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
.music	.music LLC	farfurther.com	View

.MUSIC LLC was created with the express intent and purpose of serving a community established and known worldwide, which despite location, culture or genre, is identified and united by a single word: “music”. The .music TLD we envision is built on a commitment to foster musical creativity while protecting intellectual property rights. This commitment is evidenced via the bona fide support of the most representative, credible, diverse and sizeable organizations that comprise the global music community -- a community which is made up of the people who create music and the professionals that support them. The music community is dedicated to faithfully and concurrently meeting the needs of both “creators” and “consumers” of music alike.

The Global Music Community (GMC) is comprised of an international range of associations and organizations and the millions of individuals these organizations represent, all of whom are involved in the creation, development, publishing, recording, advocacy, promotion, distribution, education, preservation and or nurturing of the art of music.

To date, there are forty-two (42) clearly delineated, organized and pre-existing music community organizations that have provided individual written statements of support. This unparalleled level of global music community representation is referred to as the Charter Member Organizations of the Global Music Community (GMC). Collectively they represent over 4 million individual members within more than 1,000 associations in over 150 countries. Although these Charter Member Organizations are not the exhaustive list of every possible organizational member of the GMC, they do represent the largest, most well known, credible, and diverse membership of the GMC. Our application for .music is therefore designated as community based, and should be included in a community priority evaluation.

The structure of the music community is organized through diverse symbiotic and sometimes overlapping segments. Although the following list reflects core activities there is a great deal of community intersection and cross-pollination. The GMC structure can be generally illustrated by the following descriptive constituent categories:

Music Community organizations and associations whose principal focus is representing music creators, artists, songwriters, composers, publishers, record companies, and whose activities include product creation and development, promotion, distribution and the advocacy and protection of creative rights:
1. American Federation of Musicians in the U.S. and Canada (AFM)
2. American Association of Independent Music (A2IM)
3. Association of Independent Music (AIM)
4. Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA)
5. Church Music Publishers Association (CMPA)
6. Guitar Foundation of America (GFA)
7. Indian Music Industry (IMI)
8. Independent Music Companies Association (IMPALA)
9. International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA)
10. International Confederation of Music Publishers (ICMP)
11. International Federation of Musicians (FIM)
12. International Federation of Phonographic Industries (IFPI)
13. Music Canada
14. Music Publishers Association of the United States (MPA)
15. National Association of Recording Merchandisers⁄digitalmusic.org (NARM)
16. National Music Publishers Association (NMPA)
17. National Songwriters Association (NSA)
18. Phonographic Performance LTD (India)
19. Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA)
20. Songwriters Guild of America (SGA)

Music Community organizations and associations whose principal focus is the licensing, collection and distribution of fees for performance and mechanical rights:
21. Alliance of Artists and Recording Companies (AARC)
22. American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP)
23. Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners’ Society (AMCOS)
24. Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA)
25. Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI)
26. Bureau International Des Societies Gerant Les Droits D’enregistrement et de Reproduction Mecanique (BIEM)
27. Indian Performing Right Society Limited (IPRS)
28. International Confederation of Authors and Composers Societies (CISAC)
29. PRS for Music (UK)
30. SESAC
31. Société d’Auteurs Belge – Belgische Auteurs Maatschappij (SABAM)
32. Société des Auteurs et Compositeurs de Musique (SACAM)
33. SoundExchange

Music Community organizations and associations, guilds, agencies and forums that provide a broad spectrum of professional support dedicated to, and from within, the music community:
34. Music Managers Forum (MMF) UK
35. Music Managers Forum (MMF) US
36. Music Producers Guild (MPG) UK⁄EU
37. National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM)

Music Community institutions, organizations, councils and associations who engage in the education, preservation, nurturing and advocacy of the music community that includes artistic, cultural and governmental institutions, national and international music councils and community outreach and advocacy organizations:
38. European Music Council (EMC)
39. National Music Council of the United States (NMC)
40. National Association for Music Education (NAfME)
41. International Music Council (IMC)
42. The Recording Academy (The GRAMMY Organization)

.MUSIC LLC is the only entity to receive the support and endorsement of the preceding music community organizations and associations in its application for the .music TLD. This unprecedented global demonstration of support from the Community is indicative of its unified political will and the strength of its belief that .music should be awarded to .MUSIC LLC.

Internet users, like the rest of us, engage in the discovery and enjoyment of music that has been created and made available by music makers and the professionals that support them. The differentiation between general Internet users and members of the music community are clearly delineated by two well defined-criteria. They are:

1. Active participation in the creation and development of music, its advocacy and promotion, its professional support, the protection and preservation of the music community’s creative rights, as well as the nurturing of the art through music education.
2. Current registration and verifiable membership in a global music community organization that was organized and in existence prior to 2007 (as per ICANN guidelines) who are active participants in the support and representation of the creation and development of music, its advocacy and promotion, its professional support, the protection and preservation of the music community’s creative rights, as well as the nurturing of the art through music education.

Music community associations date back to the 19th century. Our oldest Member Organization is the Société des Auteurs et Compositeurs de Musique, founded in 1860. In 1895, the Music Publishers Association of the United States was founded followed by the formation of the American Federation of Musicians in 1896. The 20th century witnessed the formation of the bulk of the organized music community. The 21st century ushered in the formation of the IMPALA in 2000, SoundExchange in 2003 and the American Association of Independent Music in 2005.

This community has been at the forefront of the creation, development, distribution, support, preservation, education and nurturing of music for more than a century - most recently culminating in their support for .MUSIC LLC’s application for the .music TLD as described in 20b.

The current addressable community membership is based on conservative calculations that take into account that some members may have memberships in several Member Organizations or national organizations that are also members of International or umbrella organizations. After adjusting for these factors, we estimate a current addressable community to be greater than four million unique members in more than 150 countries.