18(b) How do you expect that your proposed gTLD will benefit registrants, Internet users, and others?

Prototypical answer:

The current gTLD domain space is dominated by a handful of gTLDs, and Interlink anticipates that several great alternatives to the current domain space will be approved through the New gTLD Program. Internet users will be given the opportunity to easily register a domain name that better suits their needs. Through educational marketing more and more users will become aware of these alternatives. Interlink believes that .SITE is a viable alternative to other generic word gTLDs currently in existence today as well as those that will be applied for in this round of New gTLD applications.

Interlink has been an active member of the ICANN community for over 6 years and has gained a deep appreciation for the transparency of the multi-stakeholder model. With the delegation of .SiTE, Interlink commits to fully comply with ICANNʹs requirement to cooperate with economic studies regarding the launch of New gTLDs. We believe that providing such data is key to enhancing the DNS and ensuring the success of future TLD implementations.

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

A TLD registry must establish consumer confidence and build trust among users. To do so, the registry must have adequate understanding of technical requirements, policy implications on business, and the needs of the registrar communities as well as the end users. Interlink believes that .SiTE’s reputation will be largely driven by the registrants (communities, individuals, businesses, organizations, and government bodies). Legitimate registrations with legitimate content will play a vital role in the sustainability of the TLD. Interlink plans to implement policies that will allow it to effectively manage a safe, secure namespace for registrants and Internet users.

Interlink has teamed up with Neustar, a world-class registry services provider and Iron Mountain, the industryʹs most trusted Registry Data Escrow provider to ensure that service levels meet or exceed SLA requirements. By teaming up with the best in the business, Interlink can focus on recruiting and working with the industryʹs top registrars to offer first rate services to end users.


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

Currently there are 22 gTLDs in use on the Internet today. However, most novice Internet users are only accustomed to seeing, .com, .net, and .org. .biz and .info on the right-most side of domain names. gTLDs that have been introduced since ICANN’s inception have been able to build up a steady number of registration volumes. Some have drastically reduced pricing to do so, and therefore have an abundance of non-useful names, parking web pages, spam sites, and phishing sites. According to a report compiled by McAfee, Mapping the Mal Web in 2010, Internet criminals choose to register domain names in a TLD based on the prices, regulations, and the ease of registration. This makes generic top-level domains and non-regulated, inexpensive ccTLDs prime targets for cyber criminals. (The full report can be located at the following URL: http:⁄⁄www.mcafee.com⁄cf⁄about⁄news⁄2010⁄q4⁄20101026-02.aspx)

Interlink envisions .SiTE not as a competitor to the TLDs mentioned above, but as a new platform that will allow users so build on online presence that meets their needs. An increase in the number of gTLDs increases the number of alternatives available to consumers and Interlink believes that this is key for increasing competition, reducing prices and growing the overall domain name industry.

Interlink plans to focus a substantial amount of effort in communicating the availability of .SITE in developing countries. These countries have experienced tremendous economic growth in the past decade as well as rapid growth in communications and Internet infrastructure. This has increased the Internet penetration rate substantially. For example, according to InternetWorldStats.com, the population of Indian Internet users grew from 5 million in the year 2000 to 121 million in 2011. Likewise, Internet users in China increased from 22.5 million in year 2000 to 513.1 million in year 2011. A majority these new users were not able to participate in the launch of any true generic TLDs. SiTE expects to be able serve these users needs by creating and launching the .SiTE space.

.SiTE is a perfect fit among todays top TLDs and is a viable alternative to current generic TLDs. .SiTE has meaning to the entire online population, and Interlink believes that it will be a natural selection for new domain holders as they venture out to secure an online identity. Additionally, SiTE will be a popular choice among many consumers looking to secure names that more closely match what they stand for.


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

Interlink believes that creating a high quality namespace is about attracting legitimate registrations, and reducing speculative registrations. Successfully achieving both will allow for a better user experience because when consumers navigate to a page under a .SiTE domain name they can have the assurance that the content will be useful.

In order to encourage implementation of the new gTLD, competition among registrars, and broad sales channels for the TLD, there will be no restrictions on which ICANN accredited registrars may connect to the SRS for the provision of .SiTE domain names. All ICANN accredited registrars will have the ability to test their connectivity with the systems and sign an agreement with the Registry after passing operational and testing phases.

Interlink will use a proven system with industry-standard connect-ability, we can ensure that all current ICANN accredited registrars have immediate access to the SRS to upon execution of the Registry-Registrar agreement and testing. In many cases, the SRS has already been connected to and integrated into the systems of many of the industryʹs top ICANN Accredited Registrars, which will allow for rapid implementation and immediate sales channels.

Interlink has carefully considered various factors that will likely play a role in creating a successfully TLD and a great user experience for users of .SiTE. Among the factors analyzed were;

　• defining its market
　• marketing techniques used in today’s TLDs;
　• analysis of how various price points impact the number, quality, and type of registrations and associated content.

