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
.versicherung	dotversicherung-registry GmbH	dotversicherung.de	View

*** Community Delineation ***
The string has been mentioned in the medieval times (14th century) according to the GRIMM dictionary: http:⁄⁄woerterbuchnetz.de⁄DWB⁄?lemma=Versicherung. The string “versicherung” has a clear meaning, relating to the service offering of community members, according to Wikipedia “Vereinbarung, bei der eine Partei meist gegen ein Entgelt der anderen bei Eintritt bestimmter schädigender Ereignisse einen Ausgleich des Schadens zusagt” (Agreement, where one party offers compensation for an harmful event which has been previously defined and contracted, to another party).
The insurance community in the German speaking countries Austria, Germany, Liechtenstein and Switzerland, which is the “Community” for our community-based application, exists for approximately 500 years. The setting of clearly defined community actors and members of the insurance community has not changed over that time and is expected not to change in the future.

The insurance community as defined above is regulated and clearly delineated, since the membership to the community is restricted by laws and oversight bodies under governmental influence or operation within the countries concerned. Members of the insurance community are registered by various measures, ranging from formal accreditation of insurance providers at a governmental agency, to registration of agents at an official public insurance agents register or a formal acknowledgement as registered entity in the interest of the insurance community.

The insurance community is well organized with all kinds of measures, associations and organizations a very large branch is usually making up. Governmental regulatory bodies themselves are completing the insurance community.

** Community Organization **
The insurance community consists of the German speaking countries Austria, Germany, Liechtenstein and Switzerland (the respective countries) which make up the community for the .VERSICHERUNG community TLD and are eligible to register .VERSICHERUNG domain names:

* 3 layers of insurance community *
First layer:
Governmental organizations in the countries regulating the insurance industry make up the first layer of the community. These organizations are
- FMA, Oesterreichische Finanzmarktaufsicht, Austria (www.fma.gv.at)
- BAFIN, Bundesamt fuer Finanzen, Germany (www.bafin.de)
- FMA-LI, Finanzmarktaufsicht Liechtenstein, Liechtenstein (www.fma-li.li)
- FINMA, Eidgenoessischen Finanzmarktaufsicht, Switzerland (www.finma.ch)
These organizations are members of the .VERSICHERUNG community and eligible to register .VERSICHERUNG domain names.

Second layer:
The following organizations (and sole proprietors) are recognized and officially registered members of the .VERSICHERUNG community:
- Insurance companies with an authorization within the legal framework for the insurance industry in the respective countries.
- Insurance agents and insurance intermediaries with an authorization within the legal framework for the insurance industry in the respective countries.

* Insurance companies *
An insurance company in Germany, Austria, Switzerland or Liechtenstein usually has to exist in the form of a company (insurance company) or a public institution. The central directive of federal law is the law on the supervision of Insurance companies (Insurance Supervision Act).
The Insurance Supervision Act governs, among other things approval, business, legal forms, and investment oversight.
In Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Liechtenstein there are about 800 licensed insurers.

* Insurance agents and salesmen *
The European Insurance Mediation Directive was published on 15 Jan. 2003 in the EU Official Journal (Directive 2002⁄92⁄EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 9 Dec. 2002 on insurance mediation).

Third layer:
Official public registers for insurance agents and salesmen and registered associations in the respective countries.

* Official public registers *
Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Liechtenstein have successfully implemented the Insurance Mediation Directive into their national law. Each of these countries manages its own official register of insurance intermediaries which are online accessible:
-Germany: http:⁄⁄www.vermittlerregister.org, http:⁄⁄www.vermittlerregister.info
-Austria: http:⁄⁄versicherungsvermittler.brz.gv.at
-Switzerland: http:⁄⁄register.vermittleraufsicht.ch
-Liechtenstein: http:⁄⁄register.fma-li.li

* Community associations *
The Germany-based insurance companies are organized in the German Insurance Association (GDV).The Swiss Insurance Association (SVV) represents the interests of insurance companies in Switzerland. The insurance companies in Austria are organized in the Austrian Insurance Association (VVÖ). The insurance companies in Liechtenstein are organized in the Liechtenstein Insurance Association (LVV). Intermediaries and Insurance agents are represented, among others, by the Germany-based association BVK (Bundesverband Deutscher Versicherungskaufleute). Further associations represent the community members.

** Establishment of Community **
The idea and practice of insurances goes back to the 2nd and 3rd millennia BC and was invented in Chinese and Babylonian merchants. The modern insurance industry and by this the insurance community as we know has evolved in Europe during the 14th century. Therefore there is no date of formal organization of the community itself. Insurance companies first emerged in the mid-17th century. These companies were mostly specialized in the fire and (sea) transport insurance. The first professional insurance companies were founded in Germany because of an initiative of the state: The Hamburg Fire Fund (1676) and the Berlin Fire Society (1718).
Today the insurance community is defined by a set of industry players (the community as defined before) and is essential for the effective operation of a modern economy, protecting people and companies against uncertainty associated with every day events. The community has more than 450.000 employees, and more than 450 million contracts only in Germany. It covers a wide range of business and consumer needs, from insuring a business or home, preparing for retirement, insuring major catastrophe risks such as earthquakes or managing flood risks as a result of climate change.

*Sales activities*
The direct sale of insurance products by the insurance companies itself adds up only to a small percentage of the whole market. The vast majority of insurance products are sold by insurance brokers and insurance agents.
These brokers and agents are divided into two groups of insurance intermediaries, the tied insurance intermediaries agents (representatives of a insurance company) and the Insurance Broker.
*Marketing activities*
The role of advertising, depending on the type of the insurance company, has a broad spectrum. Some large insurers using advertising mainly to increase awareness, brand value and company image. For insurance companies with direct contacts to customers, advertising is also often necessary to highlight specific product features, like cost-effective products and latest test results. But the greatest importance in the insurance industry is still the personal sales promotion.

*Activities of Associations*
The most important task of insurance associations in general is to represent the insurance companies, insurance agents and insurance intermediaries in relation to political and social institutions (Lobbying). They develop positions on political and social issues and represent the interests of their members. Since insurance associations have a high level of professional competence through their members, they advise stakeholders with regards to policies related to insurance topics (neo-corporatism).