18(b) How do you expect that your proposed gTLD will benefit registrants, Internet users, and others?

Prototypical answer:

(i)
* Speciality *

The .IMMO gTLD and its domain names are solely dedicated and thereby specialized to create content, facilitate communication and foster business in connection with real estate topics between all parties involved in all countries where the term “IMMO” has the anticipated meaning. Registrants from the real estate industry have with .IMMO a specialized namespace, which has a clear meaning and offers intuitive domain names which are easy to remember. The .IMMO gTLD gives the whole real estate industry a digital identity, where each domain name shows the relation to the industry. The TLD .IMMO acts as an umbrella for all domains names which are registered under .IMMO.

* Service Level *

The benefit for registrants will be that .IMMO domain names will be available at many ICANN-accredited registrars and their resellers in the respective country, since the Registry Operator will offer equal access to all registrars worldwide and does not plan to impose unnecessary processes to registrars. Due to the availability of .IMMO domains at many registrars the registrants can expect a price competition among the registrars which will lead to a competitive pricing. If domain names have a competitive pricing, a clear meaning and the chance to make more business, many members of the real estate industry will register .IMMO domain names. Thus Internet users will get used to .IMMO domain names quickly.

* Reputation *

The .IMMO gTLD will be a namespace for suppliers and customers of the real estate industry in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Belgium, France, Italy and other countries. Furthermore many French-speaking countries in many African countries, Canada and the Caribbean will use the gTLD as well. Since the gTLD gives clear meaning and is especially helpful in communication and doing business online, it is our aim that such a namespace will gain quickly substantial reputation among the real estate industry, their customers and suppliers and Internet users in general.

(ii)
* Competition *

The .IMMO gTLD will enhance competition in the global domain name business by introducing a dedicated namespace the real estate industry in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Belgium, France and Italy. Furthermore many French-speaking countries in many African countries, Canada and the Caribbean will use the gTLD as well. The .IMMO domain names are a valuable alternative to the established local ccTLDs such as .de or .ch or generic TLDs like .com or .net. Existing ccTLDs have a clear meaning and Internet users can expect that the language and respective content on that website equates to the ccTLD . Nevertheless Internet users do not have this expectation under existing gTLDs, they are used around the world with no clear differentiation in terms of language, meaning or target group. Therefore .IMMO will enhance the relation between the TLD, the second-level domain, the registrant, the content and the target group. The .IMMO TLD will meet Internet users’ expectations in terms of a clear meaning.

* Differentiation *

The .IMMO gTLD and its domain names are clearly differentiated to existing TLDs, not only due to their descriptive nature which has a clear meaning and value to the targeted community but also due to its dedicated members. There is no reason for a painter to register a domain name under .IMMO, neither for a butcher. The namespace .IMMO is exclusively dedicated for communication between suppliers and customers of the real estate industry.

* Innovation *

Internet users will get an innovative access to information without the need to use or rely on search engines. Until today Internet users get information which search engines deem appropriate, unless Internet users type-in the domain name when they search for the keyword “immo” on the Internet. In the future this dependency might decrease since content with a connection to the real estate industry will be displayed more directly and domain names better remembered by Internet users.

The .IMMO gTLD enhances offering services across borders. Search engines will not limit displaying respective ”.IMMO” domain names and by this “IMMO” content will be listed in search engine results in many countries. Independent of the language any supplier can offer products and services under .IMMO domain names. Many suppliers will use .IMMO domain names for their services in all countries of their locations; this is due to the increase in international customers of the real estate industry.

(iii)
* A digital umbrella for the real estate industry *

The .IMMO TLD will serve as a digital umbrella for all content which relates to the real estate industry. The top-level gives clear meaning for Internet users and gives all second-level domains a connection to the real estate industry. Furthermore the intuitive and descriptive domain names under a “speaking TLD” like .IMMO will enable consumers to navigate and search more easily for real estate information on the Internet. Therefore we see that user expectations will shift to specialized TLDs from generic TLDs without a clear meaning.

* Enhanced reliability and Intuitive Access *

After the approval of .IMMO and the beginning of our marketing activities within the real estate industry and among registrars, users will soon rely to find information, services and products from the real estate industry under .IMMO domains. Internet users will reach direct access to the relevant content they have been searching for. It is also expected that search engines will give ranking preference to .IMMO domain names compared to other TLDs, both ccTLDs and gTLDs. This will increase the visibility of the .IMMO namespace worldwide in connection with the exhaustive marketing efforts of the Registry Operator of .IMMO within the real estate community.

Beyond delivering reliability and intuitive access the .IMMO namespace can be used in many non-latin scripts which will be innovative. As of today not many TLDs offer registrations of Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs). The introduction of IDN support under .IMMO includes many European scripts like French, Turkish and Danish and will lead to an intuitive and innovative way of communicating .IMMO among Internet users.

