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Community Applicants

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A Community TLD is a regulated type of generic top level domain name (gTLD) made possible through ICANN's New gTLD Program; it is intended for cohesive, community groups that are interested in operating their own TLD registry. Community TLDs must represent and receive strong, written support from a clearly defined group of people such as cultural, religious, social groups or industry sectors. The existence of the group must be unquestionable.[1] [2][3]

Community groups are given precedence for TLDs in contention; that is, if there are multiple applicants for a given string, and one of the applicants applies and proves community status, the community group is automatically given precedence to the TLD. Community status is proven through a process known as Community Priority Evaluation.

The full requirements for a community TLD can be found here.

Generic Community Applications[edit | edit source]

1. .art, is one of the most highly contested strings, with a total of 10 applicants, which include 2 competitive community priority applicants.

The two competing community bids have been submitted by EFLUX.ART, LLC and Dadotart, Inc.. Dadotart claims it "is submitting this application on behalf of the Arts community, which it regards as Artists and those who have an identifiable engagement with the Arts worldwide. This naturally evolving community is the community represented by Dadotart in its application for the extension, .ART. The community is not static just as the arts themselves never stand still...Dadotart is owned and directed by deviantArt, an innovator in creating an Arts community online which has proven its commitment to support the Arts community online with more than 20 million members and 60 million monthly unique visitors. " A statement of intent at the time of registration will be used to determine if the registrant is part of the art community as defined by Dadotart, Inc.[4]

EFLUX.ART, LLC notes that it "already enjoys the support of a vast international community of individuals, organizations and companies that are active in the art community, with whom e-flux has extensively discussed its plans. This is shown by the vast amount of support letters from leading public and private art institutions as well as noted international artists, critics and curators, received by e-flux, and attached to our response to Question 20." Their eligibility and verification processes will include the need for registrants to be endorsed as legitimate by two existing .art registrants. Thereby creating a network of verifiable art professionals.[5]


2. .bank, has been applied for by two applicants, with only one, fTLD Registry Services LLC applying as a community applicant. That company is a partnership between the American Bankers Association (ABA) & BITS, the technology policy arm of the Financial Services Roundtable.[6] The ABA and Roundtable initiative is endorsed by the Australian Bankers' Association, American Bankers Insurance Association, British Bankers' Association, European Banking Federation, Independent Community Bankers of America, the International Banking Federation, and numerous financial services institutions.[7]

The non-community applicant for .bank is Radix, a portfolio applicant and subsidiary of Directi that has applied for 31 new gTLDs.

"The PCCS is a Dicastery of the Holy See, the governing body of the Catholic Church..The “Holy See” is internationally acknowledged to be the highest juridical authority of the Catholic Church, being governed by the Pope, also referred to as “the Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Catholic Church”. For instance, the U.S. Department of State states that “the “Holy See” is the universal government of the Catholic Church and operates from Vatican City State, a sovereign, independent territory […]. The Pope is the ruler of both Vatican City State and the Holy See. The Holy See, as the supreme body of government of the Catholic Church, is a sovereign juridical entity under international law.”[8]

To quote their registration policies: "The eligibility to register a domain name within the .catholic TLD will be restricted to the PCCS and the PCCS alone. Use of a .catholic domain name may be granted at the sole discretion of the PCCS to an affiliate such as recognised dioceses, religious orders and Catholic Church-affiliated institutions. The PCCS maintains a list of affiliates formally recognised by the Holy See as being part of the Catholic Church and thus being eligible to be granted use of a .catholic domain name. This list is primarily based on, however not exclusively, on the Annuario Pontificio (the official annual directory of all institutions related to the Holy See)."[9]


  • .corsica, is a ethno-geographic TLD dedicated to the people and culture of Corsia and individuals and businesses that identify in or through them. The applicant is the Collectivité Territoriale de Corse (CTC), which is the regional Government of Corsica, and as is states in its application, "without doubt, the most legitimate entity representing the interests of the Corsican people." Corsica is one of the 22 regions of France.

