gTLD	Full Legal Name	E-mail suffix	Detail
.微博	Sina Corporation	staff.weibo.com	View

How do you expect that your proposed gTLD will benefit registrants, Internet users, and others?
SINA believes that the proposed .微博 gTLD has the potential to offer two clear benefits to Internet users and consumers:

-- .微博 can provide the unique and clear identifier in the gTLD space for the convenience of existing and future SINA and Weibo.com users whose main language used online is Chinese
-- .微博 will serve in consistency with the corresponding .WEIBO gTLD to offer a equivalent or higher level of user trust and confidence to SINA and Weibo.com as well as to the Internet in general

What is the goal of your proposed gTLD in terms of areas of specialty, service levels, or reputation?
As Internet and mobile technologies evolve, SINA continues to evaluate opportunities to distribute its products and services to its users in China and in the rest of the world. While SINA’s intention of filing this application is to proactively protect this ownership of the “WEIBO” and “微博” trademarks at the gTLD name space, and to provide a trusted and intuitive namespace for businesses and consumers that use Weibo.com services, it is also important to recognize that SINA continues to aim to become the media platform of choice for Internet users to research and retrieve information, share opinions and build social networks and for businesses to market and promote their products and services. The .微博 gTLD is planned to serve as a cornerstone of these goals.


What do you anticipate your proposed gTLD will add to the current space, in terms of competition, differentiation, or innovation?
SINA believes that the success of the .微博 TLD will not be measured and determined by the total number of domain name registered. The eligibility requirement of .微博 is designed to promote trust and reliability of this gTLD. Using this benchmark, SINA strives to build consumer recognition and confidence to the level of that can be found in the existing numerous ccTLDs where user validation & authentication and local presence requirement are needed. The potential innovation of this TLD, based on a standard domain registry ⁄ registration service as described in our replies to Question 23 to Question 44, will be delivered through the proven success of SINA ⁄ Weibo.com wide range of innovative and reliable services which has served more than 300 million users to this date.

As noted above, SINA is a leading online service provider that is completely relying upon emerging Internet technologies and domain name system to deliver services to its consumers both domestically and abroad. A .微博 gTLD shall elevate its existing market leadership to another level. However, any broader adoption of this competitive advantage will only be undertaken after SINA has confidence that the concerns of various government and law enforcement regarding ICANN’s new gTLD process are properly addressed to its satisfaction.


What goals does your proposed gTLD have in terms of user experience?
SINA believes that the .微博 gTLD will provide an enhanced experience for the hundreds of millions of consumers both domestically and internationally that use its online services. This will also provide increased confidence and predictability for new customers and partners as SINA continues to expand into other markets around the world as a leading online media and Internet services platform.

In addition to providing consumers with shorter, memorable, and intuitive domain names to help customer navigate the website, SINA envisions best in class safeguards to minimize any potential phishing, pharming, or spam that have plagued the customers of other internet portals or content providers.

SINA has proven track of record on collaboration with major record label companies (EMI, Warner Music, Sony Music, etc.) as well as worldwide movie studios for online streaming services. Hundreds of Chinese celebrities have actively use Weibo.com services with verified credentials. SINA strives for the protection of copyrights and the operation of .微博 TLD will continue to ensure that the users can enjoy high quality entertainment without worrying about potential copyright infringement on the Internet.

SINA will make sure that accurate and current domain name information is collected from the registrant readily available in connection with each .微博 domain name. If other individuals and or companies are eventually permitted to register domain names in the .微博 gTLD, SINA will re-evaluate its policies at that time to ensure that its policies are in compliance with adequate policies ⁄ best practices at that time.

As mentioned in 18(a), SINA understands that the usability and acceptance of IDN gTLD are still being enhanced, particularly in the software application areas where worldwide user may not be 100% satisfy with the overall IDN experience. Therefore the .微博 TLD will be introduced in a careful and commercially reasonable manner that user will be notified with limited functionality of the IDN.

Provide a complete description of the applicant’s intended registration policies in support of the goals listed above.
As documented in Section 18(a), during the Initial Period of operation, SINA is intending to restrict registration and use of domain names with the gTLD to limited number of eligible registrant. Because of this condition precedent, any registration and use requirements are more appropriately vested in these corporate⁄subsidiary agreements and not in a domain name registration agreement. SINA mark is a valuable brand whose protection is of paramount important, any registration and use (e.g. trademark quality control provisions) must vest in these other agreements.
Aside from these concerns, SINA will incorporate all required ICANN consensus policies and other legal⁄policy requirements imposed on new gTLD applicants into the terms and conditions of the domain name registration agreement. Based on ICANN Registry Agreement, SINA sets and enforces .微博 registration policies. General Registry Policies will be developed and made available prior to launch of TLD. Such policy decisions, based on ICANN Registry Agreement and relevant industry best practices, include but are not limited to:
• Registration eligibility requirements
• Which registrars may become accredited and sell domains
• Wholesale prices offered to registrars
• Reserved names
• Phased allocation (Sunrise, Landrush, etc.) of the domain space at the second and third levels
• Dispute policies
• Technical policies, including SRS security and access.

