29 Rights Protection Mechanisms

Prototypical answer:

1. Introduction
As explained above, the Applicant intends the applied-for TLD to be a restricted and closely monitored gTLD. These characteristics are mainly inspired by the Applicant’s desire to implement a trust worthy environment and to protect the reputation and rights of companies.

As stated in Question 18, 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.

In addition, we will include all ICANN mandated and independently developed RPMs in the registry-registrar agreement entered into by ICANN-accredited registrars authorized to register names in the TLD.
 
2. Preventing abusive domain name registrations
Applicant intends to prevent abusive domain name registrations by:

- Implementing restricted registration policies

- Performing verification and validation checks

- Putting in place a team of highly skilled team of legal and technical knowledge that will handle complaints from a dispute resolution provider or any third party.

- Implementing a Sunrise period and Trademark Services

- Implementing the decisions under the URS and UDRP

2.1. Implementing restricted registration policies.
As already stated by Applicant the purpose of the .ltd TLD is to provide companies with an extension wherein registrants can advertise their companies, services and products and relate to the extension. In addition internet users will be able to rely on the extension, knowing that the domain name and its website are indeed owned by a company registered within the Commonwealth countries (list has been included in attachment) , Ireland, China, Hong Kong and⁄or Brazil

In addition to the above, all registrants will be requested to provide Applicant with documentary evidence that the company is indeed registered in Commonwealth countries, Ireland, China, Hong Kong and⁄or Brazil . The latter will also be applicable during Sunrise as described below. The requirements of requested documentary evidence will be determined at the moment of delegation of the TLD.

2.2. Performing verification checks
It is important to state that during the verification of the eligibility of the registrants, the Applicant will verify that the registrants are only companies registered in the Commonwealth countries, Ireland, China, Hong Kong and⁄or Brazil requesting to register a domain name within the applied TLD. In order to ensure that the restricted policy is in place, Applicant will request from all registrants 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 are adhered to and this will also allow a smoother implementation of the issuance of the domain names.
Applicant intends to outsource these services to reputable firm for the performance of verification procedure (“The verification Agent”). Consequently, all domain names applied for throughout the entire registry agreement will be submitted to a verification process. At a minimum, the verification agent will verify if the company is registered within the Commonwealth countries, Ireland, China, Hong Kong and⁄or Brazil .
In the event that based on the finding of the verification agent, Applicant determines that the domain name applied for does not meet the requirements as laid down by the registration policies, the domain name application will not be accepted.

2.3. Handling complaints
Applicant intends to publish on its website a point of complaints. This will allow any third party right to file a complaint in the event that:
- a third party rights have been infringed;
- registration policies are not adhered too;
- abusive uses such as but not limited to phising or pharming have been detected.
- etc.

Applicant will investigate the matter and provide with a written response within 2-3 business days. For abusive uses such as phising or pharming, Applicant reserves the right to immediately takedown the website and lock the domain name until the matter has been further investigated.

2.4. Implementation Sunrise


The Sunrise period will allow holders of a trademark and that have a company registered in the Commonwealth of Nations to apply for a domain name. In this phase, Applicant intends to use the trademark clearinghouse as set out by ICANN. Once the Applicant has received notification from the trademark clearinghouse that a registrant has indeed a corresponding trademark, it will put this domain name “on hold”. Furthermore, registrants will be requested to provide documentary evidence that their company is still registered in the Commonwealth countries, Ireland, China, Hong Kong and⁄or Brazil.

The Applicant will describe the modalities and the process of the sunrise period in a Sunrise Policy. All Sunrise Applicants, Registrars, Verification Agents will be bound by the Sunrise Policy, In this Sunrise Policy the Applicant will describe which trademarks will be considered as eligible, the syntax requirements for domain names applied for to be accepted, the content of the sunrise application, the additional documentary evidence to be provided and the steps of the process including the sunrise reconsideration proceedings.
The Applicant will adhere to the terms and conditions as laid down by ICANN with respect to the interfacing with and use of the trademark clearinghouse. The Applicant ensures that it will deploy the necessary interfaces to the trademark clearinghouse in accordance with the technical specifications to be published by the trademark clearinghouse provider, and will also ensure that all records that are validated by the trademark clearinghouse provider and that meet the conditions of the Applicant’s polices will be registered within the applied-for TLD. However, and as already stated, in order to ensure that the domain name applications meet the conditions of registration, all domain name applications will be submitted to verification process.


2.5. Trademark Claims
Under trademark claim services, Applicant understands that any third party that has eligible rights on a trademark, has submitted such evidence to the trademark clearinghouse, and has been validated will be entitled to send a notification when a registrant applies for a domain name that is an exact match to his⁄her trademark.

