the proposed gTLD, and will welcome all registrants seeking a “.luxury” 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, in accordance with Specification 5 of the Registry Agreement, 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 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 .luxury gTLD will help 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 by working with purveyors of luxury products and services, high-end brands and other interested stakeholders. Reaching out to such resources will achieve projected benefits by helping to establish the Registry’s premium reputation and increase awareness around our 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 luxury. 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 awareness, competition and facilitating efficient communication. Community-building platforms may be employed to enhance the development of communities oriented towards luxury. Moreover, the opportunities for better and greater communication amongst registrants themselves will help to establish the Registry’s community reputation and develop its base.

gTLD	Full Legal Name	E-mail suffix	Detail
.band	Red Triangle, LLC	whatbox.co	View

The .band gTLD will benefit proposed registrants, internet users, and others by offering a virtual community exclusively dedicated to bands and their fans. Band registrants will obtain higher visibility to their followers through intuitive searchability, the more efficient development of fan-based communities, and protection of respective band names against cyber-squatting. All registrants will gain better access to target markets through improved searches and the availability of shorter, more-relevant and brand-centric domain names, currently unavailable on other crowded gTLDs. Internet users will experience improved search functionality and increased access to legal content in a centralized, streamlined, geographic and genre-specific manner. Moreover, others will benefit from the economic development and innovation fostered by this niche 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 bands and their fans, to support all parties involved with and interested in music and bands. Both fans and bands will have a dedicated online universe that they can shape and utilize to promote their respective musical interests. Bands as well as other providers of music merchandise, information and related services will gain expanded visibility and be able to better target their audience. Conversely, fans will have an enhanced user experience in locating the products, services, and information for their specific musical interests, through direct and relevant search results, greater access to meaningful information, and legal content.
Service Levels: Service levels provided by the .band gTLD will 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 its reputation as an innovative, stable, secure and accountable community; serving individuals, organizations and entities identifying themselves as connected to bands and their fans. 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 system supports multiple registries and many registrars consistently and securely. ARI has a long history of meeting its service level agreements as evidenced in the Registry Operator’s Monthly Reports that ARI files monthly 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 bands and their fans. There are currently over 107,000 active domain names that include “band” in their string. Of these, “band.” currently resides in roughly 66,000 registered domains immediately preceding various TLDs (e.g. www.rockband.com). The “.band” TLD will shorten the string length for these existing domains (e.g. www.rock.band) and provide an appealing and intuitive opportunity for registrants. With a dedicated platform for the band 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 choices and registrants more marketable domain names. Additionally, a huge market exists for newly formed bands to create their own band website and develop their own music communities with a .band TLD. As the public increasingly accepts new gTLDs, the Registry envisions registrants will seek out TLDs that describe their nature or activities. Accordingly, new bands will look to the .band TLD first, when establishing their web presence. These bands will register domain names as tools to collect and disseminate information to fans and service providers, plan concert tours, showcase their music, share photos and news, link to various social networks, sell merchandise, etcetera.
Differentiation: The fundamental difference between .band and all other gTLDs is its dedication to organizations and participants associated with musicians. The proposed gTLD will create a space exclusively devoted to musical artists and interests. 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 innovative websites to create and enhance industry specific communities dedicated to bands of all sizes and those who appreciate their music.
Innovation: The proposed gTLD will catalyze innovation by creating an online community devoted to bands, their music and their fans. Registrants and users will 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 vehicles will connect more consumers, businesses and other resources, allowing for a more robust and efficient exchange of information. In addition, .band will allow for the following innovations:
• Search: optimized and customized
• Community-specific premium names 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
• The increasing use of domains for bands – as a planning, communication and commerce tool
• Intellectual Property protection mechanisms
• Development of interactive applications
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 providing resources to its constituents, including interest-specific information, communication channels, markets, together with new collaborative and business opportunities. The quality of the user experience will improve as the Registry provides resources to its constituents, including interest-specific information, communication channels, markets, collaborative, philanthropic 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 .band TLD is to be the destination and home for all band-oriented online activity.
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, guaranteeing a top quality user experience. In addition, ARI 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 major bands and other music industry resources, as well as use community-building platforms to generate publicity for the proposed gTLD and will welcome all registrants seeking a “.band” 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, in accordance with Specification 5 of the Registry Agreement, 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 and confidential information of registrants and 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 registry services provider, assures 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 .band TLD 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 by working with bands and their fans to promote the Registry to bands and band members, fans, and other stakeholders. The enhanced visibility of geographic and category-specific domains developed by the Registry and optimized for Search Engine Optimization (“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. The Registry envisions establishing strategic partnerships within the music space to further outreach and communications amongst registrants and users. Community-building platforms may be employed to enhance the development of communities oriented toward music. Moreover, the opportunities for better and greater communication amongst registrants themselves will help to establish the registry’s community reputation and develop its base.