| gTLD | Full Legal Name | E-mail suffix | Detail | | .MERCKMSD | MSD Registry Holdings, Inc. | fairwindspartners.com | View |
18.2 How do you expect that your proposed gTLD will benefit registrants, Internet users, and others?
MSDRH believes that the proposed .MERCKMSD gTLD has the potential to offer a variety of benefits to Internet end users, such as establishing a trusted source of information and online marketplace for the millions of end-users searching for related information through MSD’s online resources.
In addition, MSDRH anticipates that .MERCKMSD can provide MSD and potentially its qualified subsidiaries and affiliates with short and memorable Internet addresses, as well as provide increased navigation to products, services, advertising campaigns, public interest content, and public awareness initiatives.
A .MERCKMSD gTLD can also minimize the cost and need for defensive registrations because domain names within the .MERCKMSD gTLD will initially only be allocated by MSDRH to MSDʹs internal departments and potentially to qualified subsidiaries and affiliates of MSD.
Also, end users may benefit from lower incidents of phishing and malware often associated with mistypes of domain names in the .COM space that are owned by cybersquatters since they will be navigating to domain names in the .MERCKMSD gTLD.
18.2.1 What is the goal of your proposed gTLD in terms of areas of specialty, service levels, or reputation?
The primary mission and purpose of the .MERCKMSD gTLD is to provide a trusted, hierarchical, and intuitive online marketplace for MSD content and other products and services. Given that end-users are increasingly demanding access to MSD information through a variety of channels, which include domain names, MSDRH believes that the .MERCKMSD gTLD has the potential to provide an innovative, virtual avenue to content from MSD that will deepen and broaden its relationship with these end-users.
As MSDRH’s parent company, MSD, continues to expand its product offerings and research areas, the company has considered using .MERCKMSD to pursue and develop opportunities to market and distribute its online content and products to end users on various platforms, including the Internet and mobile devices, among others. Providing end-users with a trusted experience is paramount to MSDRH and its parent company, MSD, and the .MERCKMSD gTLD will be used to further that goal.
While healthcare companies, such as MSD, fight never-ending battles to protect their valuable intellectual property from fraud and piracy on the Internet, the .MERCKMSD gTLD would offer end-users a safe and intuitive means of accessing authorized content from MSD and potentially MSD’s qualified subsidiaries and affiliates and potential licensees and strategic parties.
18.2.2 What do you anticipate your proposed gTLD will add to the current space, in terms of competition, differentiation, or innovation?
As a .BRAND gTLD, the primary driving factors of the .MERCKMSD gTLD are differentiation and innovation. The success of the gTLD will not be measured by the number of domain names registered. Instead, it will be measured by the levels of consumer recognition and trust that are placed in the .MERCKMSD gTLD. Using this benchmark, MSDRH will strive to build consumer recognition and trust that rise to the levels of those found in the .EDU and .GOV gTLDs.
As noted above. MSDRH’s parent, MSD, is a leading healthcare company that leverages emerging technologies to deliver healthcare information, products, and services internationally.
The .MERCKMSD gTLD has the potential to aid this online strategy, if potential consumer benefits that ICANN experts have anticipated become a reality.
18.2.3 What goals does your proposed gTLD have in terms of user experience?
MSDRH believes that the .MERCKMSD gTLD will provide a single, trusted ecosystem experience for the millions of end-users seeking information about MSD and its products and services. In addition to providing end-users with short, memorable, and intuitive domain names, MSDRH will have best-in-class safeguards to minimize any potential infringing or pirated content within the .MERCKMSD gTLD.
MSD will continue to stay abreast of changes in the new gTLD space following commencement of operations and will adjust its strategy as needed to ensure it is providing the most valuable and relevant experience for end users.
18.2.4 Provide a complete description of the applicant’s intended registration policies in support of the goals listed above.
The .MERCKMSD gTLD is currently intended to be exclusively used by MSD and potentially MSD’s qualified subsidiaries and affiliates.
Because of this condition precedent, any registration and use requirements are more appropriately vested in corporate⁄affiliate agreements and not in a domain name registration agreement. MSDRH reserves the right to consider allowing third party registrants outside of current affiliate or subsidiary relationships to own .MERCKMSD domains for a fee at a future date. This would only be determined following an extensive, internal evaluation of MSD’s on-going branding and online goals, and discussions with MSD’s registry services provider.
MSDRH will incorporate all required ICANN consensus policies and other legal⁄policy requirements imposed on new gTLD applicants into the appropriate agreements.
18.2.5 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.
MSD recognizes first hand that this is an evolving area of law in which there is no uniform international standard. As a global healthcare company, MSD respects the privacy of its end-users. The company employs a variety of physical, electronic, contractual, and managerial safeguards to protect personal and confidential information on its websites.
MSDRH will take similar precautions to protect registrant and user data associated with the .MERCKMSD gTLD.
Furthermore, given that every domain name will be registered to MSD or potentially a qualified subsidiary or affiliate and potentially licensees or strategic parties, MSDRH has a vested interest in ensuring that accurate and current registrant information is readily available in connection with each .MERCKMSD domain name.