(iv)
Beyond the provisions of the New gTLD Agreement the following policies are imposed:
The .IMMO gTLD has the mission to serve the real estate industry, its suppliers, partners and customers with an own namespace on the Internet.

* Eligibility *

According to the .IMMO registration policies eligible registrants to register a second-level name under .IMMO are in detail:
- Town planners, project developer, civil engineers, architects, real estate financers, building companies, construction organizations, real estate surveyor, real estate appraiser, facility management companies, real estate broker, real-estate agent, property manager, real estate investment fund, real estate investors, real estate portals, real estate associations

* Name selection *

The registration policies state that any types of second-level names may be registered in the .IMMO name space. In detail the second-level domain names are defined as:
- Not being restricted on the second-level (no restrictions like .co.uk).
- A second-level domain consists of numbers (0-9), hyphens and the Latin Unicode character sets (Basic, Extended-A and Extended-B).
- A second-level domain must not have a hyphen at the 3rd and 4th position at the same time.
- Large and small characters are not different.
- The length of a second-level domain varies between minimal 1 and maximal 63 characters.
The registrant agrees not to register domain names that violate ethical or criminal law principles (illegal, violent, racist, ethnically offensive, harmful to minors, indecent, offensive or domain names that violate morality and public order) or may hurt the reputation of the .IMMO namespace. In addition, domain names are not permitted that use the words or parts of words that could generally perceived as offensive. These include insulting, abusive or agitational words or words or word elements, which could violate the ethical, religious or moral sensibilities of Internet users.
Initially reserved and excluded from registration are all second-level names defined in Spec 5 of the Draft New gTLD Registry Agreement of the Applicant Guidebook (Version 11.1.2012).

* Registration Agreement *

The contract for the registration of the domain is entered into between the registrant and a registrar accredited by ICANN. The registry has no contractual relationship with the registrant. With the completion of the registration agreement the registrant commits to the registrar for the recognition of all ICANN consensus policies and registration policies and ensures that they are complied with from then on.

* Content⁄Use *

The .IMMO TLD has both, content and use restrictions:
- Content: .IMMO domain names must only be used for purposes solely dedicated to real estate topics.
- Use: The registrant must use the .IMMO domain name within six months after the initial registration, whereas use is defined in the .IMMO registration policies.

* Transfer of Domain Names *

Domain Names can be transferred only to applicants who are eligible to register .IMMO domain names. As far as the allocation of .IMMO domain names is not subject to the universal, but one of the special registration procedures, the initial registration and transfer may be subject to special conditions.

* Enforcement *

Levels of enforcement include appeals under the .IMMO Eligibility Requirement Dispute Resolution Policy (ERDRP) as well as court appeals under URDP, URS or PDDRP and national courts.

* Whois *

The administrative contact of a .IMMO domain name shown in the Whois database (Admin Contact) has to be a natural person who as an agent for the domain owner (Registrant Contact) has the right and obligation to make binding decisions on all matters concerning the domain. For each .IMMO domain only one administrative contact can be named. Domain registrant and administrative contact can be one and the same natural person. The consent of the registrant to publish ICANN compliant registrant data in the Whois database will be granted with the approval of the registration policy.

* Start-up Schedule *

The .IMMO TLD will have a straight forward start-up schedule with the phases noted below:
Phase 1 – Reserved
The reservation phase is prior to approval of .IMMO by ICANN. Reserved names are:
- names for the representation of the interests of the real estate industry (associations, public authorities, etc.)
- names for the TLD operation, namespace management, marketing and purpose of the TLD
- names according to ICANN specification 5 (2-letter, country names, others)
- premium names
- blocked names

Phase 2 – Sunrise
Eligible are all registrants whose trademark was validated by the Trademark Clearinghouse, 30 days duration, allocation on a first-come first-served basis

Phase 3 – Landrush
First-come first-served allocation

Phase 4 – Premium
Premium domain names will be allocated at a later stage by appropriate mechanisms.

(v)
The .IMMO TLD will not offer or allow privacy of confidential registration of domain names. The WHOIS data of all .IMMO domains will be visible to the public, although a captcha module prevents from automated inquiries. Bulk access to WHOIS data will not be allowed according to ICANN specifications. In addition dotImmobilie GmbH will establish an abuse point of contact.

(vi)
The .IMMO TLD is supported by the real estate community members mainly in Austria, Germany and Switzerland. We started our outreach to do market research among community members with regards to pricing and services. As well we’ve been in talks with registrars about prices, processes and joint marketing and sales activities after launch. As a result of our outreach the .IMMO TLD has already gained awareness within the German, French and Italian speaking real estate community including opinion leaders, associations and the media, at congresses and other communication events of the real estate and domain name industry.

We will continue to collaborate with the real estate industry to communicate the opportunities, chances and benefits of .IMMO domains names within the community but also to consumers and Internet users in general. We believe that a broad outreach, which is part of our marketing efforts, will help us to achieve the projected benefits of .IMMO.

Similar gTLD applications: (1)