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18(a) Describe the mission/purpose of your proposed gTLD

gTLDFull Legal NameE-mail suffixDetail
.EXTRASPACEExtra Space Storage LLCmsn.comView
Extra Space Storage® Inc. (Extra Space) is a real estate investment trust based in Salt Lake City, Utah with regional offices in California, Connecticut, Florida, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and Texas. Extra Space Storage is the second largest operator of self-storage in the U.S., and is a national owner, developer, acquirer and operator of professionally managed self-storage properties.
Extra Space Storage is a thirty year old company that has been involved in the self-storage industry since its inception. It is a growth-oriented company creating a new standard in the self-storage industry. Both customers and communities benefit from Extra Space Storageʹs professional approach to storage. Featuring attractive, convenient and secure facilities operated by professional managers, Extra Space Storage seeks to change the association of self-storage as a temporary holding place for rarely-used things to a desirable, safe, and customer-oriented facility perfectly suited for maintaining and accessing valued personal and business possessions.

Extra Space Storage Inc., headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, is a fully integrated, self-administered and self-managed real estate investment trust that owns and⁄or operates 870 self-storage properties in 34 states and Washington, D.C. The Companyʹs properties are comprised of approximately 550,000 units and over 59 million square feet of rentable space, offering customers a wide selection of conveniently located and secure storage solutions across the country, including boat storage, RV storage and business storage. The Company is the second largest owner and⁄or operator of self-storage properties in the United States and is the largest self-storage management company in the United States.

The preservation of this brand is of paramount importance to Extra Space in all aspects of its operations, including and especially on the Internet. Operating the brand as a gTLD will likely be an important part of its digital strategy in the future. Extra Space will be analyzing and evaluating other .BRAND gTLD applications as well as general market adoption to determine short and long-term potential best-in-class use case options to most effectively serve and enhance Extra Space’s online strategy as a leader in the self storage market.

The intended future mission and purpose of the .EXTRASPACE gTLD is to serve as a trusted, hierarchical, and intuitive namespace provided by Extra Space and its qualified affiliates, for Extra Space customers. Extra Space will be the entity to file this application and bring the .EXTRASPACE gTLD to market.

Although ICANN has not specifically recognized a .BRAND gTLD specification in the current round, it is widely anticipated in the brand community that this will become a specialty subset of gTLDs. .EXTRASPACE is intended to be one of those .BRAND gTLDs, with the goal of protecting Extra Space’s online presence and identity, expanding its marketing and promotion efforts, providing a secure channel for online products and services.

Extra Space intends to initially limit registration and use of domain names within the .EXTRASPACE gTLD to Extra Space and its qualified affiliates. This initial limited use will allow Extra Space to establish its operations and achieve full sustainability. This limited distribution coupled with the other requirements set forth in Specification 9 of the Template Registry Agreement is intended to exempt Extra Space from its annual Code of Conduct Compliance requirements.

Extra Space currently plans a three-stage rollout for Extra Space’s gTLD(s):

1. Stage One

The initial stage of implementation of the gTLD will involve Extra Space registering a limited number of .EXTRASPACE second-level domain names.

This initial use will provide Extra Space’s IT and security personnel the time to run a number of tests to ensure seamless and secure access using the .EXTRASPACE gTLD domain names, interoperability with various software and Web-based applications, and unbroken and secure use of all names. This initial allocation will also allow the appropriate Extra Space staff to coordinate with the internal and external staff responsible for the application, delegation and setup phases of the .EXTRASPACE gTLD to ensure a proper transition from delegation to full operation.

2. Stage Two

Once all testing has been successfully completed, Extra Space will begin allocating domain names in .EXTRASPACE for more widespread internal corporate use. During this same period of time, Extra Space will begin evaluating strategies to potential migrate traffic away from its existing second-level domain names.

It is in Stage Two that Extra Space will evaluate expanding the operations of the gTLD to permit registration by other registrants such as licensees or other strategic parties. Should an assessment of its expansion strategy lead to a decision to extend registration rights to other parties, this expansion is currently planned to take place during Stage Three. However, any expansion would be conditioned upon a review of the Specification 9 (Registry Code of Conduct) set forth in the template registry agreement to ensure compliance with Extra Space’s business model.

