.carinsurance

Status:	Proposed
Type:	Generic
Category:	Industry
Priority #:	1227 - Allstate Fire and Casualty Insurance Company
More information:

.carinsurance is a proposed TLD in ICANN's New gTLD Program. The applicant is Allstate Fire and Casualty Insurance Company.

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 applicant is "seeking exclusive access to a common generic string .. that relates to a broad market sector," which Ms. Dryden notes could have unintended consequences and a negative impact on competition.

Application Details

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

"The content of this Answer to Question 18 set forth below describing the plans for Allstate Fire & Casualty Insurance Company’s (“AFCIC”), 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”). AFCIC 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 AFCIC on behalf of itself or an affiliate will be registered through an ICANN-accredited registrar and will be consistent with the Purpose.

The .CARINSURANCE gTLD registry will be a standard, not a community-based, registry. The .CARINSURANCE gTLD registry will be a standard registry restricted to AFCIC and its qualified subsidiaries, affiliates, business partners or others having the Required Agreement. The registry will be closed to registrants who do not have a formal, written agreement from AFCIC or an affiliate of AFCIC, specifically allowing the registration of a second-level domain name in the .CARINSURANCE gTLD registry (the “Required Agreement”). There will be no market for second-level registrations outside of registrants that are affiliated with AFCIC and⁄or that have the Required Agreement.

The Allstate Corporation and their affiliated companies (collectively, “the Allstate Family” or “Allstate”) comprise a leading insurance group that provides insurance products for autos, apartments, homes, recreational vehicles, motorcycles, boats, personal property, lives and businesses across the country (http:⁄⁄www.allstate.com⁄about.aspx). Allstate is the largest publicly held personal lines property and casualty insurance group in America with 12,000 agents and operations in numerous States and provinces throughout the United States, Canada and in the UK. Affiliates of Allstate include, but are not limited to, Esurance and Answer Financial.

The intended future mission of the .CARINSURANCE gTLD is to serve as a trusted, hierarchical, and intuitive namespace, provided by AFCIC for Allstate and potentially its qualified subsidiaries and affiliates, business partners and others having the Required Agreement, as well as for Allstate customers and Internet users in general.

AFCIC has analyzed potential use case options for the type of domain names that will be permitted to be registered and by whom. AFCIC is leveraging Allstate’s experience of bringing critical auto insurance-related information, products, and services to its policyholders in a safer and more trusted environment through a diverse range of media outlets as well as brick-and-mortar agency offices.

The current best thinking involves a business model in which certain generic and geographic domain names would initially be reserved for⁄allocated to Allstate, and potentially its qualified subsidiaries and affiliates, including Allstate agents. This initial limited use will allow Allstate to establish its operations and achieve full sustainability. This limited distribution, coupled with the other requirements set forth in Specification 9 of the Draft New gTLD Registry Agreement, is intended to exempt AFCIC from any annual Code of Conduct Compliance requirements. After Stage 3, as discussed below, Allstate will evaluate whether there are opportunities to carry out the business strategy for the .CARINSURANCE gTLD through an expansion that continues the sustainable operations of the registry through fee-based registrations to parties other than Allstate and its qualified subsidiaries, affiliates, and Allstate’s agents."

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).

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