This .微博 (.xn--9krt00a) General Registry Policies pertain techno-operational policies in the following areas:
1. Domain Registrations (Domain Objects) and the .微博 Zone File
2. Domain Contacts (Contact Objects) and WHOIS Service
3. Dispute Resolution Policies
4. Obligations of Registered Name Holders

The General Registry Policies provides the framework for the general operations of the .微博 Registry. Other policies, such as the .微博 Eligibility, Reserved Name Policies, Sunrise Policies and other relevant policies are described separately in other documents published at the .微博 TLD registry Websites. Pricing and technical specifications are published for Accredited Registrars only and provided separately.
The .微博 TLD registry is committed to maintaining the integrity of the data within the .微博 Registry and to implement policies that deter infringements. The .微博 TLD Registry adopts the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) for facilitating the resolution of disputes over the registration and use of a second-level domain name registered under the .微博 Registry. All domain name registrations must submit to the mandatory proceedings commenced under UDRP, which is available for review at http:⁄⁄www.icann.org⁄dndr⁄udrp⁄policy.htm. Complaints under the UDRP should be submitted to an approved dispute-resolution service provider listed at http:⁄⁄www.icann.org⁄dndr⁄udrp⁄approved-providers.htm.

Beyond the UDRP, all domain registrations must also submit to proceedings commenced under formally adopted dispute policies as set forth by SINA from time to time and published on the .微博 TLD registry Website(s). Such dispute policies will take effect at the time they are announced on the .微博 TLD registry Website(s), with or without prior notice to registrars or registrants.

Such dispute policies may include for example, but not limited to, expedited processes for suspension of a domain name by claims sought by intellectual property right holders (URS), Internet engineering and security experts or other competent claimants in the purpose of upholding the stability, security and integrity of the .微博 Registry. Dispute policies may also include for example challenge processes adopted by the .微博 Registry for special programs when occurred.

Moreover, based upon SINA’s commitment and established track record in providing a safe eco-system for businesses and individuals, SINA intends to provide best in class safeguards that will evolve over time.

Will your proposed gTLD impose any measures for protecting the privacy or confidential information of registrants or users? If so, please describe any such measures
SINA will conform with section 1.8.6 of ICANN Registry Agreement:
Registry Operator will: 1) implement appropriate measures to avoid abuse of this feature (e.g., permitting access only to legitimate authorized users); and 2) ensure the feature is in compliance with any applicable privacy laws or policies.
Meanwhile, SINA recognizes that this is an evolving area of law in which there is no international standard, the measures for protecting the privacy and confidential information of registrants or users will be developed based on industry best practice such as Registrar Accreditation: Model Privacy Policy provided by ICANN (see http:⁄⁄www.icann.org⁄en⁄registrars⁄model-privacy-policy.htm)
SINA as a registry operator shall take reasonable steps to protect personal data from loss, misuse, unauthorized disclosure, alteration or destruction. SINA as a registry operator shall not use or authorize the use of personal data in a way that is incompatible with the notice provided to registrar(s) ⁄ registrant(s). Personal data shall refer to all data about any identified or identifiable natural person. SINA as a registry operator will not make commercial use of, or collect, traffic data regarding domain names or non-existent domain names for purposes such as the determination of the availability and health of the Internet, pinpointing specific points of failure, characterizing attacks and misconfigurations, identifying compromised networks and hosts, and promoting the sale of domain names.
Publicly available registrant information such as WHOIS service is intended only for query-based access. Specific WHOIS service access policy will be listed within the general registration policy .

Describe whether and in what ways outreach and communications will help to achieve your projected benefits.
As noted above, while SINA sees the potential for the .微博 gTLD to serve as a cornerstone for its future online strategic initiative, there are a number of unanswered questions concerning consumer recognition, security and stability, and broader industry adoption of new gTLDs within the marketplace that must be satisfactorily answered first. Once these concerns have been answered to SINA’s satisfaction, SINA is committed to making prominent use of the .微博 gTLDs in printed and online material as well as across its network of websites, affiliates, and partners. As of end of 2011, SINA currently spends over USD 135 million annually in sales and marketing. SINA is expecting to allocate resources on marketing and branding of .微博 TLD when appropriate.

gTLD	Full Legal Name	E-mail suffix	Detail
.ICBC	Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Limited	hichina.com	View

