gTLD	Full Legal Name	E-mail suffix	Detail
.neustar	NeuStar, Inc.	neustar.biz	View

Neustar believes the .neustar top-level domain will play a vital role in revolutionizing the Internet by adding greater specificity to the namespace, as well as serving as a platform to expand its online presence and improve branding efforts. One of Neustar’s overall goals is to ensure that the .neustar top-level domain becomes a trusted, secure, and stable operation that Internet users can trust as the true source of information from Neustar.

The .neustar gTLD will ensure that customer entities relying on Neustar branded services for critical infrastructure will have a secure domain in which to share the proprietary and confidential information with Neustar.  Neustar will also be able to provide and maintain individual service level agreements (SLAs) with customers desiring guaranteed availability.

The .neustar gTLD will add to the content space by providing a clear and unambiguous location at which to secure services from Neustar.  Neustarʹs reputation of trusted neutrality, along with our history of providing secure and reliable services to the industries we serve require that we protect our brand for ourselves and our customers with a single gTLD.

More specifically, Neustarʹs goals for the .neustar gTLD are to:
1. Provide a single, secure location for all Neustar-branded services;
2. Ensure no customer confusion regarding location of Neustar-branded services; and
3. Provide the Internet community a single location for interacting with Neustar.

Neustar believes that a proposed .neustar gTLD has the potential to offer the following benefits to Internet users and consumers:
* Establish a trusted source of information for the thousands of Neustar customers who purchase Neustar’s services, for investors and third parties seeking information about Neustar, and for the general Internet user population;
* Provide Neustar and its affiliates with short and memorable Internet addresses;
* Provide increased navigation to products, services, advertising campaigns, public interest content, public awareness initiatives, etc;
* Through the adoption of new gTLDs by the wider Internet user community, consumers may benefit from a lower incidence of phishing and malware often associated with mistypes of domain names in the .com space that are owned by cybersquatters, since consumers will be navigating to domain names in the .neustar gTLD; and
* Minimize the cost and need for defensive registrations because domain names will only be allocated by Neustar within the .neustar gTLD to Neustar and qualified subsidiaries and affiliates.

18(b)1 What is the goal of your proposed gTLD in terms of areas of specialty, service levels, or reputation?

The .neustar top-level domain will be a safe, stable, and secure operation. As stated above, Neustar is well-known within the ICANN and global Internet community for its provision of domain name registry services in compliance with the strictest industry-leading service levels since its award of the .biz gTLD by ICANN in 2000. Neustar has historically met or exceeded its service level obligations for all of the TLDs it operates, including .biz and .us as well as .co, .tel and .travel for which it provides back-end registry services. Neustar has a history of operating a number of mission-critical services in addition to its registry operations, including the maintenance of the North American Numbering Plan and Local Number Portability which ensure the appropriate routing of all telephone calls in North America and DNS services for many of the top Fortune 500 companies in the world. The operation of each of these services must be at a level at or above those required in the current ICANN Registry Agreement for new gTLDs.


18(b)2 What do you anticipate your proposed gTLD will add to the current space, in terms of competition, differentiation, or innovation?
As a branded gTLD, the primary driving factors of a .neustar gTLD are differentiation and innovation. The success of the gTLD will be measured not by the number of domain names registered, but rather by the level of consumer recognition and trust that is placed in the .neustar gTLD. Using this benchmark, Neustar will strive to build consumer recognition and trust through usage of the .neustar gTLD.

The .neustar gTLD will simplify how internet users interact with Neustar’s services by providing a distinctive domain space. Internet users will be able to directly navigate to the .neustar gTLD site, as well as particular pages within the .neustar gTLD, saving time and resources searching for an official site. The current domain name system has shown that it is vulnerable to malicious abuses due to registration of domain names which seek to exploit consumer confusion. Neustar can address some of these vulnerabilities by maintaining complete control over the domain names registered under the .neustar domain space.

