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

Prototypical answer:

i.

* SPECIALITY: The Integrally connected namespace *

The speciality of the .HAMBURG top-level domain is that it aims to become a new namespace for the communication and interaction of all the various stakeholders of Hamburg such as Internet users, companies, local government, the media and public institutions. By becoming the essential source for community members, the .HAMBURG namespace integrally connects them on the Internet.

* REPUTATION and SERVICE LEVEL: Secure and trustworthy namespace *

The .HAMBURG namespace managed under the legislation of Germany and technically operated by the operator of the .AT ccTLD brings with it security, reliability, trust and credibility in the same manner as already established by a national ccTLD like .AT or .DE. The registration policies and the start-up planning ensure that only community members may register a .HAMBURG domain name. Internet users can trust that information and services offered under .HAMBURG domains are from or for the community. This is a service level that is sought after by the global Internet community and which will contribute to the already positive reputation of the .HAMBURG namespace.

* SPECIALITY: Intuitive and memorable namespace *

Domain names under .HAMBURG are descriptive, precise and create identity for people and institutions related to the City of Hamburg. The .HAMBURG top-level domain and its domain names enables citizens, tourists, administration, organisations and companies to come together in a more intuitive manner than today. This is a special ability that is difficult to provide within existing top-level domains, but will become a standard in future descriptive top-level domains.


ii.

* COMPETITION - Local strength, competitive pricing and enhanced options for the Hamburg Community *

With .HAMBURG, community members will be enabled to choose from a wide pool of contextually relevant domain names and register those which best suit their communication needs. The .HAMBURG top-level domain will be welcome, since the national ccTLD .DE is overcrowded with nearly 15 million registered domain names. As an addition to gTLDs, ccTLDs and future gTLDs, .HAMBURG will be an ideal supplement. With a bigger choice the Hamburgers will experience a more competitive pricing for suitable domain names. Furthermore we expect that in addition to the attractiveness of the string many registrars will offer the registration of .HAMBURG domain names, which will lead to increased price competition among registrars. Hamburgers will have numerous options when registering a domain because .HAMBURG opens up a completely new namespace where all domain names are still available at launch. .HAMBURG also helps websites to achieve higher search engine relevance. The strong and unique local character of the .HAMBURG domain names brings about a natural competition in the global domain name business by introducing a dedicated namespace for a clearly delineated community.

The system of our registry service-provider is already connected to many hundreds of registrars in Europe. Adding further TLDs and implementing them on the registrars’ systems is therefore simple and proven and eases the provision of the .HAMBURG TLD. Beyond the easy provision of .HAMBURG many registrars are expected to offer .HAMBURG domain names. We have been in talks with many registrars since the foundation of dotHAMBURG and beend told that many are interested to offer .HAMBURG domain names to their customers. With many registrars offering .HAMBURG domain names we expect that prices will be competitive for the Community.

This environment creates new business opportunities and fosters the development of innovative services for the benefit of the Hamburg Community and its members. With .HAMBURG domains, the Hamburg Community can enhance their search engine rankings by delivering more relevant search results. This will benefit in more traffic on their respective websites under .HAMBURG domain name and will increase their position in the local market. From a user perspective, Hamburgers and visitors of Hamburg will have a quicker and easier way to find businesses under names such as taxi.hamburg, public information under names such as taxoffice.hamburg or accommodations under a name such as hotel.hamburg. Alltogether .HAMBURG will become a prosperous and promising namespace.

* DIFFERENTIATION - A meaningful TLD *

The .HAMBURG top-level domain and its .HAMBURG domain names are clearly differentiated from existing TLDs, not only due to their descriptive and self-explanatory nature which has a clear meaning and value to the targeted registrants and Internet users but also due to their dedicated owners.

* INNOVATION – Connected services *
We are planning to support the Hamburg Community by innovative domain name connected services such as making websites more easy accessible for mobile devices, offering directory services and search engine optimization. The new .HAMBURG domain names will be suitable for search engines and other forms of communication.


iii.

* Eligible Users only *

Users will understand that in the .HAMBURG namespace only eligible registrants can register their names, thus heightening the local identity and solidarity. The intuitive and descriptive domain names under a “meaningful TLD” like .HAMBURG will enable consumers to navigate and search more easily for information and services in and about Hamburg on the Internet. It is also expected that search engines will give ranking preference to .HAMBURG domain names compared to other TLDs, if the .HAMBURG namespace is managed well and offers advantages over other TLDs. This will increase the visibility along with the strong marketing efforts for .HAMBURG by Hamburg Top-Level-Domain GmbH and its media partners from the Hamburg community.

* Equal Access for eligible Registrants *

The barrier to register and operate a .HAMBURG domain name is low. Even Registrants who are new to the Internet can easily register a domain name. They will become a part of the global Internet community and be able to participate in global communications, exchange and business. Additional services like a website builder support those registrants to setup a website.


iv.

