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
.osaka	Interlink Co., Ltd.	urbanbrain.com	View

Interlink is enthusiastic about the prospect “.osaka” presents for the Osaka Community and believes that a community structure for the TLD will maximize the benefits to Internet users in the community. Since the announcement of the new gTLD program, Interlink has engaged the Osaka Prefectural Government in discussions about the potential of a community driven TLD. The Government shares the vision of a community TLD for Osaka and has provided Interlink with the requisite support for its application and has clearly stated its intention for the TLD to be applied for and operated as a community TLD.

Interlink is committed to implementing “.osaka” in a manner that benefits the interest of the community and has taken some important steps to ensure that community stakeholders are involved in the finalization of policies and launch plans for the “.osaka” TLD.

As part of the Osaka community, Interlink will act as the Registry Operator for the “.osaka” TLD through its Osaka branch office registered in Kyobashi, Osaka. Interlink has began proactively laying the foundation for the establishment of a transparent accountability mechanism that ensures Interlinks accountability to the community for its actions in managing and operating the TLD. The accountability mechanisms are further described below.

Interlink’s plan to operate the TLD has been well received by the Osaka Government and by key members of the Osaka community as described in Part A above.


Accountability Mechanisms

Interlink has been working with community members in order to develop an strong accountability structure and had determined that the implementation of an overseeing committee within its structure will play a very positive role in accomplishing the overall mission of the “.osaka” TLD as described in detail in response to Question 18.

The overseeing committee will be known as the “Osaka Domain Advisory Committee,” and will play a crucial role in ensuring the “.osaka” domain is operated in a manner that maximizes the benefits and public interest of the Osaka Community. Interlink has earned the support from several community organizations, and is making a continual effort to increase awareness of its application.

The Osaka Domain Advisory Committee will be a transparent organization that includes a wide range of members as described above in Part A. As Interlink’s application moves forward in the New gTLD application process it anticipates that participation in this community will broaden and after the delegation of the TLD Interlink will publish an open call for participation in policy development and launch procedures. Information regarding the “.osaka” TLD as well as the Osaka Domain Advisory Committee will be available on the following website: http:⁄⁄dotosaka.jp.

As part of being accountable to the community and ensuring that the community reaps the benefits of “.osaka”, Interlink has committed to providing donations to the community from revenues derived from operations. This is further described below in answer to Part C. In addition, Interlink is committed to:

　• Abide by its contract with the Osaka Government (to be completed upon delegation of the TLD)
　• Maintain separate books of account specifically for “.osaka”
　• Transparency in its financial dealing with regards to “.osaka”


Interlink will operate “.osaka” registry from its Osaka office, and will maintain separate books of account from its other business with regards to the operation of “.osaka”. and will publish financial information to make sure that not only Osaka Domain Advisory Committee, but also each one of Osaka Community members will be able to audit our activities.

After recovering the accumulative loss from the initial investment in starting operations for “.osaka”, Interlink is committed to donating 50% of its net-profit after tax for the benefit of the community. The fund will be spent for social benefit of Osaka community such as the supporting of local Internet-related events and policing of the “.Osaka” name space etc. Osaka Domain Advisory Committee, which will be consisted by the representatives of the local communities, will decide the allocation of the donation to make sure that the donation will not be made by Interlink’s sole discretion, but with the consent of entire community.