| gTLD | Full Legal Name | E-mail suffix | Detail | | .discover | Discover Financial Services | mayerbrown.com | View |
18(b) Benefits
18(b).1 Consumer Benefits and User Experience
The intended mission and purpose of the .discover gTLD is to serve as a trusted and intuitive namespace for consumers and Internet users seeking to review information relating to, and purchase authentic products and services from, Discover and its affiliates.
The .discover gTLD will also benefit from the fame and predictability of Applicant’s DISCOVER and related brands that have developed through years of prestigious use in the marketplace. Indeed, unlike most generic gTLDs that ICANN has approved over the last decade, Discover is an established international financial services company with the ability to leverage its existing network of businesses and customers to increase the profile of the .discover gTLD. While most registries have primarily been dependent upon ICANN-accredited registrars to market and promote their gTLDs and fund their operations, Discover provides the ability to leverage its large market share, strong reputation, and existing relationships with various consumers and businesses in the financial services and related industries.
In the end, Discover believes that the proposed .discover gTLD has the potential to offer at least the following benefits to Internet users and consumers:
1) Establish a trusted source of information and online marketplace for the millions of consumers that purchase Discover’s authentic products and services on the Internet;
2) Provide Discover with short and memorable domain names that will facilitate the ease by which consumers can locate critical information or services online;
3) Minimize the social costs and harm to Internet users by ensuring fewer incidents of phishing and malware often associated with typographical errors existing in the top-level domain name space;
4) Minimize the social costs and harm to consumers by giving them access to authoritative information and authentic products and services via a trusted and reputable namespace in .discover;
5) Minimize the social costs and harm to consumers by providing heightened security for online financial transactions; and
6) Minimize the harm to third party rights holders within the .discover space, if any, by implementing all of ICANN’s consensus policies and other Rights Protection Mechanisms (RPMs).
18(b).2 Consumer Protection Mechanisms
As a closed single-registrant registry, Discover will be able to ensure that it, or its affiliates, are the sole source of product information and services within the .discover space. Moreover, based upon Discover’s commitment and established track record in providing a safe ecosystem for consumers and Internet users through its existing e-business efforts, Discover intends to provide best in class consumer protection mechanisms that will evolve over time (such as its Security Policy attached to this application in response to Question 30). While these are the initial policies that Discover will adopt for the operation of the .discover gTLD, it recognizes that protecting the safety of consumers in the .discover namespace will require diligence and a continued evolution of the policies, and Discover is committed to continuously monitoring and adapting its policies in order to create the highest level of consumer and user safety within the namespace.
While some of ICANN’s new gTLDs have previously been the subject of claims regarding increased spam and phishing activities, .discover from its launch will be a closed single-registrant registry and trusted source of Discover’s authentic products and services for consumers. Discover looks to follow its already-established good business practices—such as the Security Policy attached to this application in response to Question 30—and to work with government agencies to create a marketplace with safeguards designed to minimize fraud and other illegal activity.
In the end, as discussed above, the .discover gTLD will provide further enhanced protection against the security risks that are inherently heightened within the online financial services community. Indeed, the .discover gTLD will provide consumers with a known, trusted, and secure platform for online financial services.
18(b).3 User Data
Because every second-level domain name will be registered by Discover or its affiliates, no third party user data will be associated with the TLD, and will Discover have a vested interest in ensuring that accurate and current domain name information is readily available in connection with each .discover second-level domain name. Notwithstanding the above, as a global leader in the financial services and related industries, with operations in many legal jurisdictions and on the Internet, Discover will employ a variety of physical, electronic, contractual, and managerial safeguards, which will be no less restrictive than the precautions currently taken on Discover’s current e-business websites.
