.alipay
| Status: | Proposed |
| Registry Provider: | Afilias |
| Type: | Brand TLD |
| Priority #: | 268 - Alibaba Group Holding Limited |
More information: 
| |
.alipay is a Brand TLD being proposed in ICANN's New gTLD Program. The applicant is Alibaba Group Holding Limited.[1] Other new gTLD apps from the company include: .alibaba, .Taobao, and .Tmall.
Application Details
The following is excerpted from applicant response to question #18
"In addition to this ASCII application for the .Alipay string, the applicant will also be filling three other gTLD strings, namely “.Alibaba”, “.Taobao”, and “.Tmall”. These four applied-for strings consist of core business competency of Applicant and represent the ultimate and reputable brand value in the Internet marketplace. All four applications submitted by Applicant are considered to be critically important to Applicant’s existing and future businesses. Applicant and the “Alipay” brand The brand “Alibaba” is transliterated from the Chinese brand: “阿里巴巴” which was founded in Hangzhou, China, by the Applicant in about 1999. Applicant is a privately held holding company registered in Cayman Islands and established in 1999 by Mr. Jack MA (as known as MA Yun in Chinese), a pioneer who has aspired to help make the Internet accessible, trustworthy and beneficial for all Chinese as well as for everyone in the world. As of today, Alibaba, through the operation by its subsidiaries and affiliates (together referred to as “Alibaba Group”), reach Internet users in more than 240 countries and regions, and have more than 25,000 employees in some 70 cities in Greater China, India, Japan, Korea, Singapore, the United Kingdom and the United States.
..
Applicant is still analyzing potential use options on the type of .Alipay domain names that will be permitted to be registered and by whom. The current approach is to initially allow only a limited number of Corporate Internal Users (CIU) to apply ⁄ register limited number of second level .Alipay domain names. Besides Alibaba Group, a CIU may be a representative of an entity (registrant) and the entity is wholly-owned or affiliated with Alipay. This conservative approach shall meet the trademark protection purpose, and minimize potential technological, marketing and operational risks. Such restricted approach will be reviewed at the regular basis and subject to change depending upon a range of external factors. A consultative process with ICANN and relevant stakeholder shall take place prior to determination of any change of this approach. Most likely, Applicant will not make any such determination until after the first three years of operation."[2]