| gTLD | Full Legal Name | E-mail suffix | Detail | | .NGO | Public Interest Registry | pir.org | View |
PIR is a NGO, and thereby part of the NGO Community. PIR as a NGO has extensive gTLD management experience via the .ORG gTLD. PIR a supporting organization to the Internet Society (ISOC) and is committed to supporting the Internet Society’s (ISOC) mission stated below.
History of PIR’s Relationship to the NGO Community
In January 2003, PIR, assumed responsibility for operating .ORG and maintaining the authoritative database of all .ORG domains.
Created in 1984, .ORG is one of the Internetʹs original seven top-level domains (TLDs), along with .com, .net, etc. Although it is ʺopenʺ and ʺunrestrictedʺ, .ORG has been the domain of choice for organizations dedicated to serving the public interest. The high regard of these well-intentioned organizations was soon conferred to this domain, and today .ORG is considered around the world to be the domain of trust.
Public Interest Registry’s (PIR) primary activity is to maintain the .ORG domain registry as the exemplary top level domain (TLD) registry service, by advocating for higher standards of Internet security, safety and reliability. PIR’s mission is to facilitate the effective use of a global Internet among non-commercial and other Internet users worldwide. In its relationship with the ISOC, (reference Evaluation Questions #9a and #9b), PIR is committed to supporting ISOC’s goals of encouraging the evolution of the Internet as research, education and communication infrastructure equally accessible to the global non-commercial, NGO and nonprofit community. PIR’s activities also include funding educational programs focused on expanding the knowledge and ability of non-commercial, NGO and nonprofit organizations located in technologically deprived areas of the world to more efficiently and effectively use the Internet as a tool to better accomplish their important mission.
The 2003 transition of .ORG from the previous operator to PIR was the largest transfer in Internet history. More than 2.6 million domains were transferred in about a day, without negatively impacting any .ORG registrant or website.
Since 2003, PIR has been connected with NGOs through our management of .ORG, and recently in preparation for our pursuit of the .NGO gTLD domain, we have worked closely with the NGO Community to develop the requirements and specification for the proposed .NGO gTLD.
Current Relationship to the NGO Community
PIR is a strong supporter of NGOs in both a direct role as manager of the .ORG gTLD and through other efforts, including:
• A ʺStrategic and Sponsoring Partnerʺ of NTEN, the Non-Profit Technology Network of 10,000 members and over 30,000 participants in the community, covering 126 countries. NTEN aspires to a world where all nonprofit organizations use technology skillfully and confidently to meet community needs and fulfill their missions.
• Making financial contributions to various organizations, such as the NCUC (Non Commercial Constituency of ICANN) and Centr. For NCUC, annual donations have been in the $5,000 to $15,000 range every year since PIR assumed operations of the .ORG registry.
• In December 2005, PIR sponsored a symposium at the Nelson Mandela Center in Cape Town, South Africa bringing in various Internet leaders in Africa to discuss the needs of the Internet in Africa.
• In response to Hurricane Katrina, in New Orleans, Louisiana, PIR donated $1 for every new create for a limited time. The final donation was over $100,000 to the Red Cross.
• In response to JapanʹsTsunami disaster, a 3 month program was rolled out to waive renewal fees for Japanese domain name holders, in order to help those affected and unable to renew their .ORG domains.
Within the community, there is a wide appreciation of PIR’s role as an advocate of “do good” for the Internet at large, and in many countries around the world there is a general perception that .ORG domains are more trusted than other domains. At the time of application submission, PIR manages nearly 10 million .ORG domains, and is seen to do so in an exemplary way. We are very happy to be judged on this reputation.
PIR has over 500 letters of support from the NGO Community endorsing its application for .NGO. PIR will continue outreach to the community and anticipates receipt of additional support letters from NGOs throughout the ICANN application evaluation process. Specific recognition of PIR’s efforts to support the nonprofit community includes:
• “As a not-for-profit corporation, we believe that being part of the .org domain has done much to reinforce MITRE’s identity as an organization chartered to work in the public interest. [Thanks to PIR’s] continuing work to enhance the .org domain.ʺ - Al Grasso, President and CEO, The MITRE Corporation (the first .ORG registrant).
