gTLD	Full Legal Name	E-mail suffix	Detail
.SHOP	GMO Registry, Inc.	gmoregistry.com	View

The main purpose of applying for the TLD is to establish a clear, unambiguous and easy to remember online identity for the community who are business entities or organizations that deploy commercial activities in an online or offline environment, or provide information in relation thereto over the internet and to promote a defined, meaningful, and secure name space in order to contribute to the further development of the community and the (commercial) activities of its members.

JP Morgan predicts that, by 2013 annual global ecommerce sales will be worth USD963 billion. (Nothing but Net: 2011 Internet Investment Guide on Digital Commerce, JP Morgan, 2011)

Further, the report states that “Even after several years of very robust growth in eCommerce, the sector represents less than 5% of all retail sales in the US and is even less developed in many other countries.”

The Applicant believes given burgeoning growth in the ecommerce market, and equally strong growth potential, that both the defined community and Internet users would benefit from the introduction of a dedicated commerce namespace.

Of course, .SHOP would not be restricted only to online commerce. Retailers and traders who primarily conduct transactions offline would also benefit from a web presence with a .SHOP identity especially as they face increasing competition from their online counterparts.

The .COM generic top-level domain has provided a specific online identity for commerce since the beginning of the Domain Name System. Its powerful brand and sustained growth has been unparalleled and today about 1 in 2 domain names registered is a .COM.

However, .COM can no longer claim to be the exclusive online location for commerce. As a result of the unrestricted nature of the TLD, anyone who can pay the domain name registration fee can access the world’s biggest Internet extension.

Therefore, currently there is no domain specifically targeting business entities or organizations that deploy commercial activities. As a result, these activities are operated under various gTLDs and ccTLDs that may not be particularly relevant.

.SHOP makes it possible for these businesses to operate under a relevant TLD space with a clear, unambiguous and memorable online identity that is recognized by Internet users as meaningful and secure. Having a strong online identity is a key asset for businesses, and translates to a better user experience when dealing with these businesses.

Advantages for Businesses
In addition to providing more TLD options .SHOP also provides an opportunity for business entities or organizations to register a direct, simple, and intuitive domain that corresponds to their businesses. Furthermore, this TLD will offer an additional suite of tools and services that are focused on providing .SHOP users with a safe, secure and reliable experience.

Since .SHOP is clear and easy to associate with commercial activities and the word “SHOP” is recognized worldwide, it allows a business to easily reach out to its target audience and market its products and services in an effective and efficient manner, thus promoting business growth.

Today, having an online presence is considered to be a necessity for any business. One of the crucial first steps in establishing an online presence is the selection of a TLD and domain name. In current TLDs, especially .COM, which has the most registrations and is intended for all purposes, there is a high possibility that businesses will not find the desired domain names, and be forced to find an alternative. In this case, the business has no choice but to spend more time looking for what is available and deciding which ones to register. The end result may be that the registered domain names are far from direct, simple, easy to understand, and intuitive, all of which are important qualities from a marketing perspective. The Applicant hopes that .SHOP will help reduce difficulties in securing a relevant online identity and facilitate a smooth business launch. In addition, if there is demand from registrants or registrars, the Applicant intends to provide optional supporting products (i.e. shopping cart) for new businesses and others.

Benefits for Internet Users
As stated in the previous paragraph, business entities or organizations are often obliged to use non-relevant gTLDs and ccTLDs since there is no domain that specifically identifies this community at this point. As a consequence, Internet users often have difficulty reaching the websites, information, and services they seek. The Applicant believes that .SHOP will help reduce user confusion and improve convenience for online shoppers and other Internet users since it is intuitive and self-explanatory.

Just as proliferation of smartphones and tablet-type devices contributed to what is now a ubiquitous network society, expansion of .SHOP could enhance user experience in online commerce for both the community and Internet users.

gTLD	Full Legal Name	E-mail suffix	Detail
.limited	Big Fest, LLC	donuts.co	View

Q18A SVC CHAR: 7572

ABOUT DONUTS
Donuts Inc. is the parent applicant for this and multiple other TLDs. The company intends to increase competition and consumer choice at the top level. It will operate these carefully selected TLDs safely and securely in a shared resources business model. To achieve its objectives, Donuts has recruited seasoned executive management with proven track records of excellence in the industry. In addition to this business and operational experience, the Donuts team also has contributed broadly to industry policymaking and regulation, successfully launched TLDs, built industry-leading companies from the ground up, and brought innovation, value and choice to the domain name marketplace.

ABOUT DONUTS’ RESOURCES
Donuts’ has raised more than US$100 million from a number of capital sources for TLDs. Our well-resourced, capable and skilled organization will operate these TLDs and benefit Internet users by:

1. Providing the operational and financial stability necessary for TLDs of all sizes, but particularly for those with smaller volume (which are more likely to succeed within a shared resources model);
2. Competing more powerfully against incumbent gTLDs; and
3. More thoroughly and uniformly executing consumer and rights holder protections.

