gTLD	Full Legal Name	E-mail suffix	Detail
.mcdonalds	McDonald’s Corporation	us.mcd.com	View

18(B)I. WHAT IS THE GOAL OF YOUR PROPOSED gTLD IN TERMS OF AREAS OF SPECIALTY, SERVICE LEVELS OR REPUTATION?

The key goals of the proposed new .mcdonalds gTLD are in line with ICANN’s Affirmation of Commitments: to promote consumer trust, competition and consumer choice. McDonald’s also seeks to foster its online reputation and provide an authoritative internet space through which McDonald’s can communicate with its customers directly and effectively. The ability to create second level domain names on demand related to specific marketing and specialty product development supports these goals.


18(B)II. WHAT DO YOU ANTICIPATE YOUR PROPOSED gTLD WILL ADD TO THE CURRENT SPACE, IN TERMS OF COMPETITION, DIFFERENTIATION, OR INNOVATION?

It is anticipated that the .mcdonalds gTLD will make positive contributions to the internet community through:

DIFFERENTIATION:
The .mcdonalds gTLD will simplify how internet users interact with McDonald’s by providing a distinctive domain space with simple navigation and easy access to information. Internet users will be able to directly navigate to the .mcdonalds gTLD site, saving time searching for an official site. By maintaining complete control over the domain names registered under the .mcdonalds domain space, Internet users will be able to rely on the authoritativeness of the domain names under .mcdonalds.

COMPETITION:
The differentiation of .mcdonalds gTLD as a trusted site for McDonald’s will drive TLD registry operators to improve consumer trust of their TLDs. Internet users will be encouraged to interact with domain names under .mcdonalds domain space. As a result, .mcdonalds will have a beneficial effect to enable increased competition. Therefore, the benefits of the proposed .mcdonalds will be distributed not only to its direct customers, but to the community at large encouraging improved services in the market place.

INNOVATION:
With the global expansion of the internet community, the existing TLD structure presents limitations to businesses establishing a coherent global online brand presence to meet their business needs. It is often difficult to register a domain name in the existing domain space due to unavailability of the desired name. This problem is amplified for organisations such as McDonald’s who work across many different geographical markets. Even when the desired domain name is available, it may come with a high price tag associated with a purchase of the desired name from a third party. Through the .mcdonalds registry, McDonald’s will have the ability to create domain names including the use of geographic names and potentially IDNs on demand which are locally relevant to its customer base and innovative new products. McDonald’s will be able to combine its use of the domain space with innovative user focused marketing and services to address the currently unmet needs in the existing domain name system.


18(B)III. WHAT GOALS DOES YOUR PROPOSED gTLD HAVE IN TERMS OF USER EXPERIENCE?

The .mcdonalds gTLD will provide a positive user experience, which meets the needs of the global internet community. McDonald’s will maintain control over the registration and use of second level domain names and will ensure that the new gTLD will only be used for purposes authorised by McDonald’s. Therefore .mcdonalds will:

- provide an easy and intuitive reference and access point for internet users;
- represent authenticity thus promoting user confidence;
- direct internet users to locally relevant information and products;
- use appropriate geographic names to connect with internet users in the relevant regions ;
- potentially use IDNs to enable customers to interact in their native language;
- enhance security and minimise security risks by implementing necessary technical and policy measures;
- strengthen brand reputation and user confidence by eliminating user confusion; and
- prevent potential abuses in the registration process reducing overall costs to businesses and users.


18(B)IV. PROVIDE A COMPLETE DESCRIPTION OF THE APPLICANTʹS INTENDED REGISTRATION POLICIES IN SUPPORT OF THE GOALS LISTED ABOVE

The proposed registration policy is attached in response to Question 28.

Only the McDonald’s system will be eligible to register domain names in .mcdonalds. The domain name registration processes will address the requirements mandated by ICANN and will comply with all policy, operational and technical requirements and will adhere to applicable measures to protect customer trust and the stability of the internet.


18(B)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.

McDonald’s is committed to protection of personally identifiable and confidential information in accordance with its objective of increasing consumer trust and providing a safe and legitimate internet space for internet users. Personally identifiable and confidential information will be protected in accordance with all applicable US State and Federal laws and regulations relating to internet security, privacy and user’s confidential information, as interpreted and applied, including the Privacy Act 1974 (US). McDonald’s also complies with all applicable data protection laws and regulations in each individual country in which it operates.

