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

Prototypical answer:

I.The .ltd TLD will target essentially the companies registered with the local Chambers of Commerce in the Commonwealth countries, Ireland, China, Hong Kong and⁄or Brazil as limited companies. Since the Applicant will have a restricted target audience it will be able to limit the risk of fraudulent registrations. We will hence be able to increase the trust of the public toward .ltd TLD. Once consumers know that they can trust the .ltd TLD as a sign of quality and as a place where they can find reliable information this will trickle down to the limited companies that choose for a .ltd domain name. We will therefore be able to offer these companies a chance to assert their reputation on the internet.

In addition to that with the .ltd TLD, we will create a new specific space on the internet where the public will know right away that they can find all the corporate information related to a limited company.

The creation of a .ltd TLD will also benefit the registrants who will be able to gain a different visibility among the million of domain names already registered under .com.


II.By choosing for a .ltd TLD, limited companies will be able to differentiate themselves from the rest of the companies that have registered a domain name, for instance a . com domain name. It will offer them the opportunity to assert their identity as limited companies. It will allow them to send a message to the consumers that if they are interested in their companies, they can find all the relevant information about them on a trusted space. We will thus bring an added value to what already exists in terms of domain names. Our .ltd domain name will create visibility for the limited companies and trust for the consumers.


III.The .ltd TLD will allow users to find easily the information they need concerning a particular company. It will also increase their trust since our .ltd TLD will only allow registration by companies that are duly registered by the Chambers of Commerce of the Commonwealth countries, Ireland, China, Hong Kong and⁄or Brazil.

IV. Applicant will at all times implement and adhere to any and all consensus policies introduced by ICANN, so as to further the development and stability of the Internet and the global Internet community. Applicant also intends to create a governance committee that will consists of legal, technical, commercial and business advisors to review and propose policies and ensure that all polices are adhered to.

A brief description of the registration polices can be summarized below:

Prior to issuing .ltd domain names, Applicant intends to reserve i) a number of domain names that are necessary for the operation of the .ltd TLD and ii) a number of generic words, phrases, character and⁄or digits as second-level and third level domain names. These domain names will be allocated in a later stage to be determined by the Applicant in accordance to the requirements as set out by the Applicant. The purpose of the latter will ensure that company names that include generic words will be submitted to an additional check in order to ensure that they have a legitimate right to use these generic terms.

In addition, Applicant will also include in its master database words and phrases which it, in its sole and exclusive discretion, considers to be abusive, obscene and⁄or offensive, thereby preventing any reputational loss to . ltd TLD. These domain names will come up as unavailable.

Similarly, Applicant intends to reserve all two character labels and all country and territory names, taking into account the relevant provisions laid down in Specification 5 of the Registry Agreement. More information in this respect will be provided in our answer to Question 22.

Restricted registration

In order to comply with the above mission, the Applicant will only allow companies registered in the Commonwealth countries, Ireland, China, Hong Kong and⁄or Brazil to register a domain name within the .ltd TLD. In order to ensure that the restricted policy is in place, Applicant will request from all registrant documentary evidence that proves that the registrant is indeed listed with the local chambers of commerce. Furthermore, the Applicant plans to include specific provisions in its registry-registrar agreement in order to ensure that Applicant’s mission and vision outlined above are implemented to their fullest extent possible. By doing so, the Applicant ensures that the restricted policies as described above and below are adhered to and this will also allow a smoother implementation of the issuance of the domain names.

If and when deemed appropriate or laid down in the Registry Operator Agreement to be entered into with ICANN, Applicant intends to launch its TLD in different phases:

Sunrise period: Applicant intends to open this phase for all registrants that have a company registered in the Commonwealth countries, Ireland, China, Hong Kong and⁄or Brazil and that have registered trademarks . In this phase, Applicant intends to use the trademark clearinghouse as set out by ICANN. Once the Applicant has received notification of the trademark clearinghouse that a registrant has indeed a corresponding trademark, it will put this domain name “on hold”. Consequently, an additional check could be made on the basis of the local chamber of commerce or other documentation to be provided by the registrant in order to ensure that the company is indeed registered in the Commonwealth countries, Ireland, China, Hong Kong and⁄or Brazil. We intend to implement a Sunrise Phase for a period of 2 months.

Land Rush: During Land Rush, the reserved generic domain names (Premium Names) will become available.

General Availability: In this phase all companies that are registered within the Commonwealth countries, Ireland, China, Hong Kong and⁄or Brazil will be allowed to register a domain name.

V. We will not collect more data than necessary to comply with ICANN’s WHOIS standards. We may also collect personal information in order to verify if the requested domain name corresponds to a validly registered limited company in order to increase users’ trust toward the .ltd TLD. In this case we will not collect more information that is necessary to achieve this verification purpose. For any personal information we will collect, we will comply with the laws in force in terms of data protection.


VI. With the .ltd domain names, we will bring added value to both users, in terms of trust and facilitated researches, and the limited companies, in terms of increased visibility. To achieve these goals we are aware that we need to put the .ltd gTLD in the spotlight. We will therefore publish advertisements in magazines in the Commonwealth countries, Ireland, China, Hong Kong and⁄or Brazil. We will also contact with the Chambers of Commerce of Commonwealth countries, Ireland, China, Hong Kong and⁄or Brazil to let them see how the registration to a .ltd domain name could make limited companies gain visibility, especially with regards to smaller businesses that sometimes struggle to find the right channel to get the exposure they need and hence reach more customers

Similar gTLD applications: (1)