• “We recognize and applaud PIRʹs long-standing commitment to the non-profit community since taking over the management of .ORG.” - Lisa Vogt, APR, Director of Marketing & Communications, SOS Children’s Villages – USA.
PIR has conducted outreach, worked with established relationships, and developed new types of relationships which will facilitate the delivery of the .NGO domain and related services to the NGO Community. Our discussions and outreach have included NGOs in several countries across Asia, Europe, North America, South America⁄Latin America, and Africa as well as many different segments of the NGO Community to ensure wide acceptance and adoption of our proposed gTLD domain and related services. The segments include but are not limited to agriculture, environment, arts⁄culture, charitable services, human rights, humanitarian, and advocacy for a range of issues affecting societal development.
Accountability to the NGO Community
By offering .NGO as a secure and well-managed domain of trust uniquely for eligible NGOs, PIR believes that NGOs can benefit from the Internet and our specific services as a means to safely and reliably reach out to the community and sponsors. PIR will be accountable to the NGO Community by:
• A NGO Community input process soliciting input from the community through the NGO Advisory Council drawn from the community and accepting a broad range of input to stay current on the issues of importance to the community and manage the NGO verification process;
• Creating and marketing .NGO as a distinctive place on the Internet for NGOs to differentiate and promote their organization;
• Establishing community programs to support capacity building of NGOs with technical and educational platforms;
• Enforcing registration policies that elevate the integrity of the domains in the .NGO gTLD name space, soliciting input from the NGO Community;
• Easing discovery and promotion through the creation, management and promotion of the .NGO gTLD;
• Offering registration from a proven, scalable registry platform that can ensure 100% DNS availability;
• Delivering a challenge process for the NGO Community to dispute the legitimacy of a .NGO registrant or its activity on a .NGO domain; and,
• As a community priority gTLD, PIR is committing to manage the .NGO domain with participation of the community. Failing to do that would put our registry contract in jeopardy.
PIR is in an excellent position to provide such support to the NGO Community given documented experience running a stable and trusted registry. PIR holds a track record demonstrating good intent to the global community by being a leader in activities such as implementation of anti-abuse policies, DNSSEC, active participation in numerous public interest events, etc.
| gTLD | Full Legal Name | E-mail suffix | Detail | | .ski | STARTING DOT | jwgroupe.com | View |
The United States and France account both for 47% of the biggest ski resorts in the world. Both countries are also leaders in terms of skier visits, which is used as a reference indicator in the ski industry.
Accordingly, France and the USA are two of the most important countries in the ski industry, in terms of size and economic growth.
Starting Dot’s founders, Mr. Godefroy Jordan and Mr. Guillaume Buffet, are both ski enthusiasts and have been able to build close relationships with the ski community, in particular in France and in the USA.
Mr. Guillaume Buffet is an expert skier (e.g. Freeride, Alpine skiing, cross-country skiing) and has been skiing with international ski competitors for over 30 years. He has also worked as a marketing consultant for major ski industry players (e.g. ZagSkis, Salomon, X-games, Gîte de France, Atout France) and has been able to build close relationships with major French ski areas (e.g. Val d’Isère, Tignes, Les Arcs, Val Thorens, Courchevel).
Accordingly, Starting Dot was able to receive following endorsements for the .ski gTLD application:
- Leading French ski resort (Tignes);
- National Ski area association (Domaines Skiables de France);
- Local authority (The Department of Savoie).