18(b)3 What goals does your proposed gTLD have in terms of user experience?
Neustar believes that the .neustar gTLD will provide a single trusted ecosystem experience for the thousands of consumers worldwide who purchase the company’s services, as well as those who seek information about Neustar, including investors and members of the press. Consumers will know that domains and content on .neustar are owned and controlled by Neustar and are thus more likely to be protected from infringing, pirated, or harmful content.

The initial use of the .neustar gTLD will involve a limited number of second-level domain names. This initial use will provide Neustar the ability to ensure seamless and secure access to the Neustar website and interoperability with various software and Web⁄mobile-based applications. After consideration of the following factors: analysis of Neustar’s existing domain name portfolio; internal analysis of marketing initiatives; and the fact that Neustar will have full control over the number of registrations in the .neustar gTLD namespace, Neustar reasonably assumes that the number of domain name registrations will be far less than 10,000 in the first five years of operation.

18(b)4 Provide a complete description of the applicant’s intended registration policies in support of the goals listed above.
Neustar currently intends for the .neustar gTLD to be used exclusively by Neustar and its qualified subsidiaries and affiliates. As Neustar intends to use the gTLD for its own branding purposes, most of the registration policies will be written into existing corporate policies. Neustar will implement the following registration policies:
1. .neustar Domain Name Eligibility Requirements
2. Acceptable Use Policy
3. Reserved Names
4. Rights Protection Mechanisms
5. ICANN Consensus Policies

1. Neustar Domain Name Eligibility Requirements
The .neustar Domain Registration Eligibility policy sets forth the guidelines that dictate the allowable labels for domain name registrations, who or what entities may register the names, how the names may be used as well as the technical criteria each name must meet.

Neustar proposes that only Neustar, its qualified subsidiaries and affiliates will be allowed to request second level domain registrations. Neustar will implement an internal process that will define how they can submit second-level registration requests and the process which will be used to approve such registrations. Neustar envisions having a domain management department that will be responsible for the receipt of domain name registration requests from specially designated and approved managers (Domain Manager) though a documented internal request form. Once the Domain Manager receives a registration request, an internal review will be completed to ensure the name complies with internal policies and procedures governing the registration of .neustar domain name as well as complies with the technical specifications in the ICANN Agreement. Once the name has undergone the standard review, and is deemed in compliance with internal rules and procedures, the name will be approved and submitted through an ICANN-Accredited Registrar for registration.

Neustar believes that it is eligible to an exemption to the ICANN Code of Conduct (Specification 9 of the new gTLD Registry Agreement). Neustar believes that limiting the number of registrars is important in order to protect the integrity of the brand and as such serves the public interest. Many of the registration terms for second level domain names will match those found in existing TLDs. The registration term will be allowed for one to ten years. At no point are domain registrations allowed for more years than the maximum registration term of 10 years or the minimum term of one year. Additional details regarding the registration, renewal, and transfer terms can be found in answer to Question 23 regarding Registry Services.

2. Acceptable Use Policy
Neustar intends to be the sole registrant in the .neustar gTLD, and will implement an Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) to ensure that Neustar maintains all rights of registered names to protect the integrity of its registry, and achieve its goal of maintaining a safe and stable operation. The AUP also documents any restrictions related to use of the domain name and how the registry, may enforce its policies. More information on the AUP can be found in Neustar’s response to Question 28.

3. Reserved names
Neustar will comply with Specification 5 of the ICANN new gTLD Registry Agreement by initially reserving all names as required by Specification 5. These names will include:
* The label ʺEXAMPLEʺ as required by ICANN
* All two character labels will be initially reserved. Provisions for the release of these names is further described in relation to Neustar’s response to Question 22
* Tagged domain names (labels with a hyphen (ʺ-ʺ) in the third or fourth positions will only be allowed if they represent a valid internationalized domain name (IDN) in their ASCII encoding.
* Second level names for registry operations, defined by ICANN as: NIC, WWW, IRIS, and WHOIS.
* Country and territory names listed on the following internationally recognized lists will be initially reserved:
1. the ISO 3166-1 list including the short form and long form English versions,
2. United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names, Technical Reference manual for the Standardization of Geographical Names, Part III Names of Countries of the World
3. The list of United Nations member states in 6 official United Nations languages prepared by the Working Group on Country Names of the United Nations Conference on the Standardization of Geographical Names

