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
.ONG	Public Interest Registry	pir.org	View

Community Name and Full Description
Through this .ONG application, PIR is committed to serving the “NGO Community”.

This application accompanies PIR’s application for .NGO, with .ONG serving as a linguistic expression of “Non-Governmental Organization”. Linguistic expressions include French: “Organisation Non Gouvernementale”, Spanish: “Organización No Gubernamental”, and Portuguese: “Organizacao Nao Governamental.

Members include Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and NGO associations. NGOs are defined as organizations whose mission and activities are broadly centered on improving the human condition, and are non-governmental, non-profit and non-criminal. NGOs have created NGO associations that are global, regional, and national in scope to, as a community, face their common challenges and promote their common themes in a coherent fashion, across their diverse missions. For example, many NGO associations promote codes of conduct and self-regulation frameworks designed to reinforce their cohesion.[1]

The activities of NGOs have been conducted through international NGOs dating back to the 1830s and have evolved in scope to the present day to include well-established regional and national NGOs which have become household names.

This NGO Community is firmly established and clearly satisfies the criteria of delineation, organization, and pre-existence.[2]

Delineation
The NGO Community is global and comprised of individual NGOs and NGO associations.

Pre-Existing
The NGO Community has been active since well before 2007. Indeed, the origins of NGOs can be traced back to 1839.[3] NGOs were recognized in Article 71 of the United Nations (U.N.) Charter of 1945.[4] Since then, the NGO Community has become increasingly active and firmly established in its dealings with both governments and commercial organizations.

Organized
The global NGO Community certainly meets the criteria of “at least one entity mainly dedicated to the community with documented evidence of community activities.”[5] NGOs have themselves over time created numerous associations that organize and serve their NGO Community.[6] The diverse characteristics of NGOs are routinely recognized by non-NGO entities. For example, the European Commission, when interacting with the NGO Community, requires that they “respect [the] diversity and heterogeneity of the NGO community.”[7] Additionally, members of the NGO Community recognize themselves as part of a global NGO Community, and seek ways to collaborate at the local, regional, or global level.[8][6]

Extension
The following describes the “Extension” through three dimensions of the NGO Community – Number of Members, Geographical Reach, and Foreseeable Activity Lifetime (Longevity).

Number of Members and Geographical Reach: There is no central record of the global NGO Community size and geographic reach, but PIR’s own research including direct contact with NGO associations indicate in October 2011 that the community would be conservatively estimated at an order of magnitude in excess of 6.7 million[9], distributed approximately as follows across the U.N. recognized regions:
• Africa: 108,000
• Americas: 1,414,000
• Asia: 1,658,250
• Europe: 2,988,200
• Oceana: 604,000

Foreseeable Activity Lifetime (Longevity): The pursuits of the NGO Community are of a lasting and non-transient nature. The pursuits are broadly centered on improving the human condition, which is fundamental to human activity and will therefore continue indefinitely. The recognition of the NGO Community by governments and commercial organizations[10][11] combined with the spread of communications technology and increasing global social interaction will ensure that the NGO Community will continue long into the future.

Size (Context)
As the research bears out, the estimated 6.7 million members of the NGO Community are spread across the globe. Since 1945, the number of NGOs has increased dramatically with an explosion of NGOs in the developing world since the 1970s.[12] The size and reach of NGOs is also measurable in monetary terms. For example, in 1992 international NGOs channeled over $7.6 billion of aid to developing countries. Moreover, it is estimated that over 15 percent of total overseas development aid is channeled through NGOs.[13]

[1] ʺThe [International NGO] INGO Accountability Charter was first discussed at the International Advocacy Non-Government Organisations (IANGO) Workshop hosted by Transparency International in June 2003. On the 6th of June 2006, eleven leading INGOs held a press conference in order to publicly declare their adoption of the Charter and encourage other INGOs to join them in their commitment to good governance to set the standard for international NGOs. There are currently 25 INGOs and a large number of their national affiliates that are members of the Charter.ʺ Members include Amnesty International, Article 19, Care International, CIVICUS World Alliance for Citizen Participation, Consumer International, and Oxfam. From The Commitment of INGOs to Accountability
[2] The Rise and Fall of the Transnational Civil Society: the Evolution of International Civil Society Organizations since 1839, April 2008, pp.3-4, http:⁄⁄www.staff.city.ac.uk⁄tom.davies⁄CUWPTP003.pdf
[3] ibid, page 7
[4] www.un-documents.net⁄ch-10.htm
[5] ICANN Guidebook, Module 4, Criterion 1 Definitions
[6] Examples of NGO Associations for NGO collaboration include: NTEN, CIVICUS, CONGO, (global); CONCORD (regional); Computer Association of Nepal, APB Yatri Welfare Association (local)
[7] The Commission remains therefore committed to respect the following overarching principles in the management of NGO projects and programmes:The need to respect diversity and heterogeneity of the NGO community; The Commission and Non-Governmental Organizations: building a Stronger Partnership
http:⁄⁄ec.europa.eu⁄transparency⁄civil_society⁄ngo⁄docs⁄communication_en.pdf
[8] http:⁄⁄www.ngocongo.org⁄committees⁄
CONGO and its members collaborate with the larger community of NGOs through standing NGO committees, which follow issues that are of key substantive interest relative to their mandates and objectives
[9] PIR conducted primary research through direct contact with NGO Associations in 27 countries to establish a base level NGO population
[10] In NGO Impact Initiative: An Assessment by the International Humanitarian NGO Community Report commissioned by William Jefferson Clinton, www.dochas.ie⁄Pages⁄Resources⁄documents⁄NGO_Impact_Initiative.pdf
For those businesses willing to engage with the NGO community, how can they do so? The rise and role of NGOs in sustainable development
[11] http:⁄⁄unesdoc.unesco.org⁄images⁄0021⁄002112⁄211286e.pdf (Annex page 9)
“(ii) take all necessary steps to ensure the proper functioning and efficiency of the partnership between the community of NGO partners and UNESCO; (iii) ensure the appropriate exchange of information with the non-governmental community it represents and, in this connection, promote consultation among NGOs at all levels;” New Directives Concerning UNESCO’S Partnership with Non-Governmental Organizations
“And by we, I do not only mean the 47 members of the Council, but also all the other interested UN states who are active as observers and potential future Council members as well as the crucial community of NGO and National Human Rights Institutions which have a vital stake in how the Council will function.” The Human Rights Council: The Story So Far and Future Challenges Presentation by Ambassador Paul Meyer Permanent Mission of Canada in Geneva, Winnipeg, February 23, 2007
[12] Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and Politics in the Developing World, Pol Std., Vol 46
[13] World Bank website ʺNongovernmental Organizations and Civil Society⁄Overview.ʺ referenced in library.duke.edu⁄research⁄subject⁄guides⁄ngo_guide⁄igo_ngo_coop⁄ngo_wb.html and www.un.org⁄ecosocdev⁄geninfo⁄afrec⁄subjindx⁄131ngo.htm