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

Prototypical answer:

In pursuit of the applied-for TLD mission, the project .SKOLKOVO addresses a set of goals, including:
- Building a virtual home to projects and online resources highlighting on the Skolkovo project as a world class innovation and R&D powerhouse and its individual participants;
- Projecting the Skolkovoʹs unique brand values domestically and internationally;
- Facilitating a greater efficiency of Skolkovoʹs current and future marketing strategies;
- Contributing to shaping up an innovation and expertise pipeline for Russia;
- Shaping a unique platform for the global dialogue and networking between, and interaction and engagement of, representatives of the stakeholder communities and the at-large one in Russia and worldwide.

.SKOLKOVO is to form an augmentation to the SICʹs branding, marketing, communication and reputation-building strategies, which will flash a ʺmade-in- Russiaʺ tag.

Whilst there are many R&D and commercialization centers worldwide, none has yet applied for own TLD, so .SKOLKOVO will add to the rainbow of TLDs on the Internet, thus making a difference by its mere existence.

Also, from the global perspective, the global and Russian R&D communities will enjoy a specific common platform, which would emerge into a global clearinghouse for innovators and pioneers in R&D.

As a project originating in Russia, .SKOLKOVO will serve as a gravity center for well-educated and highly motivated Russians contribute to the global innovatorsʹ dialogue by using the unique platform and realize their most daring ideas in particular in the ICT and Internet area.

.SKOLKOVO will welcome any project capable of transforming the market and promoting a unique product or technology. Every project of this kind will have its virtual representation in .SKOLKOVO.

Overall, .SKOLKOVO is a virtual embodiment of the Virtual Skolkovo, and it allows:
- An identification and attribution in the Internet of participants in and partners to the Skolkovo project;
- An opportunity for them to generate and implement their own online representation and projects under the aegis of .SKOLKOVO, thus allowing economies of scale;
- Establishment and maintenance of a secured online environment to protect their representation, brands, trademarks, intellectual property and products online;
- A maximum possible openness for the external audience: .SKOLKOVO will strike a right balance between the above procedures and the general openness, except for the restriction to apply for a second-level domain name, unless one qualifies for that in accordance with the Registry Operatorʹs policies and procedures.

The Applicant understands that the registration policies with respect to second-level domain names registration in the applied-for gTLD are to be in compliance with the standards, requirements and limitations outlined set forth in the Registry Agreement, the Registry-Registrar Agreement (RRA), Registrar Accreditation Agreement (RAA), as well as other general policies, standards and procedures established by ICANN.

In addition, the Applicant intends to establish in the applied-for gTLD supplementary policies, procedures, requirements and restrictions in accordance with its mission and purposes. This policies, procedures, requirements and restrictions shall be developed by the Applicant basing both on information presented in this Application and Russian Federation legislation, as well as on best practices of the existing TLDs.

The Applicant reserves the right to approve certain supplementary policies in gTLD .SKOLKOVO in the future which do shall not contradict standards, procedures, requirements and policies set by the ICANN and the Registry-Registrar Agreement.

Hereinafter Registrar refers to the ICANN accredited registrar that has entered in Registry-Registrar Agreement with the Registry Operator of the applied-for gTLD.

The Registry Operator, Registrars and registrants are bound to comply with the conditions stipulated in the aforementioned documents. Registrars are also obligated to include necessary terms and conditions into their registration agreements with registrants, and must require oneʹs obligatory mandatory familiarization with and acceptance of these terms.

In pursuit of the mission and purpose of the new gTLD, the Applicant plans to establish therein the following policies and basic principles:

1) Registration policies

a) The second-level domain names should be registered through ICANN accredited registrars only

b) .SKOLKOVO is created for the benefit of a certain group of stakeholders: it will be participants in the Skolkovo project and partners to the innovation center ʺSkolkovoʺ who will become eligible for registration of the second-level domain names in gTLD .SKOLKOVO. The Registry Operator shall devise a detailed description of the registration policy wherein the following categories of corporations and individuals eligible for registration of second-level domain names in .SKOLKOVO shall be specified:
- the Fund for Development of the Center for Elaboration and Commercialization of New Technologies (the Applicant);
- the Applicantʹs subsidiaries;
- participants in the innovation center ʺSkolkovoʺ’s project (stakeholders) which have been awarded this status in compliance with Russian law;
- private individuals or entities in receipt of a special invitation from the Applicant (the procedure of drafting and dispatching of the invitation will be described as a separate item in the Registry Operatorʹs policies for, and requirements to, Registrars and registrants).

c) Where the registrant discontinues conforming to the aforementioned criteria (eg. in the event the registrant has been deprived of the status of participant in the innovation center ʺSkolkovoʺ’s project), then the Registry Operator has the right to cancel registration of the respective domain name. The Registry Operator will devise and publish a policy establishing a comprehensive procedure for registration cancelation, including decision making time and procedures by the Registry Operator and a procedure of due advance notification of the registrant of the suggestion to transfer⁄retain the content posted under the respective domain name in the Internet within a reasonable time also set forth in the aforementioned notification.

d) There is no restriction on the number of domain names that may be registered by a registrant.

e) A registrant may not register a domain name for the sole purpose of resale or transfer to another entity.

f) It is possible to register domain names that comply with the following conditions:
- be from 3 up to 63 characters long;
- contain only letters (a-z), numbers (0-9) and hyphens (-), or a combination of these;
- start and end with a number or a letter, not a hyphen; and
- not contain hyphens in the third and fourth position (eg. ab-cd.skolkovo).

g) Registration of domain names is possible for the term between 1 and 10 уears, but not exceed 10 years.

h) While submitting an application for domain name registration, the prospective registrant shall produce a set of data and⁄or documents, per the list set by the Registry Operator.