THE .LIMITED TLD
This TLD is attractive and useful to end-users as it better facilitates search, self-expression, information sharing and the provision of legitimate goods and services. Along with the other TLDs in the Donuts family, this TLD will provide Internet users with opportunities for online identities and expression that do not currently exist. In doing so, the TLD will introduce significant consumer choice and competition to the Internet namespace – the very purpose of ICANN’s new TLD program.

This TLD is a generic term and its second level names will be attractive to a variety of Internet users. Making this TLD available to a broad audience of registrants is consistent with the competition goals of the New TLD expansion program, and consistent with ICANN’s objective of maximizing Internet participation. Donuts believes in an open Internet and, accordingly, we will encourage inclusiveness in the registration policies for this TLD. In order to avoid harm to legitimate registrants, Donuts will not artificially deny access, on the basis of identity alone (without legal cause), to a TLD that represents a generic form of activity and expression.

The .LIMITED TLD will be attractive to a very broad and diverse group of registrants that may include companies and non-profits in multiple international and intra-country jurisdictions that use the “limited” term as a corporate or organizational identifier. It would be further available to companies in jurisdictions that may later adopt this moniker. The “limited” term is widely utilitarian, as evidenced by various international applications—for example, separate from their context as incorporated entities, organizations have used the “limited” term to refer to various products and services (in the case of the known clothing retailer, we would work to reserve certain names that arguably could interfere with the rights of that entity). Commensurate with its applicability as a dictionary term, its potential user set is wide, and the TLD would be appropriately inclusive. We would operate this TLD in the best interests of entities in all jurisdictions and in a secure and legitimate manner.

DONUTS’ APPROACH TO PROTECTIONS
No entity, or group of entities, has exclusive rights to own or register second level names in this TLD. There are superior ways to minimize the potential abuse of second level names, and in this application Donuts will describe and commit to an extensive array of protections against abuse, including protections against the abuse of trademark rights.

We recognize some applicants seek to address harms by constraining access to the registration of second level names. However, we believe attempts to limit abuse by limiting registrant eligibility is unnecessarily restrictive and harms users by denying access to many legitimate registrants. Restrictions on second level domain eligibility would prevent law-abiding individuals and organizations from participating in a space to which they are legitimately connected, and would inhibit the sort of positive innovation we intend to see in this TLD. As detailed throughout this application, we have struck the correct balance between consumer and business safety, and open access to second level names.

By applying our array of protection mechanisms, Donuts will make this TLD a place for Internet users that is far safer than existing TLDs. Donuts will strive to operate this TLD with fewer incidences of fraud and abuse than occur in incumbent TLDs. In addition, Donuts commits to work toward a downward trend in such incidents.

OUR PROTECTIONS
Donuts has consulted with and evaluated the ideas of international law enforcement, consumer privacy advocacy organizations, intellectual property interests and other Internet industry groups to create a set of protections that far exceed those in existing TLDs, and bring to the Internet namespace nearly two dozen new rights and protection mechanisms to raise user safety and protection to a new level.

These include eight, innovative and forceful mechanisms and resources that far exceed the already powerful protections in the applicant guidebook. These are:

1. Periodic audit of WhoIs data for accuracy;
2. Remediation of inaccurate Whois data, including takedown, if warranted;
3. A new Domain Protected Marks List (DPML) product for trademark protection;
4. A new Claims Plus product for trademark protection;
5. Terms of use that prohibit illegal or abusive activity;
6. Limitations on domain proxy and privacy service;
7. Published policies and procedures that define abusive activity; and
8. Proper resourcing for all of the functions above.

They also include fourteen new measures that were developed specifically by ICANN for the new TLD process. These are:

1. Controls to ensure proper access to domain management functions;
2. 24⁄7⁄365 abuse point of contact at registry;
3. Procedures for handling complaints of illegal or abusive activity, including remediation and takedown processes;
4. Thick WhoIs;
5. Use of the Trademark Clearinghouse;
6. A Sunrise process;
7. A Trademark Claims process;
8. Adherence to the Uniform Rapid Suspension system;
9. Adherence to the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy;
10. Adherence to the Post Delegation Dispute Resolution Policy;
11. Detailed security policies and procedures;
12. Strong security controls for access, threat analysis and audit;
13. Implementation DNSSEC; and
14. Measures for the prevention of orphan glue records.

Further, due to the multi-jurisdictional aspect of this string, Donuts will provide appropriate authorities with the capability to make designations in the Whois record relevant to the registrant’s organizational establishment in that jurisdiction.

DONUTS’ INTENTION FOR THIS TLD
As a senior government authority has recently said, “a successful applicant is entrusted with operating a critical piece of global Internet infrastructure.” Donuts’ plan and intent is for this TLD to serve the international community by bringing new users online through opportunities for economic growth, increased productivity, the exchange of ideas and information and greater self-expression.