Firm registration policies were not outline in its application, however it promised to create a charter before implementation with input from AFNIC and a third party consultant, which is subject to approval by the Corsican parliament. "The charter will aim to be sufficiently open encourage large numbers of registrations from legitimate content and service providers, but sufficiently restrictive and with sufficient provisos to protect the TLD against all types of abusive behaviour. It will contain a complete description of the procedures in case of dispute over a domain name."[10]

  • .cpa, there are a total of 5 applicants submitting 6 applications for .cpa; one of the applicants, The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, has submitted a community priority application and a general application, this is done to ensure that the applicant still has a chance to manage the TLD even if it is denied community status by ICANN. The other community priority applicant is the CPA AUSTRALIA LTD.

The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants "set the professional and administrative standards for all CPA in the United States..[it] both administers and grades the professional examination required to obtain a CPA... It is the AICPA members – whose number currently amounts to about 377,000 members in 128 countries – and their needs that the Applicant is committed to serve since its establishment more than 100 years ago." The AICPA has international affiliates, including the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia. Their registration polices state that, "[a]t least during the initial months or even years following the delegation of the .cpa gTLD to the Applicant, this extension is likely going to be a so-called “single registrant TLD”..where “(i) all domain name registrations in the TLD are registered to, and maintained by, Registry Operator for its own exclusive use, and (ii) Registry Operator does not sell, distribute or transfer control or use of any registrations in the TLD to any third party that is not an Affiliate of Registry Operator.” The AICPA goes on to state that it foresees a time when "its Affiliates, individual members and possibly third parties who perform services or offer products to the benefit of the Applicant’s members, will possibly be entitled to register domain names in .cpa."[11]

CPA AUSTRALIA LTD (CPA Australia) represents a membership of 139,000 Certified Practicing Accountants (CPAs) spread across 114 countries, with a particularly strong presence in the fast growing Asia-Pacific region including China, Hong Kong and Singapore. Registration will be open to full CPA members and students; and "[a]t some point in the future, the CPA Australia community may review and consider expanding the community to include practicing accountants and other members of various CPA organisations around the world which also use a similar CPA designation."[12]

  • .eus, the .eus community application submitted by Puntueus Fundazioa is a geographic, cultural, linguistic focused TLD for the Basque region, people, language, and diaspora. It seems to be following the success of .cat as an sTLD for the Catalan community. "Eus is the contraction of “Euskara”, which means “basque language” in Basque." The organization has written support of a wide-range of Basque centric entities. Puntueus Fundazioa plans to restrict registration to legitimate and well-inteioned actors within the Basque cultural-linguistic community; It will first seek out prominent entities in the community prior to general launch, and post general launch it will "[require registrants] to state their intended use of the registered domain name. A false statement of intended use is an indication of bad faith and can be the basis for the suspension of the domain name."[13]

3. .gay There are 4 total applicants for the .gay TLD, including one community applicant, dotgay LLC. The company is supported by the International Gay & Lesbian Travel Association (IGLTA), National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC) and the National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, New York (NGLCCNY). dotgay LLC plans to donate 67% of the revenue generated from the sales of .gay domain names to non-profit LGBT organizations.[14] Their registration policies will include participation by "authentication partners", which will be gay and lesbian membership organization, ".gay is restricted to members of the Gay Community. Eligibility is determined through formal membership with any of dotgay LLC’s Authentication Partners (AP) from the community." Generic terms, such as "travel", will be reserved at the second level to create community resources, i.e. "travel.gay". [15]


4. .mls, there are a total of 3 applications for .mls, a TLD aimed at the real estate agency. "MLS" is an acronym for multiple listing service, which is a widely used real estate database in North America. There are 3 applications, but only 2 applicants, as the Canadian Real Estate Association applied as a community priority applicant and as a standard gTLD applicant. This is a means of ensuring that the Canadian Real Estate Association is still in a place to be delegated the TLD, even if it is not accepted as a community TLD.

While .mls has been applied for by the Canadian Association, it has already reached a deal to allow partners in America, the MLS Domains Association, to verify and sell its domains in the USA.[16] Their registration policies state: "Only members of CREA and its Foreign Affiliates will be permitted to register .MLS websites. The .MLS TLD will initially be made available to CREA’s Board members and Foreign Affiliate members. After undertaking any required assessments, CREA may enter into a second phase where the TLD would be made available to broker and salespeople members of CREA. Boards using the .MLS TLD will be required to use their corporate name, or an acronym of their corporate name, as the second level domain. Foreign Affiliate members will be required to include geographical modifiers in their second level domains on the .MLS TLD or clearly indicate the geographical area served by their system on any site page. For example, the Durham MLS would not be able to simply register Durham.mls, as this domain could be confusing with Durham, Ontario. The Durham MLS would be required to include a geographical modifier, like DurhamNorthCarolina.mls, or they would have to display something like a map of North Carolina on their home page."[17]


5. .music, there are 8 applications for .music, including 2 community priority application, DotMusic / CGR E-Commerce Ltd and .music LLC (Far Further).

