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

Prototypical answer:

There will be three main phases for domain name registration upon the launch of BLM namely:
1. Sunrise
a. Government
b. Trademarks
c. Company Name
2. Landrush
3. General Availability

During the Sunrise phase, there are three identified sub-phases as follows:

a. Government
This sub-phase is only open to government organisations.

b. Trademarks
This sub-phase is only open to brand and trademark owners. BLM will work with the Trademark ClearingHouse for the verification and validation of registered marks. If there are multiple applications for the same domain name, Trademark ClearingHouse will only verify and validate the genuine owner(s) of the registered mark. If there are multiple owners of the registered mark in different countries, the registrants that have applied for the same domain name will be notified of the contention. The domain name contention will be resolved via an English auction, where the highest bidder wins.

c. Company Name
This sub-phase is open to companies that would like to register a domain name similar to their company name but do not have an existing trademark. The company needs to submit a legal document that shows the legal name of the organisation with its application. If there are multiple owners of the registered mark in different countries, the registrants that have applied for the same domain name will be notified of the contention. The domain name contention will be resolved via an English auction, where the highest bidder wins.

Next, multiple applications for the same domain name will be accepted in the Landrush phase. After the Landrush phase, registrants that have applied for similar domain names will be notified that the domain name contention will be resolved via an auction, where the highest bidder wins. The registration of domain names in the last phase of the launch, General Availability will be on a first-com⁄first-serve basis.

BLM may run several programs that will provide cost benefits directly to its registrants.

Pioneer Program

BLM may launch a pioneer program prior to the launch of the registry which allows Registrant to apply for a domain name that he⁄she is interested in at minimum cost if he⁄she is able to fulfil the stated terms and conditions as described below.

The Pioneer Program is organised into 5 categories:
- Community
To cater to general communities based on commonly used words and phases such as, “properties.thai”, “music.thai”

- Global Brand
To cater to proactive brand owners to develop and expand its branding online. The Pioneer Program does not replace the Sunrise process where most brand owners can register their marks for defensive purposes. To qualify, the brand owner must have trademark registrations for the brand and demonstrate development and promotion of the brand online and offline.

- Partner
To cater to service and technology partners of BLM to further promote and their products and services in conjunction with .thai TLD.

- Celebrity ⁄ VIP
To cater to any prominent individual, group or team in the areas of sports, entertainment, arts, businesses, politics or other areas of human activity. The applicant could be the celebrity himself or it could be someone acting on his behalf with the appropriate authorization.

- Social
To cater to any Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), Non-Profit Organisations and other social enterprises or initiatives to develop .thai domain name services to benefit the community.

Applicants whose proposals have been selected successfully to participate in the relevant categories are expected to dedicate time and resources into the marketing and development of the relevant services and content as per the submitted proposal to promote the selected .thai domain name.

Development commitment includes the assurance of a working website and⁄or relevant services that features the selected .thai domain name. The applicant is also expected to commit some marketing funds to showcase its website and services in conjunction with the selected .thai domain name. The financial support of the applicant and the long-term viability of the financial proposal would be important criteria in selecting the applicant to participate in the Pioneer Program. To ensure that the applicant fulfils the marketing commitment, a marketing commitment deposit will be collected, which will be refunded to the applicant upon document proof of advertising attributed to the selected .thai domain name. Certain categories of the Pioneer Program may be exempted from collection of the marketing commitment deposit.

A comprehensive challenge process will also be setup for intellectual property rights owners to challenge decisions that may appear to infringe upon the rights of its registered marks. Proposals that contain potentially abusive content will also be declined.

An applicant will go through the following stages when participating in the Pioneer Program:
- Submission of Proposal
- Payment of a Marketing Commitment Fee (If applicable)
- Selection or Rejection of Proposal
- Challenge Period
- Execution of Contract
- Registration of Selected Domain Name
- Fulfilment of Development and Marketing Commitments

Special Introductory Discount

BLM may introduce Special Introductory Discount (SID) to Registrants from selected geographical regions (e.g. Latin America) and⁄or selected community group (e.g. celebrities from Bollywood). The SID program is only available after General Availability, for a limited duration (e.g. 3 months), and may be for a limited volume of registration.

The objective of SID is to grow a specific market segment that is crucial to the strategy and the market positioning of the .thai domain names. It is also applicable for specific under-served market, where the SID would spur interest for the growth market. SID is strictly not meant to bias towards certain community or geographical area.

BLM shall extend the SID to Registrants via Registrars. BLM will extend the SID program to all Registrars who can serve the target market fairly. A pre-determined discount structure will be presented in the program prior to the engagement of the Registrars into the program.

Other than the commitment of the advance written notice of price increases in the Registry Agreement, BLM shall not make any contractual commitment to Registrants regarding the magnitude of price escalation.

Similar gTLD applications: (1)