.azure

Status:	Proposed
Registry Provider:	Verisign
Type:	Brand TLD
Priority #:	1597 - Microsoft
More information:

.azure is a Brand TLD being proposed in ICANN's New gTLD Program. The applicant is Microsoft.

Application Details

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

"We expect that customers and users of our Windows Azure family of cloud services will benefit if the .azure gTLD registry allows us to lay the groundwork for a more secure, globally recognized platform to complement our on-going efforts to enhance the security, stability, and reliability of our family of Windows Azure cloud services. We believe that the opportunity to provide our customers and users with an increased sense of security and authenticity for their interactions with Windows Azure cloud services may increase their confidence in and use of these services. We hope that an .azure gTLD will help us deliver a more secure, stable and reliable family of cloud services.

i. What is the goal of your proposed gTLD in terms of areas of speciality, service levels or reputation?

The goals of the proposed .azure gTLD are to lay the groundwork for providing customers and users who interact with Microsoft through the .azure gTLD with an increased sense of security and authenticity, to protect the Windows Azure brand and to promote the family of Windows Azure cloud services. Because the .azure gTLD is the logical, short gTLD counterpart to our Windows Azure brand, the importance of maintaining and strengthening this brand dictates that we operate the .azure registry to the highest service levels.

We anticipate that operation of the .azure gTLD has the potential to provide us with the opportunity to use the gTLD as a globally recognized and more secure platform to give customers and users choice and flexibility and an easy-to-use interface through which we can continue to provide our innovative family of Windows Azure cloud services.

ii. What do you anticipate your proposed gTLD will add to the current space in terms of competition, differentiation or innovation?

Our proposed .azure gTLD will add differentiation to the current space because it will be the only gTLD that may provide customers who interact with Microsoft through the .azure gTLD with an increased sense of security and authenticity, to protect the well-known Windows Azure brand, and to promote the family of Windows Azure cloud services. We anticipate that the opportunity to operate an .azure gTLD may provide an authentic and secure platform through which we can continue our commitment to innovation.

iii. What is the goal of your proposed gTLD in terms of user experience?

The goals of the .azure gTLD are to lay the groundwork for providing users who interact with Microsoft through the .azure gTLD with an increased sense of security and authenticity for using the family of Windows Azure cloud services, to protect the Windows Azure brand, and to promote the family of Windows Azure cloud services.

iv. Provide a complete description of the applicants intended registration policies in support of the goals above.

The Microsoft Domain Name Management team is responsible for the development, maintenance and enforcement of the .azure Domain Management Policy (aDMP). The aDMP defines the rules for eligibility and domain name allocation, sets out the terms governing the use of an .azure domain name, and describes the dispute resolution policies for the .azure TLD. We intend to update and revise the aDMP as appropriate to reflect Microsoft’s commercial and strategic interests as well as ICANN Consensus Policy and Temporary Policy developments. We summarize below the aDMP.

Registration of an .azure domain name is a four-step process: Eligibility Confirmation, Naming Convention Check, Acceptable Use Review, and Registration.

Registration of an .azure domain name will be restricted to Microsoft Corporation and its wholly owned subsidiaries."

Top-Level Domain