3. Stage Three

Depending upon the analysis of the evaluations undertaken in Stage Two, Extra Space may begin to implement the migration of Internet traffic away from Extra Space’s legacy domain names, and toward the Extra Space gTLD. It is in this stage that Extra Space also may implement its decision to extend registration rights to licensees or strategic parties, depending upon compliance with Specification 9 as noted above. The dates of such expansion are subject to change depending upon business, strategic, and industry factors at the time.

After consideration of the following factors: analysis of Extra Space’s existing domain name portfolio; internal analysis of marketing initiatives; and the fact that Extra Space will have full control over the number of registrations in the .EXTRASPACE gTLD namespace, Extra Space is confident that the number of domain name registrations will be less than 3,000 in the first five years of operation.

Based on its experience to the end of Year 5, and based on its experience with any expansion implemented in Stage Three, Extra Space will assess whether its business plan and any future expansion strategy. It is anticipated by Extra Space that changes to the domain name industry, and particularly the impact of .BRAND gTLDs, will take at least five years to be realized and assessed. Any decision to expand the gTLDs beyond corporate, qualified subsidiary and affiliate, and licensee use will take into account this experience as well as the technical analysis of potential expansion.

The potential use of the .EXTRASPACE gTLD by these or other business segments will also be driven by Extra Space’s future business strategies as identified in its annual report and investor filings.
gTLDFull Legal NameE-mail suffixDetail
.ESURANCEEsurance Insurance Companyfairwindspartners.comView
18.1 Mission and Purpose of .ESURANCE

The content of this Answer to Question 18 set forth below describing the plans for Esurance Insurance Company’s (“ESIC”) registry constitutes the “purpose” of the registry as that term is used in paragraph 1.b. of Specification 9 of the Draft New gTLD Registry Agreement found in Module 5 of the Applicant Guidebook dated January 11, 2012 (the “Purpose”). ESIC will publish its Charter and its policies, guidelines, and other supporting documentation related to the implementation of the registry consistent with the Purpose, all prior to launch. All second level domain names registered by ESIC on behalf of itself or an affiliate will be registered through an ICANN-accredited registrar and will be consistent with the Purpose.

The .ESURANCE gTLD registry will be a standard, not a community-based, registry. The .ESURANCE gTLD registry will be a standard registry restricted to ESIC and potentially its qualified subsidiaries, affiliates or business partners having the Required License (as defined below). The registry will be closed to registrants who do not have a formal, written trademark license agreement from the ESIC affiliate which owns the ESURANCE mark, specifically allowing the registration of a second level domain name in the .ESURANCE gTLD registry (the “Required License”). There will be no market for second level registrations outside of registrants which are affiliated with ESIC and⁄or which have the Required License.

ESIC, together with its affiliates, is a leading online insurance company serving the wide-ranging needs of more than 509,000 current policyholders across the United States. ESIC’s affiliate, Esurance Insurance Services, Inc. (“EIS”), currently holds the intellectual property assets for ESIC and its subsidiaries and through which it operates a powerful, flexible technology platform, including the EIS website, that provides cutting-edge service to its customers across a wide range of insurance offerings including, but not limited to, cars, apartments, homes, recreational vehicles, motorcycles, boats, and other personal property.

The predecessor to EIS was launched in December 1999 as an online service offering car insurance in four states. Leveraging the benefits of the Internet and 24⁄7 customer support, EIS has grown into a company comprised of more than 1,800 employees located in 14 offices offering coverage to nearly 90 percent of the U.S. population. ESIC looks to leverage the potential use of .ESURANCE to expand upon its and its affiliates’ innovative use of online and mobile tools.

The intended future mission of .ESURANCE is to serve as a trusted, hierarchical, and intuitive namespace for ESIC and potentially its qualified subsidiaries, affiliates, or business partners having the Required License, all with the goal of advancing ESIC’s business interests and ability to effectively compete in the marketplace.