However, Neustar does believe that certain 2-letter names and country and territory names may be used in a manner unlikely to cause confusion with the country-codes, countries or territories and therefore is exploring ways in which such names may be released in accordance with ICANN policies and avoids consumer confusion. Please see Neustar’s response to question 22 for more information on the protection of Geographic Names.

4. Rights Protection Mechanisms
Neustar is committed to following all ICANN rules regarding protecting third party intellectual property rights within its TLD. Neustar plans to operate and maintain the .neustar space as an extension of its current branding activities, therefore, it is highly unlikely that names in the zone will interfere with the rights of other third parties.

Nevertheless, Neustar plans to implement all Rights Protection Mechanisms (RPMs) as required by ICANN. These RPMs include the following, which are further explained in answer to Question 18 Part C as well as Question 29.
* Trademark Clearinghouse
* Sunrise and Trademark Claims Process
* Implementation of the Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP)
* Implementation of the Uniform Rapid Suspension (URS) mechanism

18(b)5 Will your proposed gTLD impose any measures for protecting the privacy or confidential information of registrants or users? If so, please describe any such measures.

As a United States public company with customers located around the globe, Neustar respects the privacy of its customers and other consumers. Neustar employs a variety of physical, electronic, contractual, and managerial safeguards to protect personal and confidential information through its services and on its websites. Neustar will take similar precautions to protect registrant and user data associated with the .neustar gTLD. Furthermore, given that every domain name will be registered to Neustar or a qualified subsidiary⁄affiliate, Neustar has a vested interest in ensuring that accurate and current registrant information is readily available in connection with each .neustar domain name.

Neustar will ensure that the operation of the .neustar TLD will be consistent with Neustar’s Privacy Policy, available on its website at http:⁄⁄www.neustar.biz⁄privacy.

18(b)6 Describe whether and in what ways outreach and communications will help to achieve your projected benefits.
The switch over to .neustar as the authoritative namespace for the Neustar brand will require a fair amount of time and effort to ensure that user confusion does not occur. Therefore, Neustar will incorporate the .neustar name into its existing marketing, outreach and communications activities in a calculated and deliberate fashion to ensure these goals are met.

Additionally, Neustar will implement an effective pre-delegation communications plan that will help users become aware of that the scope of the Internet is expanding and Neustar has elected to brand is primary web presence under the .neustar top level domain. After Neustar has implemented and announced its new web presence the focus on communications will cautiously lead users from the old domain name to the new domain names under the .neustar TLD.

gTLD	Full Legal Name	E-mail suffix	Detail
.able	Able Inc.	urbanbrain.com	View

ICANN has determined that launching the new gTLD program is inline with its mission to increase competition and innovation in the namespace. Brand-specific TLDs such as “.able” will, in many ways cause a shift in how users navigate the web.

The “.able” TLD will add greater specificity to the namespace. In a broad sense, ABLE expects that customers searching for rental properties will type in an area name followed by the “.able” extension to search listings of rental properties; for example, a customer looking to move to Osaka may simply type “osaka.able” into the browser. This would resolve to a page showing potentially thousands of listings as well as information for trusted agents in the area that can assist the customer in finding the perfect property. Customers searching for ABLE’s agents and properties managed by ABLE, will be able to securely navigate a new and intuitive namespace to easily find what they are looking for.

Additionally, by operating its own specialized top-level domain ABLE will be able tailor its online presence with short, custom, memorable names, and have the ability to market its products and services without the concerns of finding an appropriate generic domain name in the existing namespace.