ICBC believes that a proposed .ICBC gTLD has the potential to offer the following benefits to Internet users and consumers:

• A trusted online marketplace for ICBC corporate and individual customers seeking to access ICBC’s financial goods and services online;
• Provide short and memorable domain names that will facilitate the ease by which consumers can locate information online;

Currently ICBC operates a number of corporate websites using a combination of second-level and top-level domain names. A representative sampling of regional ICBC websites and their corresponding domain names are listed below. However, for a full listing of all ICBC global websites and corresponding domain names please refer to the following URL on the ICBC main website, see http:⁄⁄www.ICBC-ltd.com⁄ICBCLtd⁄About%20Us⁄Global%20Websites⁄

ICBC Canada- http:⁄⁄www.icbk.ca⁄

ICBC New York - http:⁄⁄www.icbkus.com⁄

ICBC Madrid - www.icbc.com.es

ICBC Paris - http:⁄⁄www.icbcparis.fr⁄

ICBC London - http:⁄⁄www.ICBClondon.com⁄

ICBC Netherland -http:⁄⁄www.ICBC.co.nl⁄

ICBC Doha - http:⁄⁄www.ICBC.com.qa⁄

ICBC Middle East -http:⁄⁄www.ICBCme.ae⁄

ICBC believes that a .ICBC gTLD can provide an online single source identifying function for its current and future customers around the global, instead of the current mix-and-max approach that ICBC is currently forced to resort to as it expands into different markets around the world.

What is the goal of your proposed gTLD in terms of areas of specialty, service levels, or reputation?

The primary mission and purpose of the .ICBC gTLD is to provide a trusted, hierarchical, and intuitive online marketplace for customers of ICBC’s financial products and services. As technologies for delivering financial services evolve, ICBC continues to evaluate opportunities to distribute its products and services to its current and future clients. ICBC believes that a .ICBC gTLD has the potential to provide a virtual platform to offer interactive features to deepen and broaden its relationship with existing and future customers.

With regard to reputation, ICBC is driven by the following core corporate values:

ICBC’s Mission: Excellent for You
- Excellent service to clients
- Maximum return to shareholders
- Real success for our people
- Great contribution to society

ICBC’s Vision:
- A global leading bank with the best profitability, performance and prestige

ICBC’s Values: Integrity Leads to Prosperity
- Integrity, Humanity, Prudence, Innovation and Excellence

See http:⁄⁄www.ICBC-ltd.com⁄ICBCLtd⁄About%20Us⁄Corporate%20Culture⁄

What do you anticipate your proposed gTLD will add to the current space, in terms of competition, differentiation, or innovation?

As a brand gTLD, the primary driving factors of ICBC are providing a safe and secure online marketplace for its corporate and individuals customers. The success of the TLD will not be measured by the number of domain name registered. Instead it will be measured by the level of consumer recognition and trust that is placed place in .ICBC gTLD. Using this benchmark, ICBC strives to build consumer recognition and trust that rise to the level of that found in the.EDU and .GOV.CN domain names.

As noted above, ICBC is a leading global financial institution that is increasing relying upon emerging technologies to deliver financial services to its consumers both domestically and abroad. A .ICBC gTLD has the potential to serve as a cornerstone of this online strategy, if potential consumer benefits that ICANN experts have touted become a reality. However, any broader adoption of this strategic initiative will only be undertaken after ICBC has confidence that the concerns of various government and law enforcement regarding ICANN’s new gTLD process are properly addressed to its satisfaction. This evaluation is specifically reference in Stage Two in Section 18a.

While many customers of financial institutions are subject to a never ending barrage of spam and phishing activities, .ICBC from day one will be a trusted source of goods and services for consumer looking for information regarding ICBC’s financial products and services.

What goals does your proposed gTLD have in terms of user experience?

ICBC believes that the .ICBC gTLD will provide a single trusted eco-system experience for the hundreds of millions of consumers both domestically and internationally that use its financial products and services. In addition to providing consumers with short, memorable, and intuitive domain names to help customer navigate the ICBC website, ICBC envisions best in class safeguards to minimize any potential phishing, pharming, or spam that have plagued the customers of other financial institutions.

As identified in Section 18a, ICBC’s mid-term goal (Stage Two) is to eventually begin migrating traffic from its existing conglomeration of domain names registered across multiple TLDs to a single online source under the .ICBC (ASCII and IDN) gTLDs. This will provide customers with a single online trusted source for ICBC financial products and services. This will also increase confidence and predictability for ICBC customers and partners as ICBC continues to expand into other markets around the world as a leading global financial institution.