The dot Music initiative (DotMusic / CGR E-Commerce Ltd) was started by Constantine Roussos in 2005. He launched the dotMusic (music.us) website dedicated to gathering support via a petition to ICANN to approve the .music TLD for the global music industry. His initiative was supported by members of the music industry including bands, musicians, companies, professionals and many others. Based on the dotMusic website, Roussos' initiative gathered more than 1.5 million signatures for the petition.[18] [19] Organizations it counts among its supporters include: International Federation of Arts Councils & Culture Agencies (IFACCA), American Association of Independent Music (A2IM), National Association of Recording Manufacturers (NARM).[20]

The other community applicant is Far Further (.music LLC). Many of its executives are also members of music organizations and associations, and the applicant claims that "there are forty-two (42) clearly delineated, organized and pre-existing music community organizations that have provided individual written statements of support. This unparalleled level of global music community representation is referred to as the Charter Member Organizations of the Global Music Community (GMC). Collectively they represent over 4 million individual members within more than 1,000 associations in over 150 countries...Potential domain registrants must be members of or affiliated with at least one Member Organization of the Global Music Community."[21]


6. .pharmacy, the only applicant for .pharmacy is the community application from the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy; it "is submitting this application with the support of international pharmacy coalitions and national pharmacy associations to ensure that the .PHARMACY gTLD shall serve as a trusted, hierarchical, and intuitive namespace for legitimate Internet pharmacies." The organization is already involved in verifying and accreditating different types of online pharmacies, and its registration policies inted to restrict the sell of domains to such legitimate pharmacies. The domains registered will have to correspond to a registered trademark, service mark, or business name. There is not a clear plan in its application for what to do with generic and geographic names, but the applicant plans to consult its community on these issues.[22]


7. .radio, there are 4 applicants for the .radio TLD, including one community priority applicant, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). The EBU is the largest international association of national broadcasters, and it counts the World Broadcasting Unions (WBU), the Association Mondiale des Radiodiffuseurs Communautaires (AMARC) among its supporters. It intends to support local and national radio programs, online radios and podcasts that maintain consistent programming, and amateur radio broadcasters. Membership validation will depend on in what way the applicant participates and has been registered within the broadcasting community.[23]

During ICANN 44 in Prague, the European Broadcasting Union requested permission to become a recognized observer in ICANN's GAC. This move raised questions of conflicts of interest, given that GAC advice is to be strongly considered by the ICANN Board during application proceedings.[24] Fellow .radio applicant, BRS Media, sent a letter to a chair of the GAC, Heather Dryden, complaining that granting the EBU observer status would cause a conflict of interests, and requesting that the EBU withdraw its GAC application immediately in order to recuse itself from all new gTLD discussions.[25] The EBU went on to be accepted into the GAC.[26]


8. .shia, the community application for .shia is the only application for the TLD. It was submitted by Asia Green IT System Bilgisayar San. ve Tic. Ltd. Sti (AGITSYS), and it refers to the second-largest denomination of Islam.[27] It states: "AGITSys and its constituent team members hail from the heart of the Shia Muslim community, both in terms of geography and the nationality of the team members. Their links to the community therein are thus irrefutably strong, as they themselves are passionate members of it...[and] In order to register a .SHIA Domain Name, you declare that you are part of the Islamic Religious and Cultural Community. Registrants must electronically accept that they have pronounced the Shahadah (declaration of faith) which states, “I testify that there is no god except for the God [Allah], and I testify that Muhammad is the Messenger of the God.”[28]

Saudi Arabia has notably contested 160 TLD applications, including the religious community applications for .catholic, .islam, and .shia.[29]


9. .shop, there are 9 applications for .shop from 8 applicants. One community priority applicant, GMO Registry, also submitted a generic application in order to still have a chance at the TLD should they not be awarded the community designation. The other community applicant, Commercial Connect LLC, submitted only the one community application.