Interlink has worked closely with its backend provider, Neustar to come up with a viable plan to launch a successful registry that user benefits. These factors were taken into account and have been implemented in Interlink’s business approach as described in Questions 45-50.

As described above in relation to point II, a registry’s choice of policies and price points at which to sell domain names has an impact on the safety for other Internet users. Generic, TLDs and non-regulated, inexpensive ccTLDs are targets for cybercriminals. Interlink will implement a Acceptable Use Policy (AUP), which is further described in response to Question 28. The strict enforcement of this policy will allow for a cleaner namespace compared with existing gTLDs.

Interlink will use a proven system with industry-standard connect-ability, and can ensure that all current ICANN accredited registrars have immediate access to the registry system upon execution of the Registry-Registrar agreement and passing all requisite operational testing. The utilization of a proven registry system, which already maintains over 300 registrar connections globally will positively affect the integration pace of .SiTE among registrars who wish to sell the TLD, thereby rapidly growing sales channels.


iv. Provide a complete description of the applicant’s intended registration policies in support of the goals listed above.

Maintaining a safe, stable and reliable environment for registrars and registrants is central to Interlinkʹs mission for the .SiTE top-level domain. Interlink proposes that .SiTE shall be an open, unrestricted top-level domain for all consumers. The objective of the registry is to achieve seamless implementation by participating ICANN accredited registrars in order to easily allow legitimate registrations by all consumers.

Interlink has developed the following policies to facilitate in reaching our goals:

　1. SiTE Domain Name Eligibility Requirements
　2. Acceptable Use Policy
　3. Reserved Names
　4. Founders Program
　5. Sunrise Launch Policies
　6. Landrush Launch Policies
　7. ICANN Consensus Policies and Proposed Rights Protection Mechanisms


1. SiTE Domain Name Eligibility Requirements

SiTE Domain Name Eligibility Requirements defines who or what entities can register a domain name, the types of names that maybe registered, as well as the technical criteria for allowable labels within the .SiTE top-level domain. A brief description of each criterion is briefly outlined below:

1a Registrant Restrictions

No restrictions on who or what entities can register a domain name. All registrants will be required to apply for registration, renewal and transfer of domain names through ICANN accredited registrars which have signed an agreement with the registry operator, Interlink Co., Ltd. Furthermore, Interlink will make an list of registrars available on its website.

1b Domain Name Restrictions

A domain names that will be accepted as valid for registration is a domain name that;

　• has not been blocked or reserved by the registry (see Reserved Names policy below)
　• meets the technical requirements (defined below)
　• has not already been registered (registrants will be encouraged to use the WHOIS database
　　provided by the registry to ensure the availability of a domain)

Internationalized Domain Names (IDN) registrations will be permitted in the .SiTE TLD. Interlink believes that IDNs provide a means of creating a more global namespace. Interlink’s philosophy regarding the implementation of IDNs is to take a very cautious approach to ensure that conflicts with naming do not occur. Additional information regarding Interlink’s IDN implementation can be found in response to Question 44.


Technical Requirements

　• Labels containing letters ʺaʺ to ʺzʺ or ʺAʺ to ʺZʺ in standard US ASCII character set, the digits ʺ0ʺ to ʺ9ʺ
　　and the hyphen (ʺ-ʺ); (the registry plans to initially reserve all one and two letter domain names as briefly
　　described below under ʺ2. Reserved Namesʺ below. The release of one and two character strings will be
　　implemented at the registryʹs discretion.)
　• Labels may contain a maximum of 63 characters. (This does not include the ʺ.SiTEʺ suffix)
　• Labels may not begin or end with a hyphen (ʺ-ʺ) and may not include a hyphen (ʺ-ʺ) in the third and fourth positions
　　unless they represent valid internationalized domain names in their ASCII encoding).

2. Acceptable Use Policy

The Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) is one of central policies of the SiTE registry and will be implemented to ensure that the registry maintains the rights to protect the integrity of its registry and achieve its goal of maintaining a safe and stable operation. The policy further describes the process for applying for and registering, renewing, and transferring a .SiTE domain name as well as any restrictions, and how Interlink, the registry can enforce its policies. Additional details can be found in response to Question 28.

3. Reserved Names

This Reserved Names Policy satisfies ICANN contractual requirements and protects the interests of governmental organizations. Certain names on the Reserved Names List will also be utilized for the general promotion of the registry.

Interlink will reserve all names according to Specification 5 of the New gTLD Registry agreement as described below. Additionally, Interlink will, at it’s own discretion, reserve other names it sees fit.

The term ʺexampleʺ will be reserved at the second level. No other levels will be available for registration.

b. Two-Character Labels:

All two-character labels will be initially reserved, however may be released in the event that the registry reaches an agreement with the relevant government or country code manager or so long as the implementation of the two-character labels does not cause confusion with existing country codes.

c. Tagged Domain Names:

These are names with hyphens in the third and fourth position that do not represent valid IDN (Internationalized Domain Names) in ASCII encoding.

d. Second-Level Reservations for Registry Operations:

The following names will be reserved or registry operations: NIC, WWW, IRIS, and WHOIS.

e. Country and Territory Names:

All country and territory names indicated in Specification 5 of the New gTLD Agreement will be initially reserved. A process for the release of these names as well as names listed above in ʺb. Two Character Labelsʺ is further described in Question 22.