.HAMBURG second-level domain names are restricted to the community of Hamburgers and their organizations (Registrants). Hamburg Top-Level-Domain intends to offer the registration of domain names under .HAMBURG according to the following policies.

* START-UP SCHEDULE *

The .HAMBURG TLD will have a simple and straight forward start-up schedule with the phases noted below:

Phase 1 - RESERVATION

- Reservation of names for local and national authorities and their departments (public offices and functions etc.)
- Reservation of names for defined interest groups of the Hamburg community including (i) names for the representation of the economic and non-commercial interests of the City of Hamburg (associations, location marketing, culture, advertising, etc.) and directory-services in accordance with the purpose of the .HAMBURG top-level domain
- Reservation of names for the technical operation, the namespace management, marketing and purpose of the .HAMBURG top-level domain as defined in #18a
- Reservation of premium names for a later allocation in accordance with the requiements of the City of Hamburg
- Reservation of names in accordance with the ICANN specification 5 (2-characters, country names, others)
All lists of reserved names and the reserved names in detail are part of the obigations to which dotHamburg is bound by a contract with the City of Hamburg.

Phase 2a – LOCAL SUNRISE

Depending on approval by ICANN a Sunrise for local businesses from the Hamburg Community will be executed. Eligible are all registrants who meet the eligibility criteria of .HAMBURG described below and whose trademarks are valid in Germany. The Local Sunrise has a duration of 30 days; allocation follows the first-come, first-served principle.

The Local Sunrise are part of the obigations to which dotHamburg is bound by a contract with the City of Hamburg.

Phase 2b – TMCH SUNRISE

Sunrise under the Trademark Clearinghouse (TMCH) rules. Eligible are all registrants who meet the eligibility criteria of .HAMBURG described below and whose trademarks were validated by the Trademark Clearinghouse. The TMCH Sunrise has a duration of 30 days; allocation follows the first-come, first-served principle.

Phase 3 – LANDRUSH

Registration of domains names for the community members. Eligible are all registrants who can demonstrate their eligibility. Allocation follows the first-come, first-served principle.

Sale of fixed price premium domain names during the Landrush on a first-come, first-served basis; eligible are all registrants who meet the .HAMBURG eligibility criteria described below.


* DESCRIPTION of the REGISTRATION POLICIES *

The following text is a shortened and descriptive version of the full registration policies which highlights the relevant information.

Registration requirements in detail:

* NAMESPACE STRUCTURE *

The namespace under .HAMBURG is not divided into second-level domain names. The registration of domain names will be exclusively under the top level .HAMBURG. The establishment of sub-domain names below the domain names registered under .HAMBURG is permitted and subject to the exclusive responsibility of the registrant.

* CHARACTERS *

A .HAMBURG domain name can only consist of digits (0-9), hyphens, the letters a through z and the Latin Unicode character sets (Basic, Extended-A and Extended-B). It must neither start with nor end with a hyphen nor must there be hyphens in the third and fourth place. The minimum length of a domain is one (1), the maximum length sixty-three (63) characters. If the domain contains special characters, the maximum length is determined in accordance with RFC 3490. If the domain is an IDN, the maximum length is determined in accordance with RFC 5890 and RFC 5891.

* PRIORITY *

If no special allocation method is provided for a domain name, it is assigned categorically to this eligible registrant whose application has been first received by the Registry in the technically correct manner and in accordance with the .HAMBURG registration policy and has been first written in the .HAMBURG Registry database (also called priority principle, ʺfirst come, first servedʺ). By registering the domain name it is no longer available for further registrations until the registration expires and is not renewed or until the domain is canceled.

* ELIGIBILITY *

Since .HAMBURG is intended to serve the community of the Hamburgers in general, the group of eligible registrants is limited. Exclusively eligible to register a domain name under the top-level domain .HAMBURG is any natural person, legal person, organization or association of persons, if they can demonstrate that they have an economic, cultural, historical, social or any other connection to the metropolitan area of Hamburg, verifiable by

- their residence or second home, office or place of business, a branch or permanent establishment in the metropolitan area of Hamburg, or

- a contact listed in the Whois database with a domicile in the metropolitan area of Hamburg, or

- other appropriate proof e.g. the certification by an employer to enroll at a school or college, or birth certificate.

With the registration of a .HAMBURG domain name each registrant implicitly signs the registration policies and agrees with the fact that he acknowledges compliance with the registration guidelines. A review of whether the applicant meets the required eligibility, does not take place regularly on the date of registration, however, anyone can check compliance with the registration requirements by initiating an extrajudicial dispute resolution procedure (ʺ.HAMBURG Eligibility Requirements Dispute Resolution Policyʺ) or an objection process.

* CONTENT ⁄ USE *

The contents of websites under .HAMBURG must be accessible under a domain directly related to the registration criteria of .HAMBURG.

