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
.gay	dotgay llc	spimarketing.com	View

The applicant for the community-based .gay TLD is dotgay LLC, a company created to engage in the new gTLD program, by preparing an application designed for and supported by the Gay Community. dotgay LLC was founded in 2009 and is now under the guidance of CEO Scott Seitz, longtime advocate, entrepreneur and member of the Gay Community.

Leadership

Following an extensive career in fortune 500 companies, Scott began searching for opportunities to support and advocate for the Gay Community from within the corporate structure. Fueled by first-hand experience in the early days of HIV⁄AIDS, political action and corporate outreach, Scott formed SPI Marketing to create visibility for the Gay Community in the corporate world. Over 16 years, SPI has directed more than 30 million dollars into gay nonprofits and businesses. SPI prides itself on modest offices, nominal overhead, producing measurable results, and maintaining the highest ethical commitments and involvement with the Gay Community.

Among the first agencies of its kind to launch in the gay market, SPI has a well-documented history and working relationship with corporations, nonprofits and small businesses, including numerous and frequent pro-bono efforts. SPI works with the Gay Community to communicate with corporations and government agencies, as well as with corporations to speak to the Gay Community. All of these activities are based on a fundamental principal of visibility through financial and verbal transactions, which has earned SPI the respect of consumers, corporations and institutions. This has resulted in a nearly two-decade relationship with the community that is based on respect and trust, garnering SPI and Scott Seitz numerous community service awards from various nonprofit organizations.

SPI offers a unique vantage point and 360 degree approach to working with consumers, nonprofits, corporate and government agencies. With an ability to see many sides of the equation, understand the dynamics of the constituents and maintain an eye on trends and moving parts that ultimately affect the community, SPI found itself uniquely qualified to address the new gTLD program and mobilize with the community.

Advocacy

Through the longstanding commitment, efforts and experience of SPI, a natural step forward was taking on majority ownership in dotgay LLC to participate in the new gTLD program on behalf of the community. Most critical was the fact that no organizations were addressing Internet advocacy on behalf of the community, and restrictions in the area of resources and finances prevented organizations from taking on the responsibility. dotgay LLC provided the much needed focus, resources and advocacy to evaluate the gTLD program, communicate the implications and opportunities, and spearhead efforts to ensure the .gay application moved forward as a community-based initiative in service of the community.

Both SPI and dotgay LLC have been recognized by the National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce as “Certified LGBT Business Enterprises,” an important acknowledgment confirming membership in the community as gay owned and operated businesses.

Transparency

While dotgay LLC will remain a for-profit business, many traditional nonprofit policies will be adapted to live up to a commitment of transparency and accountability. Trust is one of the most important elements required to engage the Gay Community and that trust begins inside the organizations that serve the community. dotgay LLC opened dialogue with the most influential and well-respected community organizations to surface expectations for best practice around transparency. Through endorsement and guidance from these organizations, dotgay LLC took steps to create a website where plans, strategies and support for the .gay TLD became visible to the community.

dotgay LLC has always believed that transparency will be critical to the success of the .gay TLD, fully anticipating expectations from the community in the area of accountability. More specifically, dotgay LLC is committed to providing a minimum of 67% of profits from domain name registrations to the dotgay Foundation, a separate entity created after ICANN approval, with a Board of Directors that will guide redistribution of funds to support initiatives in the community. Upon ICANN approval, dotgay LLC will also establish a Registry Advisory Board (RAB), comprised of leaders in the community around the world committed to developing and evolving policy for the .gay TLD that reflects the true needs of the community.

Outreach

A deep understanding of the networking and operational aspects of the Gay Community was key to dotgay LLC’s ability to mobilize the community. Through established relationships and the trusted reputation of dotgay LLC’s leadership, organizations in the community very quickly began to listen, respond and engage in dotgay LLC’s outreach, participating at various levels within their capacity.

As part of stewardship, dotgay LLC’s global outreach strategy focused on “hubs” within the community. This included United Nations accredited organizations representing the Gay Community and a cross section of the largest nonprofits, service units, commerce, media and human rights groups. Outreach included speaking engagements and panel discussions at conferences, email and social media campaigns, townhalls, teleconferences and in-person meetings in more than 17 countries on five continents. The hubs in the community also serve as trusted communication networks, helping to further move information about the pending Internet expansion and .gay TLD into the community around the globe.

Participation

With over 125 community endorsements, representing hundreds of organizations and 7+ million members of the community in more than 110 countries, the Gay Community has voiced their support for the .gay TLD through participation. dotgay LLC will continue to seek participation beyond the application deadline and update endorsements online at www.dotgay.com.

dotgay LLC and the team of Internet consultants enlisted to guide the .gay application were complimented with participation from leadership in the community. Community perspective was provided across a variety of segments, cultures and regions of the world. The dotgay Application Advisory Group (dAAG) was formed to advise dotgay LLC during the application process. This group includes a panel of 11 community leaders from eight countries, with representation from nonprofit, human rights, commerce and equality platforms within the community.

Authentication Partners (AP) will also contribute to the community participation in .gay, consisting of membership organizations that will provide service in the area of eligibility. APs will ultimately determine who is qualified to register a .gay domain name, providing the most trusted entry points into .gay and reducing risk to unqualified registrations. dotgay LLC has confirmation from several of the largest membership organizations in the community to serve as APs including; International, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Assoc. (ILGA), International Gay & Lesbian Travel Assoc. (IGLTA), InterPride (global network of pride organizers), CenterLink (global network of community centers) and the gay chambers of commerce in Argentina, Canada and USA.

Relations

Relationships are a huge part of the collaboration to create a community-based .gay TLD and dotgay LLC is committed to those relationships with a mission of serving the needs of the community. dotgay LLC was first to take on the challenge of moving the community to create a TLD that would bring value and benefit to the community. By sharing our vision, passion and an invitation to the community to participate, the Gay Community has ultimately invited dotgay LLC to lead the initiative, evidenced through their
endorsement, support and participation throughout the process.