22 Describe proposed measures for protection of geographic names at the second and other levels in the applied-for gTLD

Prototypical answer:

Table of Contents

1 - Before the implementation of the new gTLD and before anny registration of .MMA domain names
1.1 - List of reserved terms such as defined in the Registry Agreement
1.2 - Terms with National or Geographic significance blocked upon demand
2 - Registration of the domain names including a geographic name
2.1 - Release of country and territory names
2.2 - Importance of names with a national or geographic significance in future use of the .mma TLD
3 - Procedures to avoid abuse of names with national or geographic significance



Although the intended .mma is not a Geographic Name as per the definitions of Module 2- Evaluations Procedures – 2.2.1.4.1 (Treatment of Country or Territory names) or 2.2.1.4.2 (Geographic Names requiring Government Support), MMA intends to incorporate GAC advice in their management of second level domain names and thus acknowledges:

* that governments and public authorities are responsible for public policy and that MMA will therefore abide by governments’ or public authorities’ recommendations.

* the importance of geographic names not only when registering the domain name but also as long as the domain name is in use.

* that there may exist some similarities with existing TLDs such as .ma (Morocco). Therefore, although we believe that the adjunction of a letter should avoid any likelihood of confusion, MMA has preferred to approach Morocco’s Government in order to anticipate any issue that may arise in relation to .mma.

Discussions are therefore currently ongoing with Morocco in order to obtain Moroccoʹs non objection to our .mma and to avoid potential difficulties related to the registration of .mma domains. The discussions so far are quite encouraging. In any event, after the delegation of our applied for .mma, MMA will remain available at any moment for discussions with Morocco in order to implement any measures necessary to secure better protection, if need be. For instance, Morocco could provide a list of reserved terms, including Moroccan geographic names, which could not be registered under .mma.

Should any other country express similar concerns, MMA will take the same approach and cooperate to the extent possible.


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1 - Before the implementation of the new gTLD and before anny registration of .MMA domain names

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1.1 - List of reserved terms such as defined in the Registry Agreement

According to the base Registry Agreement, MMA will reserve all names included in Specification 5, including Country and Territory Names:

ʺThe country and territory names contained in the following internationally recognized lists shall be initially reserved at the second level and at all other levels within the TLD at which the Registry Operator provides for registrations:

* the short form (in English) of all country and territory names contained on the ISO 3166- 1 list, as updated from time to time, including the European Union, which is exceptionally reserved on the ISO 3166-1 list, and its scope extended in August 1999 to any application needing to represent the name European Union http:⁄⁄www.iso.org⁄iso⁄support⁄country_codes⁄iso_3166_code_lists⁄iso-3166- 1_decoding_table.htm#EU;

* the United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names, Technical Reference Manual for the Standardization of Geographical Names, Part III Names of Countries of the World; and

* the list of United Nations member states in 6 official United Nations languages prepared by the Working Group on Country Names of the United Nations Conference on the Standardization of Geographical Names;

provided, that the reservation of specific country and territory names may be released to the extent that Registry Operator reaches agreement with the applicable government(s), provided, further, that Registry Operator may also propose release of these reservations, subject to review by ICANN’s Governmental Advisory Committee and approval by ICANNʺ.


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1.2 - Terms with National or Geographic significance blocked upon demand

Beyond this obligation, MMA also accepts the Principle in §2.7 - GAC Principles Regarding New gTLDs (dated March 28, 2007) of blocking, at no cost and upon demand of governments, public authorities or IGO, names with national or geographic significance at the second level of the .mma TLD as far as those principles apply to new gTLDs.

Inquiries will be received by the Registry and put on the reserved terms list. Terms placed on this list will be excluded of the pool of available domains.


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2 - Registration of the domain names including a geographic name

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2.1 - Release of country and territory names

Based on the .info procedure (recommended by GAC Chair in its letter dated September 9, 2003 and concerning Reservation of Country Names in dot Info) and subject to the abovementioned commitments, MMA will implement a methodology similar to the methodology developed for the reservation and release of country names in the .INFO top-level domain:

* Relevant government or public authority may inform the Registry and ICANN that they wish to register the name.

* The MMA Delegation Commission acknowledges receipt of the request and analyzes compliance with the MMAʹs eligibility conditions for domain names use.

Because of the community nature of the extension .mma:
* It is likely that Governments may not find any interest in the .mma extension.
* Even if a Government is keen on using such extension, it will have to comply with eligibility requirements to use a domain name under .mma.
* MMA may choose to put the domain name on a reserved list and may refuse to release the domain name.

* If the Government’s request complies with MMAʹs requirements, the domain name is registered in the name of the Single Registrant and the Domain User is allowed to use the domain name, insofar as it respects the .mma conditions.

In any event, any other release procedure will not occur unless:
* an agreement is reached with the relevant Government; and
* ICANNʹs GAC reviews the release proposition and ICANN gives its approval to such release.

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2.2 - Importance of names with a national or geographic significance in future use of the .mma TLD

MMA would like to draw ICANN’s attention to the importance of geographic names in the contemplated TLD. As stated previously in question 18, MMA is a Community including a network of professionals providing insurance services to the public. The Geographic scope of the services provided by such professionals is one of the key elements for internet users looking for MMAʹs services.

In other words, second level domain names may be organized according to a geographic structure: [paris.mma] or [marseille.mma], etc. in order to facilitate the localization of MMAʹs agencies and services by the public.

Therefore, the Delegation Commission will give special attention when granting the use of a second or third level domain name including a city name, even if this city name is not on the reserved list indicated by ICANN.

Regarding the limited geographic scope of MMAʹs community at the moment, MMAʹs Delegation Commission will for instance be especially careful concerning French names with a national or geographic significance such as city names, regions, protected appellation of origins, etc.

The registration of such domain names by the Single Registrant and the use of such domain names (within the strict framework of MMAʹs community and values) are deemed to avoid any misuse of a name with a national or geographic significance. After delegation, the use will be strongly controlled as developed hereunder in questions 28 and 29.


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3 - Procedures to avoid abuse of names with national or geographic significance

The national or geographic significance will be assessed by the Delegation Commission of MMA at the time of registration.

If a doubt arises, the Delegation Commission may contact the concerned public authorities to seek advice and eventually reach an agreement before registering the domain name if applicable.

Should a conflict arise about the national or geographic significance of a domain name which passed through the examination of the Delegation, the Abuse Point of Contact may be contacted by relevant authorities, such as governments, public authorities or IGOs and will ensure compliance with Authorities’ instructions.

The Abuse Point of Contact will proceed along the lines described in questions 28 and 29.

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