gTLD	Full Legal Name	E-mail suffix	Detail
.sky	Sky IP International Ltd, a company incorporated in England and Wales, operating via its registered Swiss branch	bskyb.com	View

The mission and purpose of the new .sky gTLD is to benefit internet users by ensuring increased trust and confidence through the assurance of brand authenticity.

The .sky gTLD will be a new generation gTLD providing Sky end-users with an authenticated and trusted Sky internet space where information can be found on the Sky brand, its products and services, its affiliates and partners. The .sky gTLD will be controlled by Sky IP International Limited (Sky IPI) for use by potentially all Sky group companies including the parent company BSkyB Group plc and Sky licensees (all of which shall be collectively referred to as “Sky”). It is anticipated that the primary use of the second level .sky domain names will be to promote and communicate the Sky brand and its broadcasting, media, entertainment and telecommunication services and products. There may be potential for various second and third level .sky gTLD domains to be created for use by Sky home and business customers at a later date. There may also be use of geographic names for second level .sky domains for use by Sky licensees in overseas territories and countries. Furthermore, given the global presence of Sky (as described below), Internationalised Domain Names (IDNs) may also be registered and used for second level .sky domain names.
Sky operates, directly or through its licensees, a comprehensive multi-channel, multi-platform television service in the UK, Ireland, Italy, Germany, Brazil and Mexico. It also has a significant global footprint outside of these territories where it broadcasts various services including an Arabic language news service to 19 Middle Eastern countries, and an English language news service to 110 countries throughout Europe, the Asia Pacific region, Australasia, Africa, Latin America and North America. It also operates a number of associated businesses in advertising and marketing, betting and gaming and telecommunications including broadband and telephone services. Sky also has significant sponsorship arrangements including sponsoring the Sky Pro Cycling team, a professional road cycling team. Sky is also involved with well-publicised community initiatives including Sky Ride (an initiative encouraging people to exercise by cycling) and Sky Rainforest Rescue (a campaign to raise awareness and funds to prevent the deforestation of the Amazon rainforest). Customer trust, brand recognition and continuous innovation are paramount considerations in all of the activities of the business.
Sky’s business activities are increasingly conducted on the internet and are constantly changing and evolving especially with the convergence of media technologies in delivering content. The volume of commercial transactions over the internet is constantly growing and .sky will simplify and lower transaction costs benefiting Sky and its customers. Furthermore, .sky aims to promote greater user confidence in the security of transactions and⁄or interactions with Sky. Similarly, the .sky gTLD will assure customers of the authenticity of its online promotion and marketing of media, entertainment, betting and gaming, and telecommunication related products and services.
Sky IPI’s mission and purpose for the proposed .sky gTLD are aligned with ICANN’s initiatives to promote the public interest and its Affirmation of Commitments which include promoting consumer trust, competition and consumer choice.The .sky registry will be operated centrally with a restricted registration policy where only Sky IPI and⁄or its authorised affiliate entities will be able to register domains for use initially by the Sky group companies and existing and future Sky licensees. Furthermore, .sky domain names are subject to registration standards, policies and procedures under Sky IPI’s control, which eliminates the possibility of malicious conduct within the .sky.
Given Sky IPI’s tight control over .sky and its proposed policies and procedures (as described above and throughout this application) to eliminate all possible malicious and abusive conduct within .sky, consumers will be reassured that all .sky domain names are trustworthy and authentic Sky sites. This in turn builds consumer trust and confidence enhancing Sky’s online reputation. Sky’s activities will encourage competition amongst registry operators, whereby existing and new TLD operators will make changes in their mechanisms to improve consumer trust in their own TLDs so that they are at least on part with improvements in consumer trust made by other TLD operators such as Sky IPI. Improved consumer trust and competition will encourage e-commerce thereby increases the number of online transactions and interactions by consumers.
The .sky gTLD also presents Sky with a substantial opportunity to market new products and services including user-driven improvement and innovations by creating new second and third level domain names as required. These domain names, including the use of geographic names and IDNs, will promote consumers choice by innovatively increasing the ways consumers can interact with Sky.