To further protect its own data, Discover intends to incorporate contractual language in its registrar agreements modeled after language which has been included in the template Registry Agreement and which has been successfully utilized by existing ICANN gTLD registry operators. In addition, Discover shall take reasonable steps to protect its data from loss, misuse, unauthorized disclosure, alteration, or destruction. Discover shall not use or authorize the use of its data in any way that is incompatible with the notice provided to registrants.
| gTLD | Full Legal Name | E-mail suffix | Detail | | .qvc | QVC, Inc. | mayerbrown.com | View |
18(b) Benefits
18(b).1 Consumer Benefits and User Experience
The intended mission and purpose of the .QVC gTLD is (1) to serve as a trusted and intuitive namespace for consumers and Internet users seeking to review information relating to, and purchase authentic products and services from, QVC and its affiliates; and (2) to provide enhanced e-commerce security by operating a closed single-registrant registry.
The .QVC gTLD will also benefit from the fame of the QVC brand that has developed through years of prestigious use in the marketplace. Indeed, unlike most generic gTLDs that ICANN has approved over the last decade, QVC and its parent companies are established international companies with the ability to leverage their existing network of businesses and customers in the retail space to increase the profile of the .QVC gTLD. While most registries have primarily depended on ICANN-accredited registrars to market and promote their gTLDs and fund their operations, QVC provides the ability to leverage its large market share, strong reputation, and existing relationships with various consumers and businesses in the retail industry.
QVC believes that the proposed .QVC gTLD has the potential to offer at least the following benefits to Internet users and consumers:
1) Establish a trusted source of information and an online marketplace for the millions of consumers that purchase QVC’s authentic goods and services on the Internet;
2) Protect consumers by providing enhanced security for e-commerce transactions as a result of QVC’s operation and control of .QVC as a closed single-registrant registry;
3) Provide consumers with short and memorable domain names that will facilitate their identification of critical information and products online;
4) Minimize the social costs and harm to Internet users by ensuring fewer incidents of phishing and malware often associated with typographical errors existing in the top-level domain name space;
5) Minimize the social costs and harm to consumers by giving them access to authoritative information and authentic products via a trusted and reputable namespace in .QVC.
6) Minimize the harm to third-party rights holders within the .QVC space, if any, by implementing all of ICANN’s consensus policies and other Rights Protection Mechanisms (RPMs).
18(b).2 Consumer Protection Mechanisms
By operating a closed single-registrant registry, QVC will be able to ensure that it or its affiliates are the sole source of product information within the .QVC space. In addition, as the registry operator, QVC will be able to protect consumers by providing enhanced security for online transactions. Moreover, based on QVC’s commitment to (and established track record in) providing a safe ecosystem for consumers and Internet users through its existing e-commerce efforts, QVC intends to provide best-in-class consumer protection mechanisms that will evolve over time (such as its Security Policy attached to this application in response to Question 30). While these are the initial policies that QVC will adopt for the operation of the .QVC gTLD, it recognizes that protecting the safety of consumers in the .QVC namespace will require diligence and a continued evolution of the policies, and QVC is committed to continuously monitoring and adapting its policies to create the highest level of consumer and user safety within the namespace.
While some of ICANN’s new gTLDs have previously been the subject of claims regarding increased spam and phishing activities, .QVC from its launch will be a closed single-registrant registry and a trusted source of QVC’s authentic goods and services for consumers. QVC looks to follow its established and proven business practices—such as the Security Policy attached to this application in response to Question 30—and to work with government agencies to create a marketplace with safeguards designed to minimize fraud and other illegal activity.
18(b).3 User Data
Because every second-level domain name will be registered by QVC or its affiliates, no third-party user data will be associated with the .QVC gTLD, and QVC will have a vested interest in ensuring that accurate and current domain name information is readily available in connection with each .QVC second-level domain name. Notwithstanding the above, as one of the largest multimedia retailers in the world with operations in many legal jurisdictions and on the Internet, QVC will employ a variety of physical, electronic, contractual, and managerial safeguards, which will be no less restrictive than the precautions currently taken on QVC’s websites.
To further protect its own data, QVC intends to incorporate contractual language in its registrar agreements modeled after language in the template Registry Agreement which has been successfully utilized by existing ICANN gTLD registry operators. In addition, QVC shall take reasonable steps to protect its data from loss, misuse, unauthorized disclosure, alteration or destruction. QVC shall not use or authorize the use of its data in any way that is incompatible with the notice provided to registrants, ICANN policies, or applicable law.