Where a registrant has made a false warranty to the Registrar, or otherwise acted in bad faith in order to register a domain name, the Registry Operator reserves the right to cancel the domain name registration.

i) The Applicant will introduce the Reserved Names List containing domain names that may not be registered.

j) It is prohibited to register domain names which include words contradicting public interests, the principles of humanity or morality, in particular, words of obscene content, slogans of antihuman character, which insult human dignity or religious feelings. Where Registry Operator has detected or got complain regarding such a domain name registered, Registry Operator reserves the right to cancel registration of the domain name. The Applicant will develop a detailed description of procedures and modus operandi for such situations. Measures on identification and prevention of an abusive registration of domain names are considered in a greater detail in the response to Evaluation Question #28 (Abuse prevention and mitigation).

k) The Applicant does not plan to create and administer any second-level domain names of special type to register third-level domain names. The registrant of a second-level domain name may carry out registration of third-level domains in his⁄her domain. The said registrant determines on his own terms and procedures for third-level domain names registration, provided they conform with the overarching registration and usage procedures and policies established for and in the TLD.

l) It is envisaged that first there will be launched a Sunrise period intended for owners of exclusive rights to a trade mark. Where more than one application for a certain second-level domain has been submitted during the Sunrise period, then that domain name shall be set for an auction. Upon completion of the Sunrise period, registration of second-level domain names will be carried out following the First Come First Served principle. More details on Sunrise are given in the answer to Evaluation Question #29.

2) Renewal

Renewal of a domain name registration is possible for any term between 1 and 10 years, but not exceed 10 years. Where the registrant discontinues conforming to the aforementioned criteria (eg. in the event the registrant has been deprived of the status of participant in the project of innovation center ʺSkolkovoʺ), then such a registrant shall be deprived of the right to renew the respective domain name for next term.

3) Use

a) The Registry Operator will enforce a set of strict measures with regard to control and counter activities which contravene Russian law, morale and public order, as well as acts and situations countering the mission and purposes of the Skolkovo project.

b) A Registrant is fully responsible for contents of materials posted in the Internet with the use of the domain name registered by him⁄her and assumes responsibility for any possible consequences of his⁄her actions, including in particular where the registrant allows third parties to post information in Internet with the use of the respective domain name.

c) Where the Registry Operator detects illegal activities (abuses like phishing, spam, etc.) or receives a third partyʹs complaint in that regard, then, seeking to terminate the abuse, the Registry Operator reserves the right to impose sanctions upon the registrant to the extent of cancellation the domain name registration.

4) Transfer

Transfer of a domain name from one registrant to another is permitted provided the new registrant satisfies the criteria determining the right to domain name registration.

The Applicant is a legal entity incorporated in Russian Federation and shall abide by the Russian law. In accordance with Federal Act of Russian Federation #152-FZ ʺOn personal dataʺ, the Registry Operator executes a set of measures to protect registrantsʹ personal data. The Applicant will introduce policies and procedures regarding personal data processing including keeping, transferring and using such data while rendering domain name registration services, transferring the data to the TLD registry, depositing, etc. Specifically, when a domain name registrant is an individual, his⁄her written consent is required to display his⁄her data in WHOIS public service. The Registry Operator requires from the Registrars to obtain such a written consent from registrants. Where a written consent to publish personal data in WHOIS is not granted, such data will not be subject to disclosure.

The Applicant believes that .SKOLKOVO will be expanding in parallel to growth and advancement of the innovation center ʺSkolkovoʺ’s project per se.

The Applicant does not view .SKOLKOVO as a profit-making project.

That said, the Applicant is confident that not only will .SKOLKOVO form a critical component of the Skolkovo projectʹs infrastructure, but it will earn a big societal significance for both domestic and international research and at-large communities.

The Applicant is keen to build on his possibilities and capacities to further promote the Skolkovo project and gTLD .SKOLKOVO in particular. More specifically, the Applicant is going to additionally advise participants in, and partners to the Skolkovo project of extra opportunities and prospects they would obtain, should they register their second-level domain names in the applied-for string. The Applicant believes that the said prospective registrants will definitely appreciate benefits from using such domain names and vigorously employ those in their operations.

The Applicant is currently busy attracting new participants in and partners to the Skolkovo project, which suggests an extensive marketing campaign both in Russian and overseas, in which all the communication channels are engaged. Clearly, running all kinds of promotional activities should generate the much needed synergy effect and give an extra boost to promotion of the concept of .SKOLKOVO, too.

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