Tignes is served by the large well-linked ski area called LʹEspace Killy. Tignes shares the LʹEspace Killy with Val dʹIsere and with over 300km (190 miles) of ski slopes 150 shops, 115 bars, numerous ski schools, 1500 and more staff. Tignes has therefore become one of Europeʹs premier resorts. Due to its altitude, Tignes has a very reliable snow record, which, after recent seasons of reduced snowfall, has encouraged people to choose higher mountain resorts. According to ʹThe good Ski & Snowboarding Guideʹ Tignes⁄Val dʹIsere is one of only two ski areas in France listed as ʹSnow-sure resortsʹ. Tignes boasts a fast and efficient lift system, 97 lifts including 2 high-speed underground trains (funicular railways) one of which transports visitors from Tignes Val Claret to the ʹPanoramic Restaurantʹ on the Grand Motte Glacier. All standards are catered for with ʹ5 free lifts for beginners. LʹEspace Killy is also known for its incredible off-pistes with good lift access. Tignes produces more than 1.5 million ski visits per year and caters for visitors predominantly in self-catering apartments, although there are a plenty of 2 to 4 star hotels and catered chalets to choose from. Most accommodation in Tignes have very convenient access to slopes. Tignes offers also plenty of other activities like ice diving, dog sledding, hang gliding, skidoo riding, ice climbing, parascending, ski-joring (being pulled along by horses), skating, snowshoeing, indoor tennis, heli-skiing. In terms of skier visits, international reach, economic growth, Tignes is one of the most representative ski resorts in the world.
The Domaines Skiables de France, founded in 1938 under the name of Syndicat National des Téléphériques de France (SNTF – National Association of French cable cars), is a French Professional Chamber. From 15 initial members, it has grown to encompass 387 members. Members of the Domaines Skiables de France are ski lift operators, ski resorts, contractors, professional training centers and manufacturers. The history of the Chamber is directly to linked to the continued development of ski resorts. The Domaines Skiables de France main missions are:
- Developing professional standards;
- Promoting sustainable development;
- Ensuring ski-area security.
The mountainous department of Savoie is famed for its skiing; containing some of the world’s most prestigious resorts. Savoie contains the fashionable pistes of Courchevel 1850, which achieved global fame. It is situated at the eastern end of the Trois Vallee’s, which is the worlds largest ski area, also containing the renowned resorts of Méribel, Les Menuires and Val Thorens, Europe’s highest ski resort. Courchevel is composed of five separate base stations, each known by their altitudes. Courchevel 1850 is the largest and highest, although its highest point is actually only 1747m. Courchevel is one of the ‘big-four’ French ski resorts, whose prestige comes from their size, nightlife and the quality of their skiing. Two of the other three, Val d’Isere and Méribel, are also located in Savoie, while Chamonix is in neighboring Haute-Savoie. Extreme sports enthusiasts can get their thrills in Savoie through rock-climbing, paragliding, parachuting and white-water rafting on the river Isère. The department of Savoie, due to the management of major ski resorts, has extensive knowledge of the ski community and its perfectly aware of its needs in terms of technology application. It is therefore well suited to endorse Starting Dot’s .ski gTLD application and to take part in this new gTLD Policy Advisory Committee.
Starting Dot will be managing the .ski gTLD in partnership with Adrenaline Top-Level Domain Inc., an American company based in New York City. Adrenaline TLD has been working on the .ski gTLD application for one year and has dedicated a website to the proposed gTLD.
One of the founders of Adrenaline TLD, Mr. Robert Rozicki has been both a passionate skier and snowboarder for over 30 years. His passion for ski has taken him across the globe, interacting with skiing communities in Europe, North America and Australasia. Mr. Robert Rozicki has spent the last year evangelizing the value of a .ski gTLD and the ICANN New gTLD program to the ski sports communities in over 20 North American ski areas and globally through digital and social media channels. Additionally, he is a domain name industry veteran with over 12 years of experience in the domain name registrar and online brand protection industries as well as extension digital marketing experience.
Starting Dot holds 35% of Adrenaline TLD’s shares and will appoint Adrenaline TLD as the exclusive marketing agent for the promotion of the .ski gTLD in the USA, following ICANN’s delegation of the .ski gTLD.
As defined in consultation with supporting organizations and Adrenaline TLD, the .ski gTLD will:
- Deliver a secure and restricted domain name space, dedicated to verifiable members of the ski community;
- Promote collaboration and networking within the ski community;
- Promote free and healthy competition, based on principles of transparency and fairness.
Starting Dot intends to achieve these goals by defining specific eligibility requirements and by establishing a Policy Advisory Committee that will include members of the ski community.