MSD will ensure that the operation of the .MERCKMSD gTLD will be consistent with MSD’s Statement of Privacy Principles, available on its website at http:⁄⁄www.merck.com⁄privacy⁄.
In addition, MSDRH intends to incorporate contractual language in its Registry-Registrar Agreement (RRA) modeled after language that has been included in the template Registry Agreement and that has been successful utilized by existing ICANN gTLD Registry Operators. The template Registry Agreement states “Registry Operator shall (i) notify each ICANN-accredited registrar that is a party to the registry-registrar agreement for the TLD of the purposes for which data about any identified or identifiable natural person (“Personal Data”) submitted to Registry Operator by such registrar is collected and used under this Agreement or otherwise and the intended recipients (or categories of recipients) of such Personal Data, and (ii) require such registrar to obtain the consent of each registrant in the TLD for such collection and use of Personal Data. Registry Operator shall take reasonable steps to protect Personal Data collected from such registrar from loss, misuse, unauthorized disclosure, alteration or destruction. Registry Operator shall not use or authorize the use of Personal Data in a way that is incompatible with the notice provided to registrars.ʺ
18.2.6 Describe whether and in what ways outreach and communications will help to achieve your projected benefits.
MSDRH plans to start using .MERCKMSD domain names primarily as redirects to existing .COM and other domains that MSD and potentially, MSD’s qualified subsidiaries and affiliates, currently operate. MSDRH also plans to carefully review the response from search engines to .BRAND gTLDs, and the perception of end users. As the marketplace evolves, MSDRH will invest in outreach and communication as needed to ensure that its end-users continue to interact with MSDRH content, services, and products in a simplified, efficient, and productive manner.
| gTLD | Full Legal Name | E-mail suffix | Detail | | .AIG | American International Group, Inc. | fairwindspartners.com | View |
18.2 How do you expect that your proposed gTLD will benefit registrants, Internet users, and others?
AIG believes that a proposed .AIG gTLD has the potential to offer the following benefits to Internet users and consumers:
Establish a trusted source of information and an online marketplace for the millions of consumers who purchase insurance and financial products through AIG’s online sites, for investors and third parties seeking information, and for the general Internet user population;
Provide AIG and its qualified subsidiaries and affiliates with short and memorable Internet addresses; provide increased navigation to products, services, advertising campaigns, public interest content, public awareness initiatives, etc.;
Through the adoption of new gTLDs by the wider Internet user community, consumers may benefit from a lower incidence of phishing and malware often associated with mistypes of domain names in the .COM space that are owned by cybersquatters, since consumers will be navigating to domain names in the .AIG gTLD;
Minimize the cost and need for defensive registrations because domain names will only be allocated within the .AIG gTLD to AIG and qualified subsidiaries and affiliates; and
Develop a potential platform for the secure access to, and purchase and distribution of, AIG products and information to consumers, in order to minimize the potential for counterfeit or infringing goods and services.
Currently, AIG operates a number of corporate websites using a combination of second-level and top-level domain names. A representative sampling of AIG websites that incorporate geographical identifiers into the domain name include:
AIG.de
AIG.am
AIG.ac
AIG.cg
AIG.hm
AIG.lv
AIG.ch
AIG.co.je
AIG.com.lv
AIG.com.do
AIGEurope.de
AIGSlovakia.com
AIG believes that a .AIG gTLD has the potential to provide an online single-source identifying function for its global customers. This is in contrast to the present approach AIG has used as it expands into different markets around the world, which consists of registering the domain names that are available, rather than those that may be the most intuitive.
18.2.1 What is the goal of your proposed gTLD in terms of areas of specialty, service levels, or reputation?
The primary mission and purpose of the .AIG gTLD is to provide a trusted, hierarchical, and intuitive online marketplace to deliver AIG insurance and financial products, as well as information about the company’s businesses and focus, and other goods and services. As AIG continues to expand, the company will continue to pursue and develop opportunities to market and distribute its online content and products to consumers, in the U.S. and internationally, and on various platforms, including the Internet and mobile devices. Given that customers increasingly request access to AIG products and information through a variety of channels, which include domain names, AIG believes that a .AIG gTLD has the potential to provide an innovative, virtual avenue to AIG’s companies and products that will deepen and broaden its relationship with consumers and the general Internet population.
Most importantly, AIG will be able to provide access to its products and online content in a namespace devoid of piracy, cybersquatting, and other malicious activities. Providing consumers with a trusted experience is paramount to AIG, and a .AIG gTLD will be used to further that goal.
While insurance and financial companies such as AIG must constantly fight to protect their valuable intellectual property from piracy on the Internet, a .AIG gTLD potentially offers consumers a safe and intuitive means of accessing authorized content from AIG and its affiliates.
18.2.2 What do you anticipate your proposed gTLD will add to the current space, in terms of competition, differentiation, or innovation?