4. Founders Program

The SiTE registry may elect to introduce an early domain adoption program, or founders program. The SiTE founders program is an initiative recruit Internet users who are enthusiastic about .SiTE to come forward with their idea and plan to launch a name or names that will help relay the message about .SiTE to worldwide audiences.

It is anticipated that communications regarding this program will be launched as soon as the Registry Agreement with ICANN is signed. The registry will publish a proposal format and evaluate applications against predetermined criteria. Approved applicants will be required to agree to some basic terms and conditions and have their name launched before the official pubic launch of the registry.

Specific timelines and criteria are currently under development and depend on the progress of this application for the .SiTE TLD.

5. Sunrise Launch Policies

The sunrise period is a pre-launch mechanism that will allow Trademark holders to the first right to register their trademarks as .SiTE domain names. The overall purpose of the .SiTE sunrise launch is to ensure that trademark holders have the ability to secure domain names in a straightforward manner as well as ensure that their brand names are not victimized by cybersquatting. The sunrise period will run for at least a minimum of 30 days and a maximum of 60 days in total. Eligible participants in the sunrise phase will be constrained to those entities that a valid mark registered in the Trademark Clearinghouse.

In processing Sunrise applications, Interlink will collect all the applications submitted through ICANN accredited registrars throughout the duration of the sunrise period. All applications will be considered as having been received at the same time. The registry will verify that each application matches the data in the Trademark Clearinghouse. Duplicate applications having met the criteria specified by the registry will auctioned off at a later date. Interlink will fully publish details and policy related information regarding the auction on its website well in advance of the launch.

To ensure the protection of trademark holders, Interlink will implement the trademark claims services for the life of the registry. As of the submission date of this application, the Trademark Clearinghouse is still in the early stages of development and the actual protocol for connecting to the clearinghouse is not yet known. Further details regarding the sunrise launch can be found in answer to question 29.

6. Landrush Launch Policies

The registry will offer a landrush period in which any interested party will be permitted to submit one or more applications to purchase high value domains at reasonable costs. Only domain names that have not been reserved, restricted, or registered will be available during this launch period. Applications in the landrush period will be accepted throughout the period and will be considered as accepted at the same time. At the end of the landrush period domain names for applications that do not have any competing applications will be approved and the domain name will be allocated to the registrant.

Applications for domain names having one or more competing applications will be auctioned at prescribed date and time.

7. ICANN Consensus Policies and Proposed Rights Protection Mechanisms

Interlink is aware of, and understands, all current ICANN consensus policies listed at http:⁄⁄www.icann.org⁄en⁄general⁄consensus-policies.htm. As the registry operator for .SiTE, Interlink will ensure continuing compliance with all existing and future consensus policies.

Interlink believes that SiTE will grow to be an important public resource and has committed to ensuring that all rights holders have adequate protections for their intellectual property assets. The SiTE registry will implement the fall mandated rights protection mechanisms as described in Part C below.


v. 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.

Interlink takes the privacy of its users very seriously and will not market information obtained from registrars pertaining to registrants in any way. All data obtained with regards to a registration of a domain name will only be used for the purposes of running the .SiTE Registry. No personal data will be shared with unrelated third parties and such data will only be accessed in cases where the registry needs it to be necessary for the operation of .SiTE.

All registrant data as required by the WHOIS policy and ICANN standards will be publicly available where the registrant does not use privacy registration services at their registrar of choice. Registrars will be responsible for ensuring the safety and security of the payment information used in conjunction with a domain name registration. A detailed discussion of the WHOIS database can be found in response to Question 26.

Interlink will notify each ICANN-accredited registrar of their requirement to adhere to specific consensus policies. Additionally Interlink is aware of the current work being done to analyze the current WHOIS model as well as the movement to improve it. Along with ourselves, our partners are involved deeply in the ICANN community and we commit to implementing any and all new procedures as approved by ICANN.


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

Interlink believes that an effective and wide-spread marketing plan coupled with an effective distribution network will play a vital role in building consumer confidence in .SiTE. The registry plans to launch the TLD on a global scale with an emphasis on the growth of Internet, the ability to register a memorable name under a new domain space.

Interlink will use a unified strategy for creating a strong brand, consumer awareness, sales, and use of the TLD by influential companies and people. The actual timing of the marketing and communications campaign may prove challenging due to several anticipated issues with timelines in the New gTLD evaluation process, however, Interlink has set aside sufficient marketing funds and will use appropriate judgment on when to implement and subsequently ramp up marketing communication and outreach programs.

Similar gTLD applications: (147)