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
.SHOP	GMO Registry, Inc.	gmoregistry.com	View

As is the case with any community, “membership” is based on common features, characteristics, activities, interests, etc.

The target community for .SHOP is business entities or organizations that deploy commercial activities in an online or offline environment or provide information in relation thereto over the Internet. Their common goal is to sell products and services to third parties, using the Internet as a direct or indirect sales channel.

However, with differences of experience, types of products and services, and conditions related to the purchase thereof, the way ebusinesses attempt to achieve such goals differs from that of brick-and-mortar stores.

Under .SHOP, only those who engage or intend to engage in commercial activities qualify to register domain names, if they meet requirements that – once finalized – will be laid down by the Applicant. Key features of the policy are described below.

COMMUNITY NAME

The target community does not have one “name”, members have several common characteristics and features, and their activities (and industry) are generally referred to as “online shopping”, “ecommerce”, “ebusiness”, etc.

DELINEATION

Community members, as opposed to Internet users generally, are business entities or organizations that deploy commercial activities in an online or offline environment or provide information in relation thereto on the Internet. In brief, Internet users in general are mainly on the demand side: generally seeking information about products or services, or purchasing them online. The intended registrants for .SHOP are always (but not necessarily only) on the supply side.

Although it is a broad and heterogeneous community not defined by any geographical borders, limited to certain cultures or form of trade, the community can be delineated more specifically as follows:

- community members deploy commercial activities with a certain continuity, whereas most Internet users only sporadically engage in commercial transactions, mainly as buyers (demand side);

- in some countries, to deploy commercial activities, registration with an official register is required prior to or shortly after engaging in such activities; and, in some countries, a VAT or sales tax number, or equivalent thereof is also required;

- those engaging in ecommerce related activities have 1 or more websites on which they offer products or services etc. Internet users in general do not usually have transactional websites, and use the Internet only for trading in their own name and for their own purpose. Also, generally, Internet users are not engaged in marketing activities or promotional campaigns for products or services;

- in some countries, specific commercial activities are regulated by an official or non-official body. These activities are not organized by Internet users in general, although they can benefit from this supervision, regulations and soft-law.


STRUCTURE AND ORGANIZATION

There is no worldwide coordinating body representing the entire community, though there are organizations and associations related to the industry at regional, national, state, and city levels, such as Chambers of Commerce, professional employer organizations, etc. The targeted community members are globally distributed, with organized activities undertaken by various organizations, stakeholder groups, etc.

Globally, various organizations represent the interests of businesses, including the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), Business Europe, the International Fair Trade Association, etc. On a national or regional level, community members are organizing themselves in an attempt to promote use of the Internet in commercial activities, and establish trust in ecommerce.


DATE(S) OF FORMAL ORGANIZATION, IF ANY, AS WELL AS A DESCRIPTION OF COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES

Community activities include, but are not limited to, buying, selling, exchanging, trading and leasing of goods, services, information, or any other property on the Internet, or activities of a similar nature. Since the community is not represented by a single organization, there is no one establishment date.

REPRESENTATIVES OF THE COMMUNITY WHO HAVE ENDORSED THIS APPLICATION INCLUDE:

- European Multi-channel and Online Trade Association (EMOTA), an organization that represents, at European and international level, the interests of ecommerce companies and retailers interacting with customers through all distance sales channels - websites, call centers, direct mail, catalogues, TV etc. EMOTA was founded under Belgian law in May 1982, however it developed out of AEVPC (Association Européenne de Vente par Correspondence) which was already in existence in 1971. EMOTA speaks for organizations generating over a third of a trillion US dollars in annual online trade. It works closely with the European Commission and national governments and is continually consulted in areas of, ecommerce Governance and Self Regulation, Industry Data, Codes of Best Practice, Dispute Resolution, Investment, Trading Standards and Cross Border issues. The 15 countries directly represented are Austria, Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
http:⁄⁄.www.emota.eu⁄

- Belgian Digital Marketing Association, an organization established in January 2003 in conjunction with Safeshops.be;
http:⁄⁄www.bdma.be⁄
http:⁄⁄www.safeshops.be⁄

- EC Network, an organization established in April 2006;
http:⁄⁄www.ecnetwork.jp⁄en⁄

- Japan Foundation for Electronic Commerce (JFEC), an organization originally established as Electronic Commerce Conference (ECC) in 2003. After the inception of the Act on Authorization of Public Interest Incorporated Associations and Public Interest Incorporated Foundations in 2008, ECC became JFEC in January 2009.
http:⁄⁄www.j-fec.or.jp⁄

- Japan E-commerce Conference (JECC), an organization established in July 2004;
http:⁄⁄www.jecc.or.jp⁄

THE CURRENT ESTIMATED SIZE OF THE COMMUNITY, BOTH AS TO MEMBERSHIP AND GEOGRAPHIC EXTENT.

Given its nature, it is difficult to demonstrate community size: statistics vary from hundreds of thousands to millions of entities who sell products and services using the Internet. On a daily basis, new businesses appear, and existing merchants go out of business. However, there are strong reasons to believe that the net result will be positive.

Nonetheless, more insights exist into the number of potential beneficiaries of a dedicated, safe, secure and trustworthy .SHOP namespace:

According to a recent report by EURid, the registry operator for .EU, 26.5% of domain names in their sample pointed to websites used for business purposes. The authors of the Report analyzed 50,000 websites randomly selected across 11 TLDs, and classified these in 8 categories; “Business”, “Community”, “Institutional”, “Holding Page”, “Pornography”, “Error”, “Pay-per-Click”, and “Password Protected”.

According to the Report, a business website is “a website that clearly shows commercial activity and that is designed for customer interaction. Business websites provide information about the company, including contact details, company structure, and descriptions of products or services. Some also allow customers to shop online.”

If we extrapolate this result to the total number of domain names registered in the world, and conservatively estimate the number of community members, the result is that currently about 40-50 million websites exist with commercial characteristics.

According to World Retail Data and Statistics 6th Edition (ISBN: 978-1-84264-530-7) published by Euromonitor International Ltd, Per Household Internet Retail Sales between 2004 to 2009 grew by 175% in USA, 363% in France, and 686% in Brazil. From members of the G8 to the less developed countries, per household Internet retail sales in every country grew betw