ABLE proposes that second level domain name registrations are limited to ABLE, its subsidiaries, group companies, and representative offices. ABLE plans to implement internal registration policies to ensure that registered names will be used by only authorized personnel in a manner the promotes the mission of the company and abides by the strictest of corporate standards expected by those using the ABLE name. ABLE is confident that “.able” will create an added layer of trust that will greatly benefit property seekers.


i. What is the goal of your proposed gTLD in terms of areas of specialty, service levels, or reputation?

The “.able” top-level domain will be a safe, stable, and secure name space for ABLE, its subsidiaries, partners, and customers. ABLE, has built one of the most respectable real estate businesses in Japan and believes that extending its presence online with a “.able” TLD will be a valuable assets in maintaining its reputation as Japan’s most trusted real estate business.

ABLE will operate its TLD with the aim of meeting or exceeding all ICANN service level requirements, and provide partners and customers with a high-quality, dependable name space.

As stated above, ABLE has enlisted the services of Neustar, the existing registry operator for .BIZ, .US, and the back-end provider for numerous gTLDs and ccTLDs that has historically operated well in excess of the SLAs proposed by ICANN in the New gTLD Applicant Guidebook. Neustar has a history of operating a number of mission-critical services in addition to its registry operations, including the maintenance of the North American Numbering Plan and Local Number Portability, each of which ensures the appropriate routing of all telephone calls in North America as well as DNS services for many of the top Fortune 500 companies in the world.

Neustar’s high-quality solution will enhance ABLE’s ability to continue building and administering industry leading rental property related solutions.


ii. What do you anticipate your proposed gTLD will add to the current space, in terms of competition, differentiation, or innovation?

Building a quality namespace is an essential component in building trust with Internet users as well as in adding to the brand value of ABLE Currently there are no TLDs that are specifically for a single brand, nor does a TLD exist for real estate.

ABLE anticipates that there will be other applicants that apply for a “.rent” or “.real” (for real estate). While these TLDs will have tremendous opportunity to serve a wider community, the “.able” TLDʹs mission is to serve its currently extensive network of partners, its customers, and its potential customers. This is an unparalleled opportunity for ABLE to continue its innovative, forward thinking approach to reaching out to consumers. The operation of its own namespace presents a means to enhance the collective experience of its partners and the way they interact with customers.


iii. What goals does your proposed gTLD have in terms of user experience?

Rental property seekers, current customers, and Internet users will be able to quickly and easily identify a “.able” name as a trusted online source for rental property. By allocating domain names to its subsidiaries, group companies, and reputable partners, customers will gain an added sense of security and confidence as they transact with the sites under “.able”.

Under its own top-level domain, ABLE will have access to vast amount of creative domain names that will allow it to create shorter, more intuitive and memorable names to help customers locate ABLE’s offices, agents, and properties online. ABLE will have total control over the space, which will enable users to experience a safe web communications channel free of any abusive registrations. ABLE is confident that is customers will experience a much more intuitive way to navigate online property listings as well as other property management services provided by ABLE without having to worry about the legitimacy of the source behind the information or services.

ABLE plans to incorporate “.able” second level registrations into its current marketing strategy to increase the awareness and effectiveness of the new dedicated namespace for rental properties. Marketing communications will include train advertisements, print media, television spots, and other communication outlets.

ABLE has developed a strategic plan for the implementation of the “.able” TLD and understands the time and effort involved in making the launch of its TLD successful. ABLE plans to use existing resources and marketing funds to ensure its TLD receives a great deal of exposure before name allocations begin.


iv. Provide a complete description of the applicant’s intended registration policies in support of the goals listed above.

ABLE will run the TLD as an extension of its valuable brand name, and therefore, in order to protect its investment in branding ABLE, will implement strict requirements for domain holders to adhere to when registering and operating second level domain names under “.able”.

By maintaining a safe, stable, and secure operation ABLE will be able to ensure that the “.able” TLD is a valuable resource for both ABLE’s agents and customers.

