18(c) What operating rules will you adopt to eliminate or minimize social costs?

Prototypical answer:

In discussion with and from assessments received from registrars, resellers, and other experts in the domain name industry, the Company has determined that the market place will most likely view the .VEGAS TLD extension as a ‘specialty’ or ‘boutique’ type name space, rather than one with generic or mass appeal. Consequently, the Company will need to appropriately balance pricing levels with prospective social costs or interests.

The .VEGAS registry will implement policies and process that minimize and address the concerns of trademark and brand owners by adopting and following UDRP and other ICANN approved policies designed to mitigate costs to those parties. Of course, one of the great advantages of a City TLD versus a generic TLD is that the .VEGAS name itself helps alleviate cybersquatting or defensive registration concerns. Trademark and brand owners that have an interest in identifying with the City of Las Vegas or ‘Vegas’ will make the decision to participate and those that do not, will make that decision based on the reduced risk of a cyber squatter expending valuable funds in a domain space with very specific market and identity connotations. Furthermore, because of its boutique or specialty nature, .VEGAS domain name prices will be maintained at higher, premium levels than comparable domain names in .com or other generic TLD alternatives, making the .VEGAS domain space less attractive to cyber squatters.

Registration processes and policies during the launch of .VEGAS will be consistent with those followed by .ASIA and .CO in their successful launches, with (a) a similar Sunrise structure combining both an open registration procedure with an auction feature for multiple applications for identical trademark⁄brand character strings submitted by qualifying applicants; (b) conducting a ‘Land Rush’ phase of public registrations where multiple applications for identical character strings within the thirty (30) day Land Rush period will be determined by an auction between the competing applicants; (c) a premium names auction wherein certain character strings are reserved by the .VEGAS registry and released in through one or more auction processes; and (d) a public registration period which will open at the conclusion of the Land Rush phase and will continue indefinitely, with registrations occurring on a first to register basis.

It should be noted that the .VEGAS registry will also conduct a ‘local sunrise’ as part of its Sunrise Phase. In the local sunrise, working in conjunction with the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce, the City of Las Vegas, the Nevada Development Authority and the Las Vegas Visitors and Convention Authority, businesses, civic organizations and individuals will be offered the opportunity to register the character strings corresponding to the name of their business, enterprise, civic organization, or personal name. This policy and process will ensure that the local community is afforded an initial preference to their domain names before opening to general registration.

Consistent with adopted ICANN policies, registrations will be allowed for 1, 2, 5 or 10 year periods with more favorable pricing offered for 5 and 10 year registration terms. The Company’s registration policies will include advance notification requirements for price increases consistent with adopted ICANN policies and the ICANN registry agreement.

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