As the .mcdonalds gTLD will only be available to the McDonald’s system, the amount of personal data that will be collected for the purposes of operating the gTLD and made publicly available in the WHOIS database will be very limited. McDonald’s will provide a publicly available and searchable WHOIS look up facility in accordance with Specification 4 of the Registry Agreement. To prevent misuse of the WHOIS functionality, McDonald’s will utilise measures including a requirement where any person submitting a WHOIS database query is required to read and agree to the terms and conditions. This will include the terms of use that the WHOIS database is provided for information purposes only and that the user agrees not to use the information for any other purposes such as allowing or enabling the transmission of unsolicited commercial advertising.


18(B)VI. DESCRIBE WHETHER AND IN WHAT WAYS OUTREACH AND COMMUNICATIONS WILL HELP TO ACHIEVE YOUR PROJECTED BENEFITS.

McDonald’s currently intends to include the proposed new gTLD in certain advertising communications to drive consumers to the new branded URLs as appropriate for each country or campaign. This may also result in recognition of the new gTLD within the internet community to be a trusted site and as a sign of authenticity.

gTLD	Full Legal Name	E-mail suffix	Detail
.visa	Visa International Service Association	visa.com	View

18(b)i. WHAT IS THE GOAL OF YOUR PROPOSED gTLD IN TERMS OF AREAS OF SPECIALTY, SERVICE LEVELS OR REPUTATION?

The key goals of the proposed new .visa gTLD are in line with ICANN’s Affirmation of Commitments: to promote consumer trust, competition and consumer choice. VISA also seeks to foster its online reputation and provide an authoritative internet space through which VISA will be able to communicate with its customers directly and effectively. The ability to create domain names on demand related to specific marketing, specialty service and product development supports these goals. Opportunities for strengthened security measures, service levels and more effective functionality will provide a trusted and positive user experience.

18(b)ii. WHAT DO YOU ANTICIPATE YOUR PROPOSED gTLD WILL ADD TO THE CURRENT SPACE, IN TERMS OF COMPETITION, DIFFERENTIATION, OR INNOVATION?

It is anticipated that the proposed .visa gTLD will make positive contributions to the wider internet community by providing:

DIFFERENTIATION (INCREASED TRUST):

The .visa gTLD will simplify how internet users interact with VISA online by providing a distinctive domain space. For example, VISA may offer a domain name space relevant to its specific customer groups and services such as personal.visa, smallbusiness.visa, corporations.visa and visasignature.visa. With intuitive and user friendly domain names, internet users will be able to directly navigate to a .visa gTLD site, 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. VISA can attempt to address some of these vulnerabilities by maintaining complete control over the domain names registered under the .visa domain space. As a restricted gTLD, domain name registrations will be restricted to only authorized users, thus eliminating potential registration abuses. Internet users will be able to rely on the authoritativeness of the domain names under the .visa domain space. Together with consumer trust in the .visa gTLD, internet users will come to differentiate .visa gTLD as a trusted and authentic site.

COMPETITION:

The differentiation of .visa gTLD as a trusted site for VISA will drive existing and new TLD registry operators to make improvements in mechanisms to improve consumer trust of their own TLDs. Therefore, the benefits of the proposed .visa gTLD will be distributed not only to its direct customers, but to the internet community at large forcing improved services and competitive pricing in the market place.

INNOVATION:

With the expansion of the internet community, the existing TLD structure sometimes presents limitations, not only in the availability of domain names for registrants, but also to businesses and organisations establishing a coherent global online brand presence to meet their evolving business needs. It is often difficult to register a relevant and desired domain name in the existing domain space due to the unavailability of a desired name. This problem is amplified for organisations such as VISA who work across many different jurisdictions and geographical markets. Even when the desired domain name is available, it may come with a high price tag associated with a purchase of such desired name from a third party. With the .visa gTLD, VISA has the flexibility to potentially create second or third level domain names on demand which are relevant to its customer base, services and products such as payWave.visa and ATMlocator.visa. The shorter, more user-friendly and intuitive domain names under the .visa gTLD will provide easier access for customers interacting with VISA through mobile phones, tablets and other devices.

18(b)iii. WHAT GOALS DOES YOUR PROPOSED gTLD HAVE IN TERMS OF USER EXPERIENCE?

CURRENT CHALLENGES:

Today, some internet users experience difficulty in locating legitimate businesses on the internet due to user confusion. This confusion primarily stems from malicious registrants registering names. Also, some businesses have difficulties securing domain name registrations for their own business name or trademark due to unavailability of names in the existing internet space.

POSITIVE USER EXPERIENCE:

The proposed new gTLD is anticipated to provide positive user experience, which meet the changing and growing needs of the global internet community. VISA will maintain control in the registration and use of domain names and will ensure that the new gTLD will only be used for purposes authorized by VISA. Therefore, the .visa gTLD is intended to potentially:

- provide an easy and intuitive reference and access point for internet users such as personal.visa and credit.visa;

- represent authenticity promoting user confidence;

- direct internet users to relevant information in a timely manner;

- provide the ability to create domain names on demand;

- enhance security and minimize security risks by implementing necessary technical and policy measures;

- strengthen brand reputation and user confidence by eliminating user confusion; and

- prevent potential abuses in the registration process, thus reducing overall costs to businesses and users.