The structure of the “.able” TLD differs greatly from current TLDs on the market. However, through observing the benefits and drawbacks of registration policies in use today under current sponsored TLDs, ABLE has developed sound registration policies that will assist the registry in achieving its goals while maximizing user benefits. ABLE will implement the following registration policies:

　1. “.able” Domain Name Eligibility Requirements
　2. Acceptable Use Policy
　3. Reserved Names
　4. Rights Protection Mechanisms


1. “.able” Domain Name Eligibility Requirements

“.able” Domain Name Eligibility Requirements defines who or what entities are permitted to register a domain name, the types of names that maybe registered, use requirements, content restrictions, and the technical criteria for allowable labels within the “.able” top-level domain. A brief description of the criteria is briefly outlined below:

1a Registrants

ABLE will implement an internal process that will define how second-level registration requests can be submitted and how those requests for registration may be approved. ABLE proposes that domain names on the second level will only be allocated to group companies, subsidiaries, wholly-owned representative offices, franchises, and contracted partners.

ABLE envisions having a domain management department that will be responsible for the receipt of domain name registration requests from specially designated and approved managers (Domain Manager) though a documented internal request form. Once the Domain Manager receives a registration request, a review will be completed to ensure the name complies with internal policies and the technical specifications outlined in the new gTLD Registry Agreement. Once the standard review is completed the name will be approved and submitted for registration.

ABLE believes that it is eligible for an exemption to the ICANN Code of Conduct (Specification 9 of the new gTLD Registry Agreement). If the exemption is granted, ABLE has already enlisted the services of Interlink Co, Ltd, an ICANN accredited registrar since 2006 to act as a registrar partner for “.able” registrations. ABLE believes that limiting the number of registrars is important in order to protect the integrity of the brand, and as such serves the public interest.

The registration terms for second level domain names will match with existing TLDs. The registration term will be allowed for one to ten years. At no point are domain registrations allowed for more years than the maximum registration term of 10 years or the minimum term of one year. Additional details regarding the registration, renewal, and transfer terms can be found in answer to Question 23 regarding Registry Services.

1b Domain Restrictions

A domain name that will be accepted as valid for registration is a domain name that;
　• has not been blocked or reserved by the registry (see Reserved Names policy below)
　• meets the technical requirements (defined below)
　• has not already been registered (registrants will be encouraged to use the WHOIS database provided by the registry to
　　ensure the availability of a domain)

1c Domain Technical Specifications

The technical specifications for allowable labels will follow the standard criteria briefly outlined below:

　• Labels containing the letters ʺaʺ to ʺzʺ or ʺAʺ to ʺZʺ in standard US ASCII character set, the digits ʺ0ʺ to ʺ9ʺ and the hyphen (ʺ-ʺ);
　　(the minimum character limitation is due to the protection mechanisms for geographic names in relation to Question 22:
　　Protection of Geographic Names and briefly described below under ʺ2. Reserved Namesʺ below. The ability to register one
　　and two character strings will be reevaluated at the ABLEʹs discretion.)
　• Labels may contain a maximum of 63 characters. (This does not include the ʺ.ableʺ suffix)
　• Labels may not begin or end with a hyphen (ʺ-ʺ) and may not include a hyphen (ʺ-ʺ) in the third and fourth positions unless
　　they represent valid internationalized domain names in their ASCII encoding).

2. Acceptable Use Policy

The Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) is a central policy of the “.able” TLD and will be implemented to ensure that ABLE maintains the rights to protect the integrity of its registry and achieve its goal of maintaining a safe and stable operation. The policy further describes the process for applying for and registering, renewing, and transferring a “.able” domain name as well as any restrictions, and how ABLE, the registry, may enforce its policies.

The AUP will clearly delineate the types of activities that constitute ʺabuseʺ and any repercussions associated with abusive domain name registrations. A draft version of the AUP can be found in the answer to Question 28: Abuse Prevention and Mitigation.