Provide a complete description of the applicant’s intended registration policies in support of the goals listed above.
As documented in Section 18a, during the first three years of operation, ICBC is intending to restrict registration and use of domain names with the gTLD to limited number of CIU. Because of this condition precedent, any registration and use requirements are more appropriately vested in these corporate⁄subsidiary agreements and not in a domain name registration agreement. ICBC mark is a valuable brand whose protection is of paramount important, any registration and use (e.g. trademark quality control provisions) must vest in these other agreements.
Aside from these concerns, ICBC will incorporate all required ICANN consensus policies and other legal⁄policy requirements imposed on new gTLD applicants into the terms and conditions of the domain name registration agreement. Based on ICANN Registry Agreement, ICBC sets and enforces .ICBC registration policies. General Registry Policies will be developed and made available prior to launch of TLD. Such policy decisions, based on ICANN Registry Agreement and relevant industry best practices, include but are not limited to:
• Registration eligibility requirements
• Which registrars may become accredited and sell domains
• Wholesale prices offered to registrars
• Reserved names
• Phased allocation (Sunrise, Landush, etc.) of the domain space at the second and third levels
• Dispute policies
• Technical policies, including SRS security and access.
This .ICBC General Registry Policies pertain techno-operational policies in the following areas:
1. Domain Registrations (Domain Objects) and the .ICBC Zone File
2. Domain Contacts (Contact Objects) and WHOIS Service
3. Dispute Resolution Policies
4. Obligations of Registered Name Holders
The General Registry Policies provides the framework for the general operations of the .ICBC Registry. Other policies, such as the .ICBC Eligibility, Reserved Name Policies, Sunrise Policies and other relevant policies are described separately in other documents published at the .ICBC TLD registry Websites. Pricing and technical specifications are published for Accredited Registrars only and provided separately.
The .ICBC TLD registry is committed to maintaining the integrity of the data within the .ICBC Registry and to implement policies that deter infringements. The .ICBC Registry adopts the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) for facilitating the resolution of disputes over the registration and use of a second-level domain name registered under the .ICBC Registry. All domain name registrations must submit to the mandatory proceedings commenced under UDRP, which is available for review at http:⁄⁄www.icann.org⁄dndr⁄udrp⁄policy.htm. Complaints under the UDRP should be submitted to an approved dispute-resolution service provider listed at http:⁄⁄www.icann.org⁄dndr⁄udrp⁄approved-providers.htm.
Beyond the UDRP, all domain registrations must also submit to proceedings commenced under formally adopted dispute policies as set forth by ICBC from time to time and published on the .ICBC TLD registry Website(s). Such dispute policies will take effect at the time they are announced on the .ICBC TLD registry Website(s), with or without prior notice to registrars or registrants.
Such dispute policies may include for example, but not limited to, expedited processes for suspension of a domain name by claims sought by intellectual property right holders (URS), Internet engineering and security experts or other competent claimants in the purpose of upholding the stability, security and integrity of the .ICBC Registry. Dispute policies may also include for example challenge processes adopted by the .ICBC Registry for special programs when occurred.
Moreover, based upon ICBC’s commitment and established track record in providing a safe eco-system for businesses and individuals, ICBC intends to provide best in class safeguards that will evolve over time.

Will your proposed gTLD impose any measures for protecting the privacy or confidential information of registrants or users? If so, please describe any such measures
As a global financial company, ICBC recognizes first hand that this is an evolving area of law in which there is no international standard. However, due to fact that every domain name will initially be registered to ICBC or a subsidiary in Stages One and Two (see Section 18a), ICBC has a vested interested to make sure that accurate and current domain name information is readily available in connection with each .ICBC domain name.


Because the proposed business model set forth in Section 18a envisions a potential expanded use of .ICBC domain names to non-corporate registrants, ICBC has a vested interested to make sure that accurate and current domain name information is readily available in connection with each domain name. If individuals and or companies are eventually permitted to register domain names in the .ICBC gTLD, ICBC will re-evaluate its policies at that time to ensure that its policies are in compliance with best-in-class policies at that time.

Describe whether and in what ways outreach and communications will help to achieve your projected benefits.

As noted above ICBC’s driving factor in securing a .ICBC gTLD in ICANN’s first round is primarily defensive in nature, and while ICBC sees the potential for this gTLD to serve as a cornerstone for its future online strategic initiative, there are a number of unanswered questions concerning consumer recognition, security and stability, and broader industry adoption of new gTLDs within the marketplace that must be satisfactorily answered first. Once these concerns have been answered to ICBC’s satisfaction, ICBC is committed to making prominent use of the .ICBC⁄.工行 (ASCII and IDN) gTLDs in printed and online material as well as across its over 16,648 outlets that serve over 4.11 million corporate clients and 282 million individual customers in 2011. As leading global financial company, ICBC currently spends over RMB 42.5 million annually in network marketing and advertising.