The application from Commercial Connect LLC defines its community as e-Commerce operators that run "B2C site[s] that utilize credit card processing requiring them to abide by PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards) to operate." The company notes that "We are the original applicant for .SHOP from the 2000 round. While there were other applicants in the initial rounds, Commercial Connect was the only one that made it through the entire qualification process. When delegation of .SHOP was put off until the ʺnextʺ round, CC has been working with the above community to establish its relationship and representation in that community. Initially, since there was no clear community representation, we worked on establishing some form of a member trade association. The result was the creation of ECWR.net (eCommerce World Retailers). This was formed in March, 2004 and clearly predates the 2007 requirement in the Applicant Guidebook. We currently have in excess of 1,000 members representing a substantial amount of eCommerce (these members represent an equilivant in excess of $866 trillion in annual sales)."[30]

The application by GMO Registry leaves greater room in its use of language for shops providing "offline" commerce services. Their application is supported by a few commerce associations, such as the European Multi-channel and Online Trade Association (EMOTA) and the Japan Foundation for Electronic Commerce (JFEC). THere are not strong membership requirements delineated in the application.[31]


10. .spa, there are 3 applications for the .spa TLD, including 1 community priority application from Asia Spa and Wellness Promotion Council Limited (ASWPC). It is "connected with over 400 licensed spas across Asia and over 2000 spa professionals participating in and attending its events." While the organization is focused on Asia, they intend to operate the TLD as an open, international community space for all members of the spa community, which includes Spa operators, professionals and practitioners, Spa associations and their members, and spa products and services manufacturers and distributors. The ASWPC will create an International Registry board to oversee the registration policies for the TLD.[32]


11. .sport, there are 2 applicants for [[.sport], including one community application; there is also a non-community application for the plural version, .sports. The community application comes from Sport Accord, and it has engaged the International Sports Federations and the International Olympic Committee to comprise a Policy Advisory Board (PAB). "[R]egistrants in .sport must be recognized performers, organizers, promoters or supporters of federated Sport, or belong to categories of registrants recognized by the .sport Policy Advisory Board (PAB)." The Olympic Committee has previously been involved in discussions in [[ICANN] regarding universal protections for its trademarks across all new gTLDs.


12. .tatar, an ethno-geographic minded TLD submitted by the The Coordination Center for the Regional Domain for the Republic of Tatarstan, LLC. The majority of Tatars live in the Russian Federation, with a population of 5.5 million, including 2 million in the republic of Tatarstan, 1 million in the republic of Bashkortostan and other 2.5 million in other regions of Russia. Significant minority populations are found in Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Ukraine.[33]From their application: "The Tatar language together with the Bashkir language forms the Kypchak-Bolgar (also ʺUralo-Caspianʺ) group within the Kypchak languages (Northwestern Turkic). While Tatars formed different groups by regions of residence, they speak the same language, with just minor local differences, which gave rise to a number of dialects. There are three Tatar dialects: Eastern, Central, and Western ones. The Central (Volga) Tatar is the base of literary Tatar. As concerns the alphabet, Tatar is a Russian Cyrillic-based language, with 6 additional letters therein. By the Russian Federation Constitution, Tatars exercise the right to use the native language as the second official language, together with Russian, of the Republic of Tatarstan."

Its supporters include: The Chamber of Commerce of the Republic of Tatarstan, The World Congress of the Tatars, and The Ministry of Informatization and Communications of the Republic of Tatarstan. "During the Landrush and Live periods, domain name registration is open for any person, whether corporation or individual, resident of the Russian Federation or any other jurisdiction, which⁄who fully shares the mission, objectives and philosophy of .TATAR gTLD and agrees with all the Registry Operator’s policies. Prior to submission of the application for registration of its⁄his⁄her first domain name, the registration aspirant is bound to produce for registrar two recommendations from effective registrants in .TATAR. Such recommendations can be produced in the form of an official letter to the registrar or in the form of an electronic confirmation, per procedures established in the gTLD. The Recommendations shall explicitly reference to the aspirant’s name and its⁄his⁄her intention to register a second-level domain name in .TATAR."[34]


13. .taxi, There are 3 applicants for .taxi, including a community priority application submitted by Taxi Pay GmbH. Its primary supporters include taxi organizations and associations in Germany and Austria. It identifies four type of taxi community members: The core industry of taxi drivers and offices; the related industries involved in hardware and software suppliers, automotive repair shops, and insurance companies; subordinate organizations affiliated with government supervision and policy development; and major institutions and locations that rely heavily on taxi services in and around their venue(s).

