.photo

Status:	Active
Registry Provider:	ISC
Type:	Generic
Category:	Media
Priority #:	1289 - Uniregistry, Corp.
More information:

.photo is an active gTLD that was proposed in ICANN's New gTLD Program. The Registry and manager of the TLD is Uniregistry. The proposed application succeeded and was delegated to the Root Zone on 18 January 2014.

Application Details

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

"An identifiable style of work is key to a professional or even amateur photographer. It defines them and draws attention and support from individuals who admire or relate to their work. The Internet has made it possible for photographers to instantly display their images to a larger crowd of potential clients and followers. As Internet use continues to rise and even more Internet users share photos, we believe .PHOTO will serve as an optimal domain space with which professionals can identify their work and individuals can upload and share photographs amongst family, friends, and a wider Internet audience.

Uniregistry believes that when the top-level domain ʺ.PHOTOʺ is appended to the end of website name, the siteʹs viewers will have an immediate context for the content about to be viewed: pictures. A registrantʹs choice of .PHOTO as a top-level domain will provide a lens through which a viewer will see the associated content.

New top-level domains represent the future of naming for Internet-based resources. For a significant number of users, .PHOTO is the most meaningful and accurate description of the content of the works or services a registrant might provide, or a user might seek, online. Nothing better describes a photo than ʺphotoʺ.

DNS-based addressing brings with it unique advantages for branding Internet-based resources with semantic meaning and easily communicable and remembered labels. Domain Names are mnemonic devices, designed to help users remember and invoke the ʺlocationʺ of web sites, email servers, and the like (as opposed to having to remember ip addresses). The addition of many new, semantically meaningful, TLDs will enhance this mnemonic function, helping users to discover pertinent resources, differentiate among stored links, and remember how to reach sites they have visited before.

Top-level domains with specific semantic meaning, like .PHOTO, will thrive when operated by a neutral registry-services provider like Uniregistry. A neutral registry does not provide preferential registration opportunities to any particular market participant, create anti-competitive rules that prevent domain name registration by competitors, or become so deeply involved in the target market that its presence as the registry services provider creates the appearance of impropriety or bias. Uniregistry always will act as a neutral services provider for .PHOTO.

A specialized top-level domain string, like .PHOTO, immediately conveys the purpose for which the user is seeking to access a site. Registrants who might get lost in a larger, undifferentiated TLD, and who seek to convey the specific purpose of the site or services, or who are unable to find a satisfactory SLD within existing TLDs, will find it easier to reach potential users.

.PHOTO will be a specialty gTLD, with a flat pricing structure and fixed renewal costs, with no material price increases for the first five years. This moderately priced namespace is designed to offer registrants an attractive, competitive registration alternative or complement to existing registrations for the purpose of specialized content.

The registry will strive to bring value to both the users seeking photography and photographers and the registrants who are offering such services by providing directory services, traffic-generation toolkits, and search-related functionality from central registry-operated resources designed to promote the .PHOTO top-level domain and the companies, organizations, and individuals choosing to register .PHOTO names.

The registry will implement safeguards to intellectual property interests, while fostering socially and commercially productive growth of its name-space for registrants, stakeholders, and Internet users.

ABOUT UNIREGISTRY

Uniregistry Corp. is a new venture formed by established domain name industry veterans to serve as the delegated registry services provider for the .PHOTO top-level domain.

The mission and purpose of Uniregistryʹs .PHOTO gTLD is to be the pre-eminent general and generic Top Level Domain (gTLD) choice for photography.

We want registrants in .PHOTO to build their Internet services on a platform designed for long-term security, stability, and predictability in Internet naming. We will provide a sound foundation for registrants and their registrars by offering world-class technical infrastructure, excellence in organizational management, and low-cost, predictable pricing.

Consistent with the policies defined by ICANNʹs original Consensus Policy, ICP-1, that gTLD registries ʺare trustees for the delegated domain, and have a duty to serve the community,ʺ we believe that the registry should be managed both for the benefit of the individuals and companies that will choose to register domain names as well as Internet users worldwide. The honor of serving these constituents carries with it the obligation to work closely with ICANN, its component bodies and supporters, governments, and the registrants that will choose a .PHOTO domain name for their Internet identity.

Uniregistry founders have a rich history of service to domain name registrants and have channeled their efforts and long-standing culture of service into this application."

Contract Signed

On 14 November 2013, Uniregistry received a Registry Agreement signed by ICANN for .photo after passing all the required processes needed to become a Registry Operator for the string.

Delegation and Availability

.photo was delegated to the Root Zone of the DNS on January 18, 2014, completing the successful application for the string.

Top-Level Domain

Second Level Domain