18(b) How do you expect that your proposed gTLD will benefit registrants, Internet users, and others?

Prototypical answer:

18.2 How do you expect that your proposed gTLD will benefit registrants, Internet users, and others?

MLBAM DH expects that the proposed .BASEBALL gTLD will benefit registrants, Internet users, and others in numerous ways, including by serving as a trusted, hierarchical, and intuitive namespace for baseball fans, and Internet users in general. As described above, millions use MLBAM’s online sites and services for many purposes, including to access and enjoy MLB- and baseball-related content, and to purchase merchandise and tickets.

In addition, the .BASEBALL gTLD will help protect MLB’s online presence and identity. By serving as a trusted source identifier that will provide a new, secure channel for the distribution of MLB-related goods, services, and content, the .BASEBALL gTLD will benefit baseball fans, and Internet users in general. It will help them to navigate to MLBAM’s official and trusted online sites and services, and away from unauthorized, rogue online sites and services that falsely and intentionally portray themselves as sanctioned by MLB. At such rogue online sites and services, Internet users are vulnerable to illegal and harmful activities including, but not limited to, credit card and identity theft, distribution of malware, phishing, cybersquatting, counterfeiting, and content piracy.

In addition, the .BASEBALL gTLD can potentially establish a trusted online hub for baseball fans, organizations, and Internet users around the world seeking information, online content, goods, and services related to baseball.

In addition, when MLBAM DH allocates domain names for use by MLBAM, on its own behalf, and on behalf of the MLB Entities, and potentially for use by Qualified Entities and Qualified Third Parties, each will benefit from short, memorable, intuitive, and trusted Internet addresses and increased ability to present MLB or baseball-related information, content, goods, and services to baseball fans, and Internet users in general, while minimizing the cost and need for defensive registrations because domain names within the .BASEBALL gTLD will only be allocated by MLBAM DH to its parent company, MLBAM, to the MLB Entities, and potentially to Qualified Entities and Qualified Third Parties.

18.2.1 What is the goal of your proposed gTLD in terms of areas of specialty, service levels, or reputation?

A basic mission and purpose of the .BASEBALL gTLD is to serve as a trusted, hierarchical, and intuitive online namespace for baseball fans, and Internet users in general. Through this namespace, baseball-related information, content, goods, and services will be aggregated and offered. Through MLBAM, MLB is a recognized innovator in Internet content distribution. As relevant technology has evolved, MLBAM has continued to pursue and expand upon new opportunities to distribute content to, and better serve, baseball fans, and Internet users in general, on a worldwide basis, on a variety of platforms, including wireless devices. MLBAM DH believes that the .BASEBALL gTLD has the potential to provide an innovative, virtual avenue that will deepen and broaden MLB’s relationship with baseball fans around the world, global online audiences, and further MLB’s reputation as an innovator.

MLBAM will be able to provide access to baseball-related information, content, goods, and services in a new, secure, and trusted online namespace devoid of illegal and harmful activities, including, but not limited to, credit card and identity theft, distribution of malware, phishing, pharming, cybersquatting, counterfeiting, and content piracy.

Providing consumers with safe, secure, and trusted experience is paramount to MLBAM DH and MLBAM.

18.2.2 What do you anticipate your proposed gTLD will add to the current space, in terms of competition, differentiation, or innovation?

Unlike most generic gTLDs that ICANN has approved over the last decade, which have largely been operated by Internet startups and have been primarily dependent upon ICANN-accredited registrars to market and promote their gTLDs, through MLBAM, MLB is a widely recognized innovator in the area of Internet content distribution and is recognized for leveraging emerging online technologies to deliver information, content, goods, and services to its fans and Internet users in general on an international scale. As a gTLD that embodies the popular sport that MLB is centered around, the driving factors behind the .BASEBALL gTLD are differentiation and innovation.

The .BASEBALL gTLD from its launch will be a trusted online source of information about baseball. MLBAM will follow its established good business practices in working with law enforcement to create an environment and potential marketplace with safeguards designed to minimize fraud and other illegal activity.

18.2.3 What goals does your proposed gTLD have in terms of user experience?

MLBAM DH believes that the .BASEBALL gTLD will provide a trusted, hierarchical, and intuitive namespace for baseball fans, and Internet users in general that do or might in the future access MLBAM’s sites and services, or the sites of these Qualified Entities. In addition to providing consumers with short, memorable, trusted, and intuitive domain names and improved user navigation, the .BASEBALL gTLD will create a new, secure, and trusted online namespace devoid of illegal and harmful activities, including, but not limited to, credit card and identity theft, distribution of malware, phishing, cybersquatting, counterfeiting, and content piracy.

18.2.4 Provide a complete description of the applicant’s intended registration policies in support of the goals listed above.

The .BASEBALL gTLD is intended to be exclusively used by MLBAM for itself and potentially the MLB Entities, Qualified Entities, and Qualified Third Parties. Because of these conditions precedent, any registration and use requirements are more appropriately vested in corporate⁄affiliate, commercial, or membership agreements, and not in a domain name registration agreement.

While MLBAM DH is fully supportive of, and committed to, ICANN’s bottom-up, consensus-driven model, the MLB mark is a valuable brand whose protection is of paramount importance; therefore, any registration and use requirements (e.g., trademark quality control provisions) must vest in these other agreements.

MLBAM DH will incorporate all required ICANN consensus policies and other legal⁄policy requirements imposed on new gTLD applicants into the terms and conditions of the domain name registration agreements.

18.2.5 Will your proposed gTLD impose any measures for protecting the privacy or confidential information of registrants or users? If so, please describe any such measures

As a leading interactive media and Internet company, MLBAM is committed to safeguarding the privacy and confidential information of the users of its sites and services. MLBAM employs a variety of physical, electronic, contractual, and managerial safeguards to protect the privacy and confidential information of the users of its sites and services. MLBAM DH will take appropriate precautions to protect private or confidential registrant and user data associated with the .BASEBALL gTLD.

In addition, MLBAM DH intends to incorporate contractual language in its Registry-Registrar Agreement (RRA) modeled after language that has been included in the template Registry Agreement and that has been successfully utilized by existing ICANN gTLD Registry Operators:

“Registry Operator shall (i) notify each ICANN-accredited registrar that is a party to the registry-registrar agreement for the TLD of the purposes for which data about any identified or identifiable natural person (“Personal Data”) submitted to Registry Operator by such registrar is collected and used under this Agreement or otherwise and the intended recipients (or categories of recipients) of such Personal Data, and (ii) require such registrar to obtain the consent of each registrant in the TLD for such collection and use of Personal Data. Registry Operator shall take reasonable steps to protect Personal Data collected from such registrar from loss, misuse, unauthorized disclosure, alteration or destruction. Registry Operator shall not use or authorize the use of Personal Data in a way that is incompatible with the notice provided to registrars.”

18.2.6 Describe whether and in what ways outreach and communications will help to achieve your projected benefits.

MLBAM DH and MLBAM recognize the potential for the .BASEBALL gTLD to serve as a component of the MLB Entities’ future online strategic initiatives; however, there remain a number of unanswered questions concerning consumer recognition and adoption of new gTLDs in the marketplace that first must be fully answered to MLBAM’s satisfaction.

After careful analysis of a targeted rollout using the new .BASEBALL domains, MLBAM DH may plan to engage in a broader, strategic initiative, should the results be positive. The actual usage of .BASEBALL domain names will dictate what public communications and consumer outreach may be done to encourage navigation to the .BASEBALL gTLD. This is not limited to, but may include advertising, media outreach, in-ballpark communications, and email campaigns.

Similar gTLD applications: (1)