Further, it is also intended to address some concerns with the current domain name system, which is open to potential malicious abuse and user confusion. Although, the current system allows an eligible party to lodge a claim through existing Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) or other dispute resolution processes, the proposed .visa gTLD is anticipated to minimize potential abuses in the registration processes thus reducing overall costs to internet users as a result of malicious use of domain names or abuse of domain name registration processes.

Elimination of user confusion and minimizing the potential for malicious abuse will strengthen user confidence in the domain name system, which will ultimately contribute towards promoting ICANN’s core values in benefiting the public interest.

18(b)iv. PROVIDE A COMPLETE DESCRIPTION OF THE APPLICANTʹS INTENDED REGISTRATION POLICIES IN SUPPORT OF THE GOALS LISTED ABOVE.

The proposed registration policy is attached in response to Question 28.

As a restricted gTLD, initially, registrations for domain names will be made available for VISA’s business purposes. As the use of the new .visa gTLD evolves, VISA may consider expanding the .visa gTLD’s registration process at a later date. Such process will comply with all policy, operational and technical requirements and will aim to protect consumer trust and the stability of the internet.

In addition, the domain name registration processes in the proposed new gTLD will address the requirements as mandated by ICANN, including but not limited to rights abuse prevention measures such as use of the Trademark Clearinghouse.

18(b)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.

VISA is committed to protection of privacy and confidential information in accordance with its objective of increasing consumer trust and providing a safe and legitimate internet space for internet users. Privacy and confidential information will be protected in accordance with all applicable laws and regulations relating to internet security, privacy and user’s personal information. VISA maintains an information security policy based on international standards which also complies with relevant requirements and standards for the payments industry as applicable.

VISA also has implemented its own privacy policy to demonstrate its commitment to the protection of user privacy and confidential information. VISA’s privacy policy governs the collection of personal information, use and disclosure of such personal information, children’s privacy, and storage and access to personal information held by VISA. Privacy is of fundamental concern to VISA. As such VISA has a strong interest in ensuring a high level of privacy protection for its business.

As the .visa gTLD will only be available to VISA and its affiliated entities at this stage, the amount of personal data that will be collected for the purposes of operating the gTLD and made publicly available in the WHOIS database will be very limited. VISA will provide a publicly available and searchable WHOIS look up facility, where information about the domain name status, registrant information including administrative and technical contact details can be found in accordance with Specification 4 of the Registry Agreement. In order to prevent misuse of the WHOIS look up facility, VISA will utilize measures including a requirement that any person submitting a WHOIS database query is required to read and agree to the terms and conditions in accordance with the registration policy. This will include the terms of use that the WHOIS database is provided for information purposes only and that the user agrees not to use the information for any other purposes such as allowing or enabling the transmission of unsolicited commercial advertising or other communication.

Visa International will deploy (through its backend registry services provider) Domain Name System Security Extensions (DNSSEC) which is intended to benefit both VISA and its users interacting with VISA online. DNSSEC provides additional security by validating information in the transmission, therefore it is intended to benefit those who publish information in the domain name system (DNS) and the users who retrieve information from the new .visa gTLD. VISA already implements measures to protect privacy or confidential information of its users against misuse, loss, alteration and unauthorized access. Such measures include: use of firewalls, Secure Socket Layers on sites that collect personal information and other technologies to secure our web presence consistent with industry practice.

Visa International will continue to apply all security measures currently implemented and will comply with all other policies and practices required by ICANN in the Registry Agreement and any relevant Consensus Policy for protecting the privacy and confidential information of registrants and users in the .visa domain space.

18(b)vi. DESCRIBE WHETHER AND IN WHAT WAYS OUTREACH AND COMMUNICATIONS WILL HELP TO ACHIEVE YOUR PROJECTED BENEFITS.

As a restricted gTLD, .visa may be promoted on a limited basis only. During the initial stage of the operation of the proposed new gTLD, it is anticipated that internet users will be re-directed to current websites. As the new gTLD system evolves and consumer awareness of the new gTLD expands, VISA will re-evaluate the measures and means of communication necessary to effectively promote VISA’s goals for greater utility, trust and convenience to its customers and internet users. Over time, it is foreseen that communication to the internet community of the existence of the .visa gTLD and encouragement to utilize the trusted site will also contribute towards minimizing malicious abuses and protecting internet users.