Although ICANN has not specifically recognized a .BRAND gTLD classification in the current gTLD application round, it is widely anticipated in the brand owner community that this will become a specialty subset of gTLDs. .ESURANCE is intended to be one of those .BRAND gTLDs, with the goal of protecting ESIC’s online presence and identity, expanding its marketing and promotion efforts, providing a more secure channel for online products and services, and offering a platform through which to consolidate many of the intellectual property activities of ESIC.

ESIC intends to initially limit registration and use of domain names within .ESURANCE to ESIC and potentially its qualified subsidiaries and affiliates. This initial limited use will allow ESIC to establish its operations and achieve full sustainability. This limited distribution, coupled with its Purpose and the other requirements set forth in Specification 9 of the Draft New gTLD Registry Agreement, is intended to exempt ESIC from any annual Code of Conduct Compliance requirements.

ESIC currently plans a four-stage rollout for .ESURANCE:

1. Stage One

The initial stage of implementation of the gTLD will involve ESIC registering a limited number of .ESURANCE second-level domain names.

This initial use will provide ESIC’s IT and security personnel the time to run a number of assessments for seamless and secure access using .ESURANCE domain names, interoperability with various software and Web-based applications, and unbroken and secure use of all names. This initial allocation will also allow the appropriate ESIC staff to coordinate with the internal and external staff responsible for the application, delegation, and setup phases of the .ESURANCE gTLD to ensure a proper transition from delegation to full operation.

2. Stage Two

Once all testing has been successfully completed, ESIC may begin allocating domain names in .ESURANCE for more widespread internal corporate use. During this same period of time, ESIC will begin evaluating strategies to potentially migrate traffic away from its current patchwork network of second-level domain names, which are registered in a variety of gTLDs and ccTLDs, to .ESURANCE.

It is in Stage Two that ESIC will evaluate expanding the operations of .ESURANCE to permit registration by qualified subsidiaries and affiliates. Should an assessment of its expansion strategy lead to a decision to extend registration rights to business partners having the Required License, this expansion is currently planned to take place during Stage Three, and likely after the first three years of operation. However, any expansion would be consistent with the Purpose and conditioned upon a review of Specification 9 (Registry Code of Conduct) set forth in the Draft New gTLD Registry Agreement to ensure compliance with ESIC’s business model.

3. Stage Three

Depending upon the analysis of the evaluations undertaken in Stage Two, ESIC may begin to implement the permanent migration of Internet traffic away from the gTLDs and ccTLDs in which ESIC’s domain names are currently registered, and toward the new gTLD. It is in this stage that ESIC also may implement any decision to extend registration rights to qualified affiliates and subsidiaries, consistent with the Purpose and in compliance with Specification 9 as noted above. The dates of such expansion are subject to change depending upon business, strategic, and industry factors at the time.

After consideration of the following factors: analysis of ESIC’s existing domain name portfolio; internal analysis of marketing initiatives; and the fact that ESIC will have full control over the number of registrations in the .ESURANCE namespace, ESIC is confident that the number of domain name registrations will be less than 10,000 in the first five years of operation.

4. Stage Four

Based on its experience in Stage Three, including any expansion in that phase, ESIC will assess whether its business plan and expansion strategy should be augmented by extending registration rights to business partners having the Registered License. It is anticipated by ESIC that changes to the domain name industry, and particularly the impact of .BRAND gTLDs, will take at least five years to be realized and assessed.

Any decision to allow registrations by business partners having the Required License will take into account this experience as well as the technical analysis of potential expansion.

Utilizing current projections based upon ESICʹs existing businesses, future business plans, current domain name portfolio, and other strategic factors, ESIC estimates that second-level domain name registrations will be in line with the projections set forth in the financial template provided in the answer to Question 46 of this application.

For the avoidance of doubt, the timeframes associated with various Stages set forth above are estimates only. Such timeframes are subject to change, including delay or early action, depending on ESIC’s business needs.