gTLD	Full Legal Name	E-mail suffix	Detail
.LLC	Dot Registry LLC	hotmail.com	View

DOT Registry plans to serve the Community of Registered Limited Liability Companies. Members of the community are defined as businesses registered as limited liability companies with the United States or its territories. Limited Liability Companies or (LLC’s) as they are commonly abbreviated, represent one of the most popular business entity structures in the US. LLCʹs commonly participate in acts of commerce, public services, and product creation.

Limited Liability Companies (LLC) are a relatively new business structure for the United States, the first LLC was validated in the state of Wyoming in 1977 and in 1996 the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws adopted the Uniform Limited Liability Company Act; providing for both the definition of an LLC and the governmental standards under which an LLC may be formed. It was through the Uniform Limited Liability Company Act that a standard set of policies were created to define, validate, and monitor the operations of LLC’s, thus creating a unique and accountable business community in the United States.

An LLC is defined as a flexible form of enterprise that blends elements of partnership and corporate structures. It is a legal form of company that provides limited liability to its owners in the vast majority of United States jurisdictions. LLC’s are a unique entity type because they are considered a hybrid, having certain characteristics of both a corporation and a partnership or sole proprietorship. LLC’s are closely related to corporations in the sense that they participate in similar activities and provide limited liability to their partners. Additionally, LLC’s share a key characteristic with partnerships through the availability of pass-through income taxation. LLC’s are a more flexibile entity type than a corporation and are often well suited for businesses owned by a single owner.

Common advantages to forming an LLC include:

1) Flexibility in tax reporting, LLC’s may choose if they would like to be taxed as a sole proprietorship, partnership, S Corporation, or C Corporation. This is the only business entity form in the United States that allows for taxation flexibility.
2) LLC’s have much less administrative paperwork and reporting requirements then corporations.
3) Unless the LLC elects to be taxed as a C Corp, LLC’s enjoy pass through taxation.
4) Limited liability, meaning that owners of an LLC, called “members” are protected from some or all liability acts and debts of the LLC.

LLC’s have become increasingly popular in the United States because their formation provides owners with the protection of a corporation and the flexibility of a partnership.

With the number of registered LLC’s in the United States totaling over five million in 2010 (as reported by the International Association of Commercial Administrators) it is hard for the average consumer to not conduct business with an LLC (popular LLC’s in the United States include: AOL and BMW). Through the creation of DOT Registry’s .LLC string, consumers can quickly validate that they are working with a member of the Community of Registered Limited Liability Companies, providing consumers with brand reassurance and peace of mind. DOT Registry believes that it is essential to identify limited liability companies online in order to expand on their creditability and further highlight their privilege to conduct business in the US. Proper representation of this community would allow consumers to make educated choices in choosing businesses to patronize and support.
LLCʹs can be formed through any jurisdiction of the United States. Therefore members of this community exist in all 50 US states and its territories. LLC formation guidelines are dictated by state law and can vary based on each state’s regulations. Persons form an LLC by filing required documents with the appropriate state authority, usually the Secretary of State. Most states require the filing of Articles of Organization. These are considered public documents and are similar to articles of incorporation, which establish a corporation as a legal entity. At minimum, the articles of organization give a brief description of the intended business purposes, the registered agent, and registered business address.
LLC’s are expected to conduct business in conjunction with the policies of the state in which they are formed, and the Secretary of State periodically evaluates a LLC’s level of good standing based on their commercial interactions with both the state and consumers. DOT Registry or its designated agents would verify membership to the Community of Registered Limited Liability Companies by collecting data on each Registrant and cross-referencing the information with their applicable registration state. In order to maintain the reputation of the “.LLC” string and accurately delineate the member to consumers, Registrants would only be awarded a domain that accurately represents their registered legal business name. Additionally, DOT Registry will not allow blind registrations or registration by proxy, therefore DOT Registry’s WHOIS service will tie directly back to each member’s state registration information and will be publicly available in order to provide complete transparency for consumers.
Entities are required to comply with formation practices in order to receive the right to conduct business in the US. Once formed an LLC must be properly maintained. LLC’s are expected to comply with state regulations, submit annual filings, and pay specific taxes and fees. Should an LLC fail to comply with state statutes it could result in involuntary dissolution by the state in addition to imposed penalties, taxes and fees.
While state statutes vary, the majority of states have adopted the following guidelines in regards to the formation of LLC’s:

(1) The name of each limited liability company must contain the words ʺLimited Liability Companyʺ or the abbreviation ʺL.L.C.ʺ or the designation ʺLLCʺ.

(2) In order to form a limited liability company, one or more authorized persons must execute the Articles of Organization. Which shall contain: the name of the limited liability company; the address of the registered office and the name and address of the registered agent for service of process required to be maintained; and any other matters the members determine to include therein.
(3) A Limited Liability Company may be organized to conduct or promote any lawful business or purposes, except as may otherwise be provided by the Constitution or other law of this State.
All entities bearing the abbreviation LLC in their business name create the assumption that they have been awarded the privileges associated to that title such as: the ability to conduct commerce transactions within US borders or territories, the ability to market products, solicit consumers and provide reputable services in exchange for monetary values, and finally to provide jobs or employment incentives to other citizens.
Membership in the Community of Registered Limited Liability Companies is established through your business entity registration. In order to maintain your membership to this community you must remain an “Active” member of the community. Active” in this context can be defined as any LLC registered with a Secretary of State in the United States and its territories, that is determined to be authorized to conduct business within that State at the time of their registration. Registrant’s “Active” status will be verified on an annual basis as described above in question 18 in order to ensure the reputation and validity of the “.LLC” gTLD.
Since LLC’s are not currently delineated on the Internet, the creation of this string would mark a unique advancement in consumer security and confidence in the United States. Essentially, this will create the first ever, clear delineator for the Community of Registered Limited Liability Companies.

gTLD	Full Legal Name	E-mail suffix	Detail
.bank	fTLD Registry Services LLC	fsround.org	View

fTLD Registry Services, LLC (FRS) was created to serve and protect the global banking community through the creation of a .bank generic Top Level Domain (gTLD). The community will consist of the readily identifiable set of government regulated banks that share common interests, aims, commitments to service, and consumer recognition. Since the banking industry works in conjunction with non-bank entities to support its business, including its inter-institution transfers and technological pursuits, these entities will be allowed to register domain names in .bank with approval from FRS’ Board (comprised of members of the financial services community).