3. Reserved Names

ABLE will comply with Specification 5 of the new gTLD Registry Agreement by initially reserving all names as required. These names will include:

　• The label ʺEXAMPLEʺ as required by ICANN
　• All two character labels will be initially reserved. Provisions for the release of these names are further described in relation to
　　Question 22: Protection of Geographic Names.
　• Tagged domain names (labels with a hyphen (ʺ-ʺ) in the third or fourth positions will only be allowed if they represent a
　　valid internationalized domain name (IDN) in their ASCII encoding.
　• Second level names for registry operations, defined by ICANN as: NIC, WWW, IRIS, and WHOIS.
　• Country and territory names listed on the following internationally recognized lists will be initially reserved:

　　　1. the ISO 3166-1 list including the short form and long form English versions,
　　　2. United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names, Technical Reference manual for the Standardization of
　　　　 Geographical Names, Part III Names of Countries of the World
　　　3. The list of United Nations member states in 6 official United Nations languages prepared by the Working Group on
　　　　 Country Names of the United Nations Conference on the Standardization of Geographical Names

ABLE believes that certain 2-letter names and country and territory names may be used in manners unlikely to cause confusion with the country-codes, countries or territories and is therefore exploring ways in which such names may be released in accordance with ICANN policies and in a manner that avoids consumer confusion. Please see ABLE Inc’s response to Question 22 for more information on the protection of Geographic Names.

4. Rights Protection Mechanisms (RPMs)

ABLE is committed to ensuring that all rights holders have adequate protections for their intellectual property assets in the “.able” TLD. Therefore, ABLE will submit to any rights protection mechanisms or polices that ICANN approves and includes in its consensus polices. ABLE proposes to implement the following rights protection mechanisms. Each RPM is further described in answer to Question 18 Part C.

　• Trademark Clearinghouse
　• Sunrise and Trademark Claims Process
　• Implementation of the Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP)
　• Implementation of the Uniform Rapid Suspension (URS) mechanism


5. ICANN Consensus Policies

ABLE is aware of and understands all current ICANN consensus policies listed at http:⁄⁄www.icann.org⁄en⁄general⁄consensus-policies.htm, and is committed to comply with all policies during its time as a registry operator.



v. Will your proposed gTLD impose any measures for protecting the privacy or confidential information of registrants or users? If so, please describe any such measures.

ABLE will allocate domain names to its subsidiaries, group companies, franchises, and other contracted partners for purposes of doing business under ABLE, or under contract with ABLE. Information deemed necessary to fulfill WHOIS requirements will be recorded in the public WHOIS database. All other information will be protected under contractual requirements and such information will be safeguarded from loss, destruction, tampering, leakage, etc. ABLE, is currently in compliance with all relevant laws, regulations and other rules, and will remain in compliance with any changes made by relevant authorities.

ABLE has a Privacy policy in place and will strive to improve it as privacy laws evolve. Privacy policy can be found in Japanese at the following link:
http:⁄⁄www.able.co.jp⁄privacy⁄


vi. Describe whether and in what ways outreach and communications will help to achieve your projected benefits.

As the number one rental agency business in Japan, ABLE manages a substantial sales force and number of franchise offices. As a whole, ABLE handles nearly 200,000 rental agreements per year through some 800 offices nationwide.

ABLE believes managing a successful TLD for the company begins with communicating its strategy to its subsidiaries, group companies, and franchises. This communication period will primarily take place during the ICANN new gTLD evaluation phase. As part of its pre-launch communication strategy ABLE, plans to incorporate the following key messages:

　• The Internet is expanding and ABLE is committed enhancing its service to its customers through a New gTLD; ʺ.ableʺ
　• Soon customers will be able to access sites such as ʺtokyo.ableʺ to find rental property in their local areas
　• ABLE seeks to promote trust, and only reputable partners will be allocated a “.able” name.

The communications process during this phase will take place through already existing marketing channels as well as press releases, and engagement through various social media channels.

ABLE will expose the public to its new domain in a manner that assists users in making a smooth transition from traditional web addresses to its exclusive namespace.