Given the initially restricted nature of.sky, the projected number of registrations is likely to be limited. It is anticipated that a small number of domain names will be registered in the first year. Over the next few years, the number of registrations is likely to increase to between 500-1000 domain names as new services and marketing campaigns are developed and implemented. Sky may, at a later date, evaluate the potential in extending .sky access (i.e. use but not registration) to its home and business customers. In making such evaluation, Sky IPI will take due consideration of its continued compliance with all operational, technical and policy requirements. Sky IPI will keep ICANN reasonably informed of any material developments relating to.sky, including compliance with the continued operations instrument obligations as set out in Specification 8 of the Registry Agreement. Sky IPI intends to utilise geographic names and Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs) to support a positive user experience for users regardless of geography or language.

Sky is a well-recognised global brand and has trade mark applications and registrations in 130 jurisdictions for the word SKY and other SKY related marks. These registrations cover a range of different classes of goods and services including broadcasting services (such as television and radio broadcasting), apparatus used for the receiving, recording, storage and playback of television and radio, advertising and marketing, telecommunications (including telephony and broadband services), betting and gaming, entertainment and cultural activities.
Sky has existing domain names using the SKY trade marks in domain spaces including:
-gTLDs: .com, .biz, .net, .org, .travel,
-ccTLDS: co.uk, eu, me, ws, com.cn, cn, .de, com.dm, com.es, com.gr, dm, mp, org.cn, qa, so., tm.fr, tv, it ie.
Recently, Sky was successful in securing sunrise applications for .info, .mobi, .eu, .asia, .tel, .co and .xxx domain spaces based on its existing registered trade mark rights.

Sky has strong registered and unregistered rights in the SKY name based on its famous reputation in the UK, Ireland, Italy and Germany. In particular, Sky has used the SKY trade mark extensively and exclusively for over 20 years in the UK where it has developed an iconic reputation. Furthermore, it has a substantial reputation in other countries around the world via its worldwide broadcasts of Sky News amongst other things. Sky has been at the forefront of media convergent technology by combining television, computer, internet and telecommunication technologies through its substantial investment in technological innovation, product development and focused marketing. As a result, the SKY brand is well known for its internet-related goods and services. Sky IPI believes that .sky is unlikely to cause confusion with either a generic term or any existing TLDs.

gTLD	Full Legal Name	E-mail suffix	Detail
.melbourne	The Crown in right of the State of Victoria, represented by its Department of Business and Innovation	dbi.vic.gov.au	View

The mission and purpose of the new .melbourne gTLD is to benefit internet users by ensuring increased trust, convenience and utility as well as extending and strengthening the City of Melbourne’s brand in the online environment.

The .melbourne gTLD will create a new generation gTLD serving the interests of residents of Melbourne and the State of Victoria and other internet users looking for products, services and information relating to Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The .melbourne gTLD will be a domain space specifically related to Melbourne, the capital city of the State of Victoria in Australia. The .melbourne gTLD will provide a dedicated internet space for businesses, residents, community groups, organisations and government bodies in Victoria seeking to identify themselves with Melbourne, thus offering these potential registrants new marketing opportunities and an additional channel of communication focused on their geographic location. Internet users will also benefit from the .melbourne gTLD through the increased accuracy and quantity of locality-specific content.

As the applicant for the .melbourne gTLD, the State Government of Victoria through its Department of Business and Innovation, Innovation and Technology Division (DBI) aims to connect individuals, businesses and groups in Victoria to other local, national and international businesses and markets and to promote Melbourne as a great place to live, work, invest, visit and learn. The application for the .melbourne gTLD has the full support of the State Government of Victoria and the Melbourne City Council, the Local Government of the City of Melbourne.

Greater Melbourne consists of the City of Melbourne and a further 30 municipalities, has an approximate population of 4 million people and is often referred to as “the cultural capital of Australia” (as mentioned in the Melbourne Tourist Guide, www.melbournetouristguide.com). Melbourne was ranked the number one city in “The Economist’s top 10 Worldʹs Most Liveable Cities” in 2011 (www.economist.com⁄node⁄21528162).

