.sale

Status:	Delegated
country:	International
Date Implemented:	25 December 2014
Type:	Generic
Category:	Commerce
More information:

.sale is a TLD delegated in ICANN's New gTLD Program. After a private auction in September 2014, Donuts became the sole applicant for the string. The company manages the TLD and is its Registry. The proposed application succeeded and was delegated to the Root Zone on 25 December, 2014.

Current Applicant

1. Donuts (Half Bloom, LLC) applied for 307 TLDs. This applicant submitted a Public Interest Commitment, which can be downloaded here.

Former Applicants

1. Top Level Domain Holdings Ltd. filed for 68 new TLD applications on its own behalf. This applicant submitted a Public Interest Commitment, which can be downloaded here. .sale was WITHDRAWN by TLDH, along with another 3 TLDs (.free, .spa, .zulu), in April 2013.
2. Uniregistry, Corp., Frank Schilling's company applied for 54 new TLDs.
3. Famous Four Media applied for 61 new TLDs.
4. Dot-Sale LLC

European Commission Communiqué

The European Commission flagged all applications for .sale outside of ICANN's defined remediation processes.

Just after ICANN's GAC issued its Early Warnings, which are advice given from one GAC member country to an applicant warning it of potential issues within its application, the European Commission issued a letter to all applicants within the new gTLD program. The letter highlights 58 applications that "could raise issues of compatibility with the existing legislation .. and/or with policy positions and objectives of the European Union." It notes a desire to open a dialogue with each offending applicant.

The Commission specifically notes that this objection is not a part of the GAC Early Warning process, and goes on to note that "the Commission does not consider itself legally bound to [ICANN] processes," given that there is not legal agreement between the two bodies.

Private Auction

A Private auction conducted in September 2014 left Donuts as the only applicant for the string, as the other applicants withdrew. The winning bid was not revealed.

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).