20(e) Provide a description of the applicant's intended registration policies in support of the community-based purpose of the applied-for gTLD

Prototypical answer:

List of content
a- Eligibility
b- Enforcement
c- Name selection 2nd Level
d- Content ⁄ Use


In order to ensure that the community-based purpose set in this document will be achieved after go-live, DocCheck AG will establish registration policies that determine the conditions to which registrant can register a domain. Consecutively, the intended registration policies as well as the appropriate enforcement methods are described. Please note that some parts may be congruent with parts of the answer to question 18(b). For clarification and simplicity reasons, it is indicated when parts are adopted from that answer.

In order to be eligible to register a second level domain name in the .med gTLD, a registrant has to fulfill several requirements: (1) being a verified DocCheck user, (2) originating from one of the professions or occupations described in the target group definition in question 18(a), and (3) committing towards the registry agreement and the implied general and medical code of conduct (CoC).

a- Eligibility
To (1): A registrant must successfully apply for a DocCheck portal account in order to gain community access (some parts may are repeated from the answer to 18(b) for clarification reasons).This process is and will be free of any charge at all times. No registration fee or any periodical fee for a DocCheck account will ever occur. Nevertheless, this step is absolutely necessary and favors almost all goals directly or indirectly for the following reason. One of the core competencies of DocCheck AG is the verification process for members of the medical and healthcare professions (organizations and institutions as well as individuals) worldwide. As we operate a single sign-on (SSO) service for more than 10 years now, we have the in-house knowledge to verify identification documents and classify the relevant professions. During this highly-optimized and therefore rapid process, only relevant information is acquired from the registrant and data security is always in compliance with relevant laws and data security regulations. Therefore, outsourcing this activity (to a registrar, for example) would only harm the goal of assuring quality, security and reliability of information, especially as no costs will ever occur for the registrant. Consequently, DocCheck AG has automatic and in some cases manual verification mechanisms in place (as described above). This supports the community approach providing a platform for safe and secure information addressed to both beneficiary groups, professionals and all internet users.

To (2): After describing the verification process, it should be delineated which organizations and individuals are eligible for a second level domain in the .med TLD. Each applicant for a new .med second level domain will have to provide proof of being an eligible member of the community (please refer to question 18(a) for further details on eligible professions and organizations). Such proof is usually issued by the government or governmental organizations, universities, cooperatives, and others. Documents could be for example approbations, certificates, or diplomas. This procedure directly supports the goal of maintaining a target group solely consisting of members from the medical and healthcare professions.

b- Enforcement
To (3): DocCheck AG plans to implement a CoC to the registration policies in order to assimilate registry’s and registrants vision of the namespace, delineate the scope of content possibilities, and depict consequences in cases of fraudulent behavior of the registrant. It is intended to split the CoC into two parts, one that covers general topics and might not very much differ from regulations in other registry policies, and one medical part which covers the particular necessities of the community approach towards the gTLD .med. Please refer to the answer to question 18(b) for detailed information on the CoC, for simplicity reasons some of the elements that as well strongly support the community purpose are repeated in this answer. The medical part covers topics as following:
- The registrant only publishes content relevant for medical and healthcare topics or indicating a strong connection towards it
- The registrant provides platforms for user-generated content only relevant medical and healthcare topics or indicating a strong connection towards it
- The registrant verifies all content that is published in his responsibility and thereby ensures quality fulsomeness and correctness in all conscience
- The registrant agrees that in dispute cases, the verdict of a third party dispute resolution provider (such as the Health-on-the-Net foundation, and according to ICANN’s dispute resolution processes) is binding

c- Name selection 2nd Level
According to the possible name selection of the registrant, there are several rules as well. At first, a domain name should in no case infringe upon the rights of others. This includes the unrightful registration of domain names that violate trademark rights or other rights of any third party. This is especially important in the medical and healthcare sector because of the great variety of companies, brands, and products. At second, the second level domain name must follow all standards that ICANN has set for domain names (i.e. forbiddance of geographic names without consent of the geographic city⁄region⁄country, etc.). At third, the chosen second level domain name must demonstrate a clear connection to the name or occupation of the registrant. Exception from this rule are generic second level domain names (such as “diabetes” for example), which are awarded in the Landrush phase).

d- Content ⁄ Use
As indicated by earlier parts of this answer, DocCheck AG intends to raise certain conditions regarding the content published on a webpage under a .med second level domain. For the first time ever, it is possible to relate communities to top level domain names which implies some new measures for the self-concept of the internet. As DocCheck AG intends a strong connection and dedication of the .med to the medical and healthcare community, a certain thematic similarity is desirable in order to support the original mission and the community purpose. Therefore, all registrants must commit to only publish relevant content in a sense that medical and healthcare topics are covered or a strong connection towards such topics can be established.

Similar gTLD applications: (0)