"First, an applicant for a .taxi second level domain has to submit proof of his or her affiliation with the taxi industry to the desired registrar. This process does not involve any formalities on the side of TaxiPay GmbH except an official document, such as a taxi license or a commensurate certificate of registration stating the purpose of the company and aligning it with a strong affiliation to the taxi community."[35]


14. .tennis, There are 4 applicants for .tennis, including one community applicant, Tennis Australia Ltd, which is the governing body for Tennis in Australia. "Only individuals and entities belonging to the Tennis Australia community will be eligible to register a domain name within the .tennis TLD, as strict eligibility criteria will be introduced...Tennis Australia provides benefits to 2,176 affiliated tennis clubs and their over 180,000 tennis player members throughout Australia."

Current language in its application does not seem to leave room for any registration of the .tennis TLD outside of Australia.[36]


15. .thai, The only applicant for .thai is Better Living Management Company Limited, which submitted its app as a community priority application. It is a ethno-geographic TLD aimed at promoting and reinforcing the community of Thai people and speakers throughout Thailand and abroad. The applicant is a Thai company "has received strong support from the Thai government"; its attached endorsements include letters from the Ministry of ICT, the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of the Industry, and it notes in its application that it will work closely with THNIC, the national registry for the ccTLD, .th.

Its registration policies are: "Upon registration of a .thai domain name, a registrant must declare from where the proof of presence can be established, and what form of proof it is. A suggested list includes, but not limited to: nationality, business registration, organization, government, etc. BLM does not plan to validate the registrants’ proof-of-presence during the registration process, but rather will rely on the dispute resolution mechanism to allow interested users to dispute on the accuracy of the information."[37]


16. .ngo & .ong, are community priority applications submitted by The Public Interest Registry (PIR), the current non-profit registry of the .org TLD. NGO is an acronym for "Non-Governmental Organization", just as ONG is the French equivalent, "Organisation Non-Gouvernementale". PIR is itself an NGO.

"all registrants must demonstrate affiliation through NGO membership organizations or through evidence of NGO status. PIR will work with membership organization, the NGO Community Advisory Council, and other members of the NGO Community to validate their eligibility."[38]


Brands as Community[edit | edit source]

IDNs as Community[edit | edit source]

Geographic Communities[edit | edit source]

References[edit | edit source]

  1. ↑ Community gTLDs
  2. ↑ New gTLDs – Standard vs. Community-based Applications
  3. ↑ [1]
  4. ↑ gTLD Application 1-1097-20833
  5. ↑ gTLD Application 1-1675-51302
  6. ↑ BITS may apply for six financial gTLDs
  7. ↑ ABA and the Financial Services Roundtable Apply for Financial Domains to Protect Consumers
  8. ↑ Application 1-1311-76497
  9. ↑ Application 1-1311-76497
  10. ↑ Application 1-937-68428
  11. ↑ Application 1-1911-56672
  12. ↑ Application 1-1744-1971
  13. ↑ Application 1-1293-15788
  14. ↑ About dotgay
  15. ↑ gTLD Application 1-1713-23699
  16. ↑ Canadian Real Estate Association, Inman.com
  17. ↑ gTLD Application 1-1888-47714
  18. ↑ Constantine Roussos Linkedin Profile
  19. ↑ music.us
  20. ↑ Application 1-1115-14110
  21. ↑ Application 1-959-51046
  22. ↑ Application 1-1040-55064
  23. ↑ Application 1-1083-39123
  24. ↑ Radio gTLD Applicant Joins the GAC, DomainIncite.com
  25. ↑ Radio Applicant Slams GAC Conflict of Interest, DomainIncite.com
  26. ↑ EBUGAC.RadioForward.com
  27. ↑ Shia Islam, Wikipedia.org
  28. ↑ Application 1-2129-23641
  29. ↑ Saudi Arabia ICANN, Wired.co.uk
  30. ↑ Application 1-1830-1672
  31. ↑ Application 1-890-52063
  32. ↑ Application 1-1309-81322
  33. ↑ Tatars, En.Wikipedia.org
  34. ↑ Application 1-1664-2308
  35. ↑ Application 1-1025-18840
  36. ↑ Application 1-1723-69677
  37. ↑ Application 1-2112-4478
  38. ↑ Application 1-910-97160

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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