20(c) Provide a description of the community-based purpose of the applied-for gTLD

Prototypical answer:

This proposed gTLD serves the purpose of uniting the global community of all members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Intended registrants include the Applicant, its designated representative, Church officers and employees, and organizations affiliated with the Church. Intended end-users include members of the Church, as well as non-members looking for information about the Church, its beliefs and activities.

Related activities that the Applicant intends to carry out in service of this purpose include webcasting General Conference. Held twice each year, General Conference offers Church members an opportunity to hear from Church leaders and officers directly. Five sessions of two hours each are conducted over two days in April and again in October. Thousands of Community members and others attend live sessions in the Church’s Conference Center in Salt Lake City, Utah. Millions more access Conference online. Simultaneous translation is made available in 80 non-English languages, for the benefit of Community members worldwide, and videos of the sessions are recorded and available online in these languages so that members who cannot watch the webcasts live can view them at a more convenient time.

The stated community purpose—uniting Church members—is of an undoubtedly lasting nature. Members comprise a worldwide community of more than 14 million people, divided by language and geography, but united by common religious convictions. Since April 6, 1830, the Church has been established under its current name and with essentially the same organizational structure. From its beginnings in New York, the Church moved as a body to Ohio and Missouri and Illinois before an epic westward migration took the Church to Utah in 1847. Since then it has grown beyond its origins as an American church: more members now live outside the United States than in it. Yet the Church has maintained a centralized organization. This explains why direct control of the .LDS gTLD will be expected by members of the Community. Any other outcome would be inconsistent with its history and fundamental commitments.

The Community itself is emphatically of “a lasting, non-transient nature.” Its activities stretch back over two centuries and its investments of time, money, and resources into forward-looking projects such as humanitarian aid and education bespeak a deep institutional commitment to the future.

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