.mortgage

Status:	Delegated
Type:	Generic
Category:	Commerce
PIC Submitted:	Download Here
Priority #:	1298 - Donuts (Outer Gardens, LLC)
More information:

.mortgage is a gTLD that was proposed in ICANN's New gTLD Program. The applicant was Donuts (Outer Gardens, LLC) but ownership of the TLD was later transferred to Rightside (United TLD Holdco, Ltd.). Their application succeeded and was delegated to the Root Zone on 31 May 2014, making Rightside the Registry Operator of the string.

Background

GAC Early Warning

The application was issued a GAC Early Warning from the representative of Australia and GAC Chair, Heather Dryden. The warning system is noted as a strong recommendation on behalf of national governments to the ICANN Board that a given TLD application should be denied as it stands. Applicants are encouraged to work with objecting GAC members.

The warning states that the TLD refers to a regulated market but that the applicant has not provided for adequate measures to protect from consumer harm.

Application Details

The following is excerpted from the applicant's response to question #18:

"ABOUT DONUTS Donuts Inc. is the parent applicant for this and multiple other TLDs. The company intends to increase competition and consumer choice at the top level. It will operate these carefully selected TLDs safely and securely in a shared resources business model. To achieve its objectives, Donuts has recruited seasoned executive management with proven track records of excellence in the industry. In addition to this business and operational experience, the Donuts team also has contributed broadly to industry policymaking and regulation, successfully launched TLDs, built industry-leading companies from the ground up, and brought innovation, value and choice to the domain name marketplace.

ABOUT DONUTS’ RESOURCES Donuts’ has raised more than US$100 million from a number of capital sources for TLDs. Our well-resourced, capable and skilled organization will operate these TLDs and benefit Internet users by:

1. Providing the operational and financial stability necessary for TLDs of all sizes, but particularly for those with smaller volume (which are more likely to succeed within a shared resources model); 2. Competing more powerfully against incumbent gTLDs; and 3. More thoroughly and uniformly executing consumer and rights holder protections.

THE .MORTGAGE TLD This TLD is attractive and useful to end-users as it better facilitates search, self-expression, information sharing and the provision of legitimate goods and services. Along with the other TLDs in the Donuts family, this TLD will provide Internet users with opportunities for online identities and expression that do not currently exist. In doing so, the TLD will introduce significant consumer choice and competition to the Internet namespace – the very purpose of ICANN’s new TLD program.

This TLD is a generic term and its second level names will be attractive to a variety of Internet users. Making this TLD available to a broad audience of registrants is consistent with the competition goals of the New TLD expansion program, and consistent with ICANN’s objective of maximizing Internet participation. Donuts believes in an open Internet and, accordingly, we will encourage inclusiveness in the registration policies for this TLD. In order to avoid harm to legitimate registrants, Donuts will not artificially deny access, on the basis of identity alone (without legal cause), to a TLD that represents a generic form of activity and expression.

The .MORTGAGE TLD will be attractive to registrants with a connection to the use and provision of mortgage loans and related financial services. This is a broad and diverse group and may include those involved in providing, brokering, underwriting, and purchasing mortgages throughout the world. It also may include financial product experts who use the TLD as a platform for discussion of issues and data relating to mortgages and mortgage policies, as well as consumers who use it as a way to follow their own mortgages. We would operate the .MORTGAGE TLD in a legitimate and secure manner, and in the best interests of registrants in all jurisdictions who approach the TLD from a variety of perspectives.

DONUTS’ APPROACH TO PROTECTIONS No entity, or group of entities, has exclusive rights to own or register second level names in this TLD. There are superior ways to minimize the potential abuse of second level names, and in this application Donuts will describe and commit to an extensive array of protections against abuse, including protections against the abuse of trademark rights.

We recognize some applicants seek to address harms by constraining access to the registration of second level names. However, we believe attempts to limit abuse by limiting registrant eligibility is unnecessarily restrictive and harms users by denying access to many legitimate registrants. Restrictions on second level domain eligibility would prevent law-abiding individuals and organizations from participating in a space to which they are legitimately connected, and would inhibit the sort of positive innovation we intend to see in this TLD. As detailed throughout this application, we have struck the correct balance between consumer and business safety, and open access to second level names.

By applying our array of protection mechanisms, Donuts will make this TLD a place for Internet users that is far safer than existing TLDs. Donuts will strive to operate this TLD with fewer incidences of fraud and abuse than occur in incumbent TLDs. In addition, Donuts commits to work toward a downward trend in such incidents.

OUR PROTECTIONS Donuts has consulted with and evaluated the ideas of international law enforcement, consumer privacy advocacy organizations, intellectual property interests and other Internet industry groups to create a set of protections that far exceed those in existing TLDs, and bring to the Internet namespace nearly two dozen new rights and protection mechanisms to raise user safety and protection to a new level. "

Ownership Transfer to Rightside

Donuts applied for .mortgage through Outer Gardens, LLC which is a subsidiary of Covered TLD, LLC. Donuts used Covered TLD to apply for 107 of its 307 New gTLD applications, and it is believed that Rightside (through subsidiary United TLD Holdco) has the option to gain an ownership stake in the TLD applications under Covered TLD. Thus there are a number of the 107 TLDs under Covered TLD in which ownership was transferred from Donuts to Rightside.

Contract Signed

On 20 March 2014 Donuts received a Registry Agreement signed by ICANN for .mortgage after passing all the required processes needed to become a Registry Operator for the string. Donuts later assigned the Registry Agreement to Rightside (United TLD Holdco, Ltd.).

Delegation and Availability

.mortgage was delegated to the Root Zone of the DNS on 31 May 2014, completing the successful application for the string.

Top-Level Domain

Governmental Advisory Committee. Considers and provides advice on the activities of ICANN as they relate to concerns of governments, particularly matters where there may be an interaction between ICANN's policies and various laws and international agreements or where they may affect public policy issues (ICANN Bylaws).