20(e) Provide a description of the applicant's intended registration policies in support of the community-based purpose of the applied-for gTLD

Prototypical answer:

Only members of CREA and its Foreign Affiliates will be permitted to register .MLS websites. The .MLS TLD will initially be made available to CREA’s Board members and Foreign Affiliate members. After undertaking any required assessments, CREA may enter into a second phase where the TLD would be made available to broker and salespeople members of CREA. Boards using the .MLS TLD will be required to use their corporate name, or an acronym of their corporate name, as the second level domain. Foreign Affiliate members will be required to include geographical modifiers in their second level domains on the .MLS TLD or clearly indicate the geographical area served by their system on any site page. For example, the Durham MLS would not be able to simply register Durham.mls, as this domain could be confusing with Durham, Ontario. The Durham MLS would be required to include a geographical modifier, like DurhamNorthCarolina.mls, or they would have to display something like a map of North Carolina on their home page.

CREA does not expect significant enforcement efforts to be necessary after registration since each application will be manually reviewed to determine if the applicant is a member of CREA and if the second level domain complies with the rules set out above. If, however, there are misuses of the .MLS TLD, CREA has existing process for misuse of the MLS® trademark in domain names.

For example, Boards and Associations are required to use a geographical modifier in domain names that contain MLS® to indicate the area in which they operate, as in TorontoRealEstateBoard.mls. If a Board managed to register a domain name that did not contain such a modifier, like RealEstateBoard.mls, this misuse of the trademark would be a violation of CREA’s rules.

CREA may investigate misuse of its trademarks on its own initiative or as a result of receiving a complaint. Complaints are sent to helpdesk@crea.ca, which are then forwarded to the legal department. Complaints are logged and investigated and, if warranted, the domain name owner is contacted about their use of the trademark. If the domain name owner refuses to make the required changes, CREA has provisions for termination of membership (after reasonable notice and a hearing) in its By-laws, Rules, and Regulations. Termination of membership will result in the loss of the .MLS domain name.

CREA will not allow the .MLS TLD to be used in association with a website that features illegal, unethical or otherwise objectionable content, or that includes content that could violate a third party’s intellectual property rights. As part of the terms and conditions for registration, each second level domain on the .MLS TLD will be required to resolve to a landing or login page that primarily promotes the real estate services of the member. CREA will be enforcing these restrictions on use of the .MLS TLD.

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