The primary mission and purpose of the .bank gTLD is to provide a trusted, hierarchical, and intuitive online global marketplace for Internet users seeking the services of, or information on, the banking industry’s members. The global banking industry‘s interrelatedness exists by virtue of its adherence to a complex set of well-defined laws and regulations administered by regulatory bodies (international, national or state). These bodies provide licenses or charters and the regulatory framework within which banks currently operate. Laws and regulations vary by country, but regardless of location, the regulatory body charged with overseeing banks and banking matters will be able to discern all members of the global banking community. As such, the .bank gTLD will be reserved for the exclusive use of members of that clearly defined global banking community.

The global banking community has certain hallmarks that set it apart from other Internet users. These include:
- Membership Identification
- Regulatory Licensing and Chartering Requirements
- Operational Accountability
- Common Objectives
- Well Established Representative Organizations

1. Membership Identification
FRS’ members can be identified with precision. The global banking community operates within a complex regulatory
structure that involves licensing and regulation at the state and national levels. At its most basic level, a bank cannot exist without a charter or license.

As a community gTLD, the .bank gTLD faces no hurdles or obstacles in readily identifying qualified registrants. Additionally, the Founding Members of FRS are long-standing members of the global banking community with well established partnerships. FRS will work internationally to validate eligible registrants within each country and is immediately capable of implementing policies, rules and technical methods for validating its community members.

2. Operational Accountability
Along with regulation comes accountability. Internationally, banks work closely with their respective regulatory bodies. A banking services charter is conditioned upon continuing to meet these regulatory requirements.

The .bank gTLD will implement compliance and eligibility monitoring, domain name revocation procedures and recurring
consultation with its partner organizations in the global banking community to ensure that it is able to maintain accountability to the global banking community for its eligibility compliance.

3. Common Objectives
An important hallmark of any community is the commonality of its objectives. Priorities may shift, but broad commonality must exist. Such commonality of objectives for the banking industry on the Internet may be expressed as:
- Identification and reduction of industry risk;
- Protection of institutions’ customers and their assets;
- Compliance with safety and soundness regulations;
- Development of sound practices and standards; and
- Advocacy of Internet policies that are in the broad interest of members and their clients.

4. Well-Established Representative Organizations
The global banking community has active members that coalesce around organizations in every geographic region including research, policy development and advocacy, member support, business development and risk management. The following statistics provide an indication of the community’s size and geographic diversity:

- International Banking Organizations—membership represents more than 18,000 banks
- North American Banking Organizations—membership represents more than 7,000 banks
- European Banking Organizations—membership represents more than 5,000 banks
- Asian Banking Organizations—membership represents more than 1,000 banks
-Latin American Banking Organizations—membership represents more than 500 banks

The banking industry has many strong representative organizations around the globe. FRS has started its global outreach and engaged the Australian Bankers’ Association, British Bankers’ Association, European Banking Federation, and the International Banking Federation in conversations regarding use of the .bank gTLD. These organizations have endorsed FRS’ application for .bank, and FRS anticipates that two (2) international organizations will sit on its Board.

Banking organizations have a long history of responding to changes in their industry. In the Internet arena, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has opened new opportunities for communities to participate as gTLDs. As a result, it is natural for the global banking community to seek its own gTLD. There are also legitimate concerns about this type of gTLD falling into wrong hands, especially since the global banking community faces particular risks that arise out of the use of online services, ranging from phishing to spam and the disruption of services. However, as a pioneering organization, FRS is poised to take the lead on behalf of the global banking community and initiate creation of the .bank gTLD.

HISTORY

The global banking community is centuries old and long-standing. Started by merchants and traders, evidence of the practice of banking and banking transactions, such as loans deposits and exchanges of goods, predates the creation
of currency. Some of the oldest banking institutions began in Europe, including Italy, Germany and England. The Bank
of England, one of those earlier banks (1694), was a central bank originally founded to assist the government and issue English banknotes.

Prior to the creation of the Federal Reserve in 1913, there were several failed attempts to establish a central bank in the United States. Banking regulations were originally left to the states and New York’s pre-Civil War bank statute became the model for the National Bank Act of 1864 and the basis of state and national regulation of the banking industry.

Today, the banking industry is a blend of local and global markets. Innovations in communications and information technology have facilitated geographic expansion and bank websites are efficient in enabling interactions between banks and their customers. Governments in the United States, the European Union, Latin America and Asia now allow multi-national banks to operate. In turn, multi-national trade associations that serve the industry have developed, and national banker associations are increasing their global reach.

Several key banking organizations’ founding dates are as follows:

American Bankers Association – 1875
The Financial Services Roundtable – 1912
European Baking Federation – 1960
Latin America Banking Federation (FELBAN) – 1965
Asian Bankers Association – 1981
International Banking Federation – 2004