In conformity with what was stated in Question 18, Applicant plans to adhere to the trademark claims services as set out by ICANN. Applicant will support ICANN’s Trademark Claims process. Applicant also understands that in order to allow this service, its registry database will need to interface with the trademark clearinghouse so that trademark holders will automatically be notified when a Registrant applies for a domain name within TLD.
Similar processes have been put in place by various staff members of the Applicant’s back-end registry operator, so also here the Applicant can bow on significant and hands-on experience in handling these types of processes.

 
3. Address abusive use on an ongoing basis
As described above, Applicant intends address and abusive use on an ongoing basis by:

1) Verifying all applied for domain name meet the conditions as laid down by the registration policies
2) Periodic verification of the WHOIS
3) Putting in place a point of contact for complaint handling.


In addition, Applicant will comply with and implement decisions made according to the Trademark Post-Delegation Dispute Resolution Policy (PDDRP) adopted by ICANN. Applicant will also implement decisions made under the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution (UDRP) and the Uniform Rapid Suspension (URS) procedures adopted by ICANN, including suspension of specific domain names within the registry. Applicant understands that such mechanisms constitute a minimum requirement.

Applicant intends to implement and adhere to any remedies ICANN imposes (which may include any reasonable remedy, including for the avoidance of doubt, the termination of the Registry Agreement pursuant to Section 4.3(e) of the Registry Agreement) following a determination by any PDDRP panel and to be bound by any such determination.

By the “Post-delegation Dispute Resolution Procedure (PDDRP)”, we refer to the mechanism that allows a trademark owner to file a complaint against the Applicant claiming that one or more of its trademarks have been infringed, and that it has thereby been harmed, by the Applicant’s manner of operation or use of the applied TLD.

Applicant will therefore commit to answering each complaint within forty-five days after the date of the threshold review panel declaration. Applicant will also comply with the procedure, including additional rules and procedures laid down by the selected dispute service provider. Applicant will respect and implement the final decision by deleting the domain name registration in the event that the outcome of the process is in favor of the complainant.

Furthermore, and as already stated Applicant will set up a contact email where a responsible person will be in charge of making sure that the request from the relevant panels are being answered in due time.

The term “Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP)”, refers to a dispute resolution mechanism aiming at resolving disputes occurring between a Registrar and any party other than the Registrar over the registration and use of an Internet domain name registered by the Registrar. Applicant will implement the UDRP policy as laid down by ICANN and will publish this on its website.

In the event that the Applicant is made aware of a complaint, the domain name registration will be put on hold until it receives notification from WIPO. In the event that the complainant is successful, the domain name will be deleted.

We understand that the Uniform Rapid Suspension (URS) is a mechanism designed to offer trademark owners a quick and low-cost procedure to take down infringing websites. We also understand that a complaint will be submitted to an URS provider approved by ICANN. A decision in favor of the complainant will lead to the suspension of the domain name by the Applicant. Unless the decision is reversed, the domain name will lead to a mandatory URS placeholder page for the rest of the registration period.

Concerning the URS, Applicant understands that after the end of the administrative review (i.e. the review which aims at determining that the complaint contains all of the necessary information. This is not a determination as to whether a prima facie case has been established), the URS Provider will notify us immediately that the complaint is considered to be compliant with the filling requirements. Within 24 hours of receipt of the Notice of Complaint from the URS Provider, the Applicant will “lock” the domain, meaning that the Applicant shall restrict all changes to the registration data, including transfer and deletion of the domain names, but the name will continue to resolve. The Applicant will notify the URS Service Provider immediately upon locking the domain name (”Notice of Lock”). If after examination in default case, the examiner rules in favor of the Registrant, the URS service provider shall notify the Applicant to unlock the name and return full control of the domain name registration to the Registrant. Applicant understands it will be transmitted immediately the decision issued if the determination is in favor of the complainant. Immediately upon receipt of the determination, the Applicant will suspend the domain name, which shall remain suspended for the balance of the registration period and will not resolve to the original web site. The nameservers shall be redirected to an informational web page provided by the URS Service Provider about the URS. The URS Service Provider shall not be allowed to offer any other services on such page, nor shall it directly or indirectly use the web page for advertising purposes (either for itself or any other third party). The Whois for the domain name shall continue to display all of the information of the original Registrant except for the redirection of the nameservers. In addition, the Whois shall reflect that the domain name will not be able to be transferred, deleted or modified for the life of the registration.
 
4. Resource Planning

As already stated above, Applicant will outsource all services to reputable firm with legal and technical expertise as from the start-up of the operations. This ensures that Applicant can meet the demands of the registrants.

For further information on the financial projections, Applicant refers to its response to question 47.

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