As a branded gTLD, the primary driving factors of the .AIG gTLD are differentiation and innovation. The success of the gTLD will be measured not by the number of domain names registered, but rather by the level of consumer recognition and trust that is placed in the .AIG gTLD. Using this benchmark, AIG will strive to build consumer recognition and trust through usage of the .AIG gTLD that rise to the level found in the .EDU and .GOV gTLDs.
As noted above, AIG is a leading international insurance and financial organization that leverages numerous distribution channels and emerging technologies to deliver its online content and insurance and financial products to customers internationally. The .AIG gTLD has the potential to serve as a cornerstone of this online strategy.
18.2.3 What goals does your proposed gTLD have in terms of user experience?
AIG believes that the .AIG gTLD will provide a single, trusted ecosystem experience for the millions of consumers worldwide who purchase the company’s products, as well as those who seek information about AIG, including investors and members of the press. Consumers will know that domains and content on .AIG are owned and controlled by AIG and are thus more likely to be protected from infringing, pirated, or harmful content.
The initial use of the .AIG gTLD will involve a limited number of second-level domain names. This initial use will provide AIG the ability to ensure seamless and secure access to the AIG websites and interoperability with various software and Web-⁄mobile-based applications. Once appropriate security and stability issues have been satisfactorily addressed, AIG will likely begin allocating domain names for internal corporate use and may redirect new .AIG domain names to pre-existing content. This phased rollout will likely take place over a multi-year period, subject to change depending upon a range of external factors.
At the same time, AIG will evaluate potential strategies to migrate traffic away from the current network of second-level domains registered in various TLDs, to the .AIG, .CHARTIS, and .TRAVELGUARD gTLDs, which offer the potential to provide customers with trusted online sources for AIG products and services.
After consideration of the following factors: analysis of AIG’s existing domain name portfolio; internal analysis of marketing initiatives; and the fact that AIG will have full control over the number of registrations in the .AIG gTLD namespace, AIG reasonably assumes that the number of domain name registrations will be less than 10,000 in the first five years of operation.
18.2.4 Provide a complete description of the applicant’s intended registration policies in support of the goals listed above.
AIG currently intends for the .AIG gTLD to be used exclusively by AIG and its qualified subsidiaries and affiliates. Because of this condition, and because the AIG mark is a valuable brand, the protection of which is paramount to the company, AIG intends to address registration and use requirements in its qualified subsidiary and affiliate agreements, rather than in a domain name registration agreement.
Notwithstanding this, AIG will incorporate all required ICANN consensus policies and other legal⁄policy requirements imposed on new gTLD applicants into the terms and conditions of the domain name registration agreement that each qualified subsidiary⁄affiliate will execute.
18.2.5 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.
As a global insurance and financial organization, AIG respects the privacy of its customers and other consumers. The company employs a variety of physical, electronic, contractual, and managerial safeguards to protect personal and confidential information while serving its customers and on its websites. AIG will take similar precautions to protect registrant and user data associated with the .AIG gTLD. Furthermore, given that every domain name will be registered to AIG or a qualified subsidiary⁄affiliate, AIG has a vested interest in ensuring that accurate and current registrant information is readily available in connection with each .AIG domain name.
AIG will ensure that the operation of the .AIG gTLD will be consistent with AIG’s Privacy Statement, available on its website at http:⁄⁄www.aigcorporate.com⁄termsofuse⁄privacy.html.
In addition, AIG intends to incorporate contractual language in its Registry-Registrar Agreement (RRA) modeled after language that has been included in the template Registry Agreement and that has been successfully utilized by existing ICANN gTLD registry operators.
The template Registry Agreement states, “Registry Operator shall (i) notify each ICANN-accredited registrar that is a party to the registry-registrar agreement for the TLD of the purposes for which data about any identified or identifiable natural person (“Personal Data”) submitted to Registry Operator by such registrar is collected and used under this Agreement or otherwise and the intended recipients (or categories of recipients) of such Personal Data, and (ii) require such registrar to obtain the consent of each registrant in the TLD for such collection and use of Personal Data. Registry Operator shall take reasonable steps to protect Personal Data collected from such registrar from loss, misuse, unauthorized disclosure, alteration or destruction. Registry Operator shall not use or authorize the use of Personal Data in a way that is incompatible with the notice provided to registrars.”
18.2.6 Describe whether and in what ways outreach and communications will help to achieve your projected benefits.
AIG sees the potential for the .AIG gTLD to play a large role in the company’s future online strategy. While the extent of likely benefits is currently uncertain due to questions of consumer recognition, the adoption of new gTLDs, and the response from search engines in the marketplace, all of which will influence the communication and usage strategies for the gTLD, AIG anticipates a phased-in approach to using and promoting the .AIG gTLD.
As a first step, AIG plans to start using .AIG domains initially as redirects to existing .COM domains. Subsequently, AIG expects to initiate a targeted rollout using select gTLD domains as primary addresses and, after careful analysis and study of this rollout, AIG may engage in a broader initiative, should the results be satisfactory and in accordance with the company’s overall strategic goals. The actual usage of .AIG domain names will dictate what public communications and consumer outreach is conducted to encourage navigation to the .AIG gTLD, including advertising, media outreach, email campaigns, etc.