The Registry has in its discretion developed restrictions on the content and use of any domain name. Such restrictions apply to any domain name registration that occurs after such restrictions come into effect.

Each domain name must, within one year following the date of registration, and thereafter throughout the term of the domain name, be used as the domain name for a website displaying Hamburg Community related content relevant to the domain name, or in such other manner (such as email) that the Registry may approve after review. Domain names used as contemplated above may resolve directly to the relevant website or be forwarded or redirected to another domain name displaying content relevant to the domain name.

Restrictions may include, but are not limited to, a requirement to develop a website that uses the registered domain name, to ensure that each registered domain name resolves to a working website, or to ensure that each website using a registered domain name, or redirected from a registered domain name presents content related to the registered .HAMBURG domain name.

The .HAMBURG Registry will, from time to time in its sole discretion or upon evidence or advice, but at least once a year, conduct continuing or recurring audits of domain names registered to ensure continued compliance with these requirements. Failure to comply will result in a notice providing a timeframe to comply. Non-compliance following such a notice period may result in take-down of the relevant domain name, at the discretion of the Registry.

* NAME SELECTION *

The Registrant undertakes as part of the registration guidelines not to register any domain names that violate the statutory provisions of the European Union and Federal Republic of Germany, that intervene in the rights of others or violate them, or for abusive, speculative or anti-competitive purposes. Concomitantly, the registrant obliges himself not to spread criminal, illegal, offensive, racist, discriminatory or pornographic content under the top-level domain .HAMBURG. The Registrant further undertakes not to register domain names, which create the erroneous impression that these are domain names, content or services by public bodies or their affiliated organizations, so-called plagiarising authority domain names.

The registrant agrees not to register domain names that violate ethical or criminal law principles (illegal, violent, racist, ethnically offensive, harmful to minors, indecent, offensive or domain names that violate morality and public order) or may hurt the reputation of the City of Hamburg. In addition, domain names are not permitted that use the words or parts of words that could generally perceived as offensive. These include insulting, abusive or agitational words or words or word elements, which could violate the ethical, religious or moral sensibilities of Internet users.

* EQUIVALENT RIGHTS *

The Registry will accept registration requests on a “first-come, first-served” basis. In the event an application does not meet the requirements of the Registry Policies, then such .HAMBURG domain names will remain in the general pool of available names.

* ENFORCEMENT *

The .HAMBURG Registry will, from time to time in its sole discretion or upon evidence or advice, but at least once a year, conduct continuing or recurring audits of domain names registered to ensure continued compliance with these requirements. Failure to comply will result in a notice providing a timeframe to comply. Non-compliance following such a notice period may result in take-down of the relevant domain name, at the discretion of the Registry.

The Registry is entitled to lock, cancel, initiate the gTLD-deletion cycle or transfer domain names that do not meet the registration criteria if certain cirumstances appear.

Without prejudice to further legal rights, as part of abusive use rules required by ICANN for gTLDs (ʺ.HAMBURG Anti-Abuse Rulesʺ) the registry can under certain circumstances, remove a domain name and its technical data from the name servers for top-level domain .HAMBURG (disconnection), change the contact data, or delete a domain name.


v.

The use of proxy and privacy services to protect the privacy or confidential information of registrants or users will be allowed in the own discretion of registrars and registrants. However the registrars and registrants are obliged to fulfill the eligibility criteria. The WHOIS data of all .HAMBURG domain names will be visible to the public, a CAPTCHA module prevents from automated inquiries. Bulk access to WHOIS data will not be allowed according to ICANN specifications. In addition dotHAMBURG will establish an abuse point of contact. To inform registrants how their personal data might be used by I-REGISTRY, we will notify registrars of the purposes for which personally identifiable data are collected and used.


vi.

Hamburg Top-Level-Domain GmbH started its outreach to the Hamburg community in 2007, and has since then worked with registrars, especially in Germany, on processes, prices and marketing and sales plans. The website for the .HAMBURG initiative, is online since 2007 under dotHAMBURG.de, supplemented by Facebook and Twitter

In preparation of the forthcoming launch and beyond Hamburg Top-Level-Domain GmbH will use its extensive network of local associations, multipliers, media and advertising partners to promote .HAMBURG in order to reach the projected domain name registrations and to transport the benefits of .HAMBURG to the Community. Outreach and communication will be carried out in close cooperation with the City of Hamburg and its facilities.

In particular, Hamburg Top-Level-Domain GmbH and its network will cooperate with the media department of the City of Hamburg, as well as with a number of publishing, online and broadcasting partners from the Hamburg Community, to plan and implement a comprehensive communication strategy with the aim to gain further awareness within the community. We will continue to communicate the benefits of .HAMBURG domains names within the community. We are confident that our broad outreach program, which is part of our marketing efforts, will help us to achieve the projected benefits of .HAMBURG.

Similar gTLD applications: (1)