gTLD	Full Legal Name	E-mail suffix	Detail
.ren	Beijing Qianxiang Wangjing Technology Development Co., Ltd.	renren-inc.com	View

What operating rules will you adopt to eliminate or minimize social costs (e.g., time or financial resource costs, as well as various types of consumer vulnerabilities)? What other stpes will you take to minimize negative consequences⁄costs imposed upon consumers?

Answers should address the following points:
(i) How will multiple applications for a particular domain name be resolved, for example, by auction or on a first-come⁄first serve basis?
(ii) Explain any cost benefits for registrants you intend to implement (e.g., advantageous pricing, introductory discounts, bulk registration discounts).
(iii) Note that the Registry Agreement requires that registrars be offered the option to obtain initial domain name registrations for period of one to ten years at the discretion of the registrar, but no greater than ten years. Additionally, the Registry Agreement requires advance written notice of price increases. Do you intend to make contractual commitments to registrants regarding the magnitude of price escalation? If so, please describe your plans.


“.ren” will have Sunrise process prior to opening the general registration to ensure the relevant rights owners have their first rights to their names. The Company will also adopt the Trademark Clearing House to reduce cybersquatting. Furthermore, the Company will have additional protection for geographic names. Details of these protections are described in the answer to Question 29.

How will multiple applications for a particular domain name be resolved, for example, by auction or on a first-come⁄first serve basis?

With regards to multiple applications for a particular domain name, the Applicant will adopt the following practices:
 If the multiple application requests are from within the Applicant (be it a department or a product), the Applicant will resolve the disputes internally using its dispute resolution process.
 If the multiple application requests are from users, then the disputes will be handled on a first-come first-served policy.

Explain any cost benefits for registrants you intend to implement (e.g., advantageous pricing, introductory discounts, bulk registration discounts).

The pricing shall be carefully considered and be set at a price that the VIP users can accept. During the promotional period for registrations, the VIP users on the Applicant’s platform can enjoy pricing discounts. The Applicant will conduct market research to determine the specifics of advantageous pricing measures.

Note that the Registry Agreement requires that registrars be offered the option to obtain initial domain name registrations for period of one to ten years at the discretion of the registrar, but no greater than ten years. Additionally, the Registry Agreement requires advance written notice of price increases. Do you intend to make contractual commitments to registrants regarding the magnitude of price escalation? If so, please describe your plans.

The Applicant will make contractual commitments to the Registrars that the wholesale price increase would not be more than 10% per annum to offset the increase in operation cost. The Applicant further makes commitment that affected registrars will have at least 6 months advance notice of any pending price adjustment.

If the Applicant intends to make a significant price increase (more than 10% per annum) for sustainability and continuity, the Applicant will make its case for ICANN review. The Applicant will cooperate with ICANN with any public consultation process. The Applicant is aware that ICANN may or may not grant such significant price adjustment on its own discrete.

gTLD	Full Legal Name	E-mail suffix	Detail
.MERCK	Merck Registry Holdings, Inc.	fairwindspartners.com	View

18.3.1 What operating rules will you adopt to eliminate or minimize social costs (e.g., time or financial resource costs, as well as various types of consumer vulnerabilities)?

MRH has proposed operating rules to limit registration to MRH and potentially qualified subsidiaries and affiliates and will provide a trusted online environment for end-users.

Therefore, one way in which social costs will be eliminated is that there will be no defensive need for other trademark and brand owners to register second-level domains in the .MERCK gTLD. In addition, the .MERCK gTLD will provide end-users with a trusted source for MRH information, goods, and services.

18.3.2 What other steps will you take to minimize negative consequences⁄costs imposed upon consumers?

MRH believes that the proposed operation of the .MERCK gTLD as set forth in this application has no known negative consequences or cost implications to end users. On the contrary, the proposed operation of this registry will likely lead to direct and quantifiable benefits to end users.

18.3.3 How will multiple applications for a particular domain name be resolved, for example, by auction or on a first-come⁄first-serve basis?

MRH does not envision multiple applicants for the same domain name, as domain names will only be allocated to its parent company, MSD, and potentially MSD’s qualified subsidiaries and affiliates.

18.3.4 Explain any cost benefits for registrants you intend to implement (e.g., advantageous pricing, introductory discounts, bulk registration discounts).

MRH does not envision any advantageous pricing, introductory discounts, or bulk registration discounts at this time because these marketing⁄commercial initiatives are inconsistent with the mission and purpose of the .MERCK gTLD as a trusted online source identifier for MSD, and potentially its qualified subsidiaries and affiliates.

Moreover, it is the current intention of MSD to have MRH provide domain name registrations initially at no cost, at least for the first five years of operation.

However, the company reserves the right to reevaluate this decision and may choose to impose a fee in the future. Any potential registrant fees imposed upon licensees or strategic parties will be commensurate with commercial agreements and made if this class of registrants is permitted to register domain names in the .MERCK gTLD.

18.3.5 Note that the Registry Agreement requires that registrars be offered the option to obtain initial domain name registrations for periods of one to ten years at the discretion of the registrar, but no greater than ten years. Additionally, the Registry Agreement requires advance written notice of price increases. Do you intend to make contractual commitments to registrants regarding the magnitude of price escalation? If so, please describe your plans.

MRH is committed to providing the domain name registration periods set forth in the Registry Agreement. Moreover, it is the current intention of MSD to have MRH provide domain name registrations initially at no cost, at least for the first five years of operation. Therefore, providing contractual commitments in a domain name Registrant Agreement regarding the magnitude of price escalations does not seem relevant or appropriate. MRH acknowledges that the current template Registry Agreement requires that the Registry Operator “shall offer registrars the option to obtain registration periods for one to ten years at the discretion of the registrar.”

MRH acknowledges that the current template Registry Agreement requires that the Registry Operator “shall offer registrars the option to obtain registration periods for one to ten years at the discretion of the registrar.” However, MSD, as the sole registrant within the .MERCK gTLD, intends to only register domain names on an annual basis through a single registrar.

This is done to better account for costs on an annual basis as well as to provide for more concise financial statements in Question 46, (e.g., no multi-year registration or deferred revenue).