22 Describe proposed measures for protection of geographic names at the second and other levels in the applied-for gTLD

Prototypical answer:

REGISTRY AGREEMENT - SPECIFICATION 5 CRITERIA

§2 The reservation of two-character label string may be released to the extent that Registry Operator reaches agreement with the government and the country-code manager. The Registry Operator may also propose release of these reservations based on its implementation of measures to avoid confusion with the corresponding country names.

§5… the reservation of specific country and territory names may be released to the extent that the Registry Operator reaches agreement with the applicable government(s), and subject to review by ICANN’s Governmental Advisory Committee (“GAC”) and approval by ICANN.


Sky IP International Limited (Sky IPI) respects and abides by the GAC’s Principles regarding New gTLDs, dated March 28, 2007.

In order to comply with the requirements of specification 5 of the Registry Agreement, all two-character labels (§2) and country and territory names (§5) will be initially reserved. However, Sky IPI believes that the use of geographic terms can provide great benefit and simplicity to internet users because these terms are intuitive ways to resolve to Sky content that is targeted to users in a particular geographic region.

Should Sky propose to use any .sky domain including a two-character label and⁄or country or territory name, it will implement and use a process by which the relevant government for the proposed .sky domain may reasonably raise concerns to Sky IPI regarding such use. The proposed process will allow for an open discussion between Sky IPI and the government with a view to resolving any concerns amicably and may ultimately result in the government providing its agreement. There may be a number of different scenarios of seeking and obtaining government, GAC and ICANN agreement to the use of a .sky domain containing a country and⁄or territory name. The plausible scenarios may include:


SCENARIO 1 (LETTER TO GAC)

In advance of any use of geographical names, Sky IPI will send a letter to the chair of the GAC outlining its intention to use a geographical name in the .sky gTLD. The letter will outline the reasons for using geographical names and provide the relevant government(s) an opportunity to reserve its respective geographical name from use in the .sky gTLD by contacting Sky IPI within 90 days from the date of the letter. If a Government informs Sky IPI that it wishes to reserve the relevant geographical name, the name will remain reserved for the duration of Sky IPI’s Registry Agreement. The opportunity to reserve a name will be offered to governments free of charge.


SCENARIO 2 (LETTER INFORMING INDIVIDUAL GOVERNMENTS)

In advance of any use of geographical names Sky IPI will send a letter to the government concerned informing it of Sky IPI’s intention to use a geographical name in a .sky gTLD domain. The letter will outline the reasons for using the geographical name and provide the government with an opportunity to reserve its geographical name from use in the .sky gTLD by contacting Sky IPI within 90 days from the date of the letter. If the government informs Sky that it wishes to reserve the use of its geographical name, the name will remain reserved for the duration of Sky IPI’s Registry Agreement. The opportunity to reserve a name will be offered to the government free of charge.


SCENARIO 3 (LETTER REQUESTING PERMISSION FROM INDIVIDUAL GOVERNMENT)

In advance of any use of geographical name, Sky IPI will send a letter to the government concerned informing it of Sky IPI’s intention to use a geographical name in a .sky gTLD domain. The letter will outline the reasons for using the geographical name and asks for the government’s approval or non-objection (if this is deemed acceptable by ICANN and governments) to the proposed use of the geographical name. If the Government does not respond to Sky IPI within 90 days from the date of the letter, Sky IPI will deem that the government does not object to Sky IPI’s proposed use of the geographical name.

It is extremely unlikely that Sky’s tightly controlled use of any cc.sky domain or countryname.sky domain could be confusing or detrimental to users, or otherwise offensive to any country, given that the .sky string is a well-known brand. Nor is it likely to be detrimental to the operator of a country code top level domain. To the extent if any use of a .sky domain was ever deemed confusing or offensive, Sky IPI will work to resolve the situation quickly and respectfully to any affected government’s sovereign interests by usual means of engaging governments by correspondence and meetings for example. Sky IPI will ensure that its designated abuse contact is aware of the additional sensitivities that may potentially arise with respect to use of cc.sky or countryname.sky domains, such that any complaints of this nature are prioritized accordingly. Sky IPI will not use geographic names until ICANN has approved such use.

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