The registration of second level domain names within the .melbourne domain space will only be available to government bodies in Victoria and businesses and residents with a Victorian address. This restriction is imposed to ensure that the .melbourne gTLD is available to Victorian residents and to facilitate and encourage the availability of information relating to activities, businesses, community groups, organisations and government bodies related to Melbourne in an online space free from use that is illegitimate or inconsistent with the mission and purpose of the .melbourne gTLD. The .melbourne gTLD is intended to encourage innovation and growth by offering economic benefits on a macro scale, increased utilisation of technology resources and an increased opportunity for and facilitation of entrepreneurship by providing an online geo-distinctive presence and new marketing opportunities. This will benefit internet users and promote competition in the marketplace.

The internet has created a means for global communication and interaction, allowing for greater levels of information exchange, as well as facilitating efficient business transactions. Information about Melbourne is widely available on the internet, allowing internet users worldwide to access online information regarding work, play or life in Melbourne. A centralised .melbourne gTLD will, however, provide a clearly identified resource for internet users, including visitors to Melbourne, bringing together and giving easier access to information about events, businesses, communities, government bodies and organisations in Melbourne. The .melbourne gTLD will meet the need for a specific online space that captures the distinctive city of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia and thus will enhance the strength and value of the Melbourne brand.

The mission and purpose of the proposed new gTLD share ICANN’s initiatives to promote public interest. DBI is committed to contribute towards achieving such initiatives in line with ICANN’s Affirmation of Commitments, which includes:
– consumer trust: the .melbourne gTLD registry will operate as a registry where only individuals and businesses with a Victorian address will be able to register domain names at the second level. Consumers will be able to have greater confidence in the information provided under the .melbourne gTLD knowing that the information is provided by businesses, organisations government bodies or residents connected to Melbourne. As domain names within .melbourne will be subject to registration standards, policies and procedures, the incidence of abuse and cybersquatting (through adequate protection of trademark holders) will be significantly lower and internet users will have greater confidence in the information they receive about the city of Melbourne; and
– competition: the .melbourne gTLD will contribute to the initiatives of competition and consumer choice through its operation focused on promoting consumer trust and convenience, as well as providing an alternative domain name space to registrations in other TLDs. The .melbourne gTLD will provide more choice for registrants to clearly distinguish themselves in the online environment by demonstrating their direct connection to Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Increased trust in the .melbourne gTLD may drive existing and new top level domain (TLD) registry operators to make improvements in mechanisms to improve consumer trust of their TLDs; and
– consumer choice: the proposed new gTLD will enable user-driven improvements promoting Melbourne, with second level domains to be registered by eligible registrants. This will allow consumers more choice and options to register domain names and to interact with government bodies, community groups, businesses and organisations, as well as encourage competition between these potential registrant groups to best interact with such consumers. The .melbourne gTLD registration policy will provide clear guidance on the registration and use of domain names in the .melbourne gTLD, which will also contribute towards general service innovations on the internet.

Registration volume projections in this gTLD are based upon analysis of the target market, including registered trademark holders, businesses registered in Victoria and residents with a Victorian address. Projections have been developed with conservatism, taking into account the experience of existing gTLDs and ccTLDs and local market conditions.

In its endeavour to promote and expand the .melbourne gTLD, DBI will comply with all operational, technical and policy requirements and strive to maintain consumer trust and the stability of the internet. DBI will keep ICANN reasonably informed of any material developments relating to the .melbourne gTLD, including compliance with the continued operations instrument obligations as set out in Specification 8 of the Registry Agreement.

The DBI does not intend to make available Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs) and geographic names at the second level initially. However, as the use of the .melbourne gTLD evolves, it is anticipated that DBI may decide to make available IDNs and geographic names within the .melbourne domain space to allow internet users to engage with .melbourne in their native language, thus creating a more positive user experience and encouraging diversity. In accordance with Specification 5 of the Registry Agreement, and as specified in the response to Question 22, geographic names will not be available for registration without prior agreement from the relevant government or review and approval by the GAC.