.amazon

Status:	Proposed
Registry Provider:	Neustar
Type:	Brand TLD
Priority #:	1156 - Amazon
More information:

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

Application Details

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

"Founded in 1994, Amazon opened on the World Wide Web in July 1995 and today offers Earth’s Biggest Selection. Amazon seeks to be Earth’s most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online, and endeavors to offer its customers the lowest possible prices. Amazon and other sellers offer millions of unique new, refurbished and used items in categories such as Books; Movies, Music & Games; Digital Downloads; Electronics & Computers; Home & Garden; Toys, Kids & Baby; Grocery; Apparel, Shoes & Jewelry; Health & Beauty; Sports & Outdoors; and Tools, Auto & Industrial. Amazon Web Services provides Amazon’s developer customers with access to in-the-cloud infrastructure services based on Amazon’s own back-end technology platform, which developers can use to enable virtually any type of business. The new latest generation Kindle is the lightest, most compact Kindle ever and features the same 6-inch, most advanced electronic ink display that reads like real paper even in bright sunlight. Kindle Touch is a new addition to the Kindle family with an easy-to-use touch screen that makes it easier than ever to turn pages, search, shop, and take notes – still with all the benefits of the most advanced electronic ink display. Kindle Touch 3G is the top of the line e-reader and offers the same new design and features of Kindle Touch, with the unparalleled added convenience of free 3G. Kindle Fire is the Kindle for movies, TV shows, music, books, magazines, apps, games and web browsing with all the content, free storage in the Amazon Cloud, Whispersync, Amazon Silk (Amazon’s new revolutionary cloud-accelerated web browser), vibrant color touch screen, and powerful dual-core processor. Amazon and its affiliates operate websites, including www.amazon.com, www.amazon.co.uk, www.amazon.de, www.amazon.co.jp, www.amazon.fr, www.amazon.ca, www.amazon.cn, www.amazon.it, and www.amazon.es.

The mission of the .AMAZON registry is: To provide a unique and dedicated platform for Amazon while simultaneously protecting the integrity of its brand and reputation. A .AMAZON registry will:

• Provide Amazon with additional controls over its technical architecture, offering a stable and secure foundation for online communication and interaction.
• Provide Amazon a further platform for innovation.
• Enable Amazon to protect its intellectual property rights."

GAC Early Warning

The application received a joint GAC Early Warning from the representatives of Brazil and Peru. The warning system is noted as a strong recommendation on behalf of national governments to the ICANN Board that a given TLD application should be denied as it stands. Applicants are encouraged to work with objecting GAC members.

The warning recommends that the applicant withdraw its application as the string also refers to an important region of South America, spanning across many countries, and also coincides with the name on an International organization many of these countries participate in.

Although the United States government initially opposed the GAC objection to geographic-looking strings such as .amazon, they put out a statement in July 2013 that revised their position, saying it would remain neutral in the case of .amazon, thereby allowing the GAC to present a consensus objection regarding the string and all of its IDN versions.

IO Objection

ICANN's Independent Objector (IO) filed a Community Objection against the .amazon string. The IO is an appointed authority on international law whose role is to object to strings on the grounds of Community harm and Limited Public Interest were detailed in the applicant guidebook. His objections are official objections and are funded by ICANN, though his office is otherwise independent. Reasons for the specific case against .amazon were not initially given, but the community objection generally argues that the TLD faces opposition or is contrary to a significant portion of a community which it purportedly aims to serve. The IO must determine: That the community is a clearly delineated community; that there is a strong association between the community and the string applied for; there is a strong association between the segment of the community on whose half we objects and the string itself; and he must determine that the TLD would produce a significant material detriment to this sizable portion of the community.

He also objected to the Japanese and Chinese versions of the string, .アマゾン, and .亚马逊.

ICANN NGPC Accepts GAC Advice

In May 2014, ICANN's NGPC announced it would be accepting the GAC advice that the current application for .amazon should not proceed as it is, since governments from the Amazon biome region, specifically Brazil and Peru, have objected to the string on grounds that Amazon the company would not allow for use of the domains in the public interest and related to the protection and promotion of this region.

It is unclear what steps Amazon will take next. The Japanese and Chinese versions of the string "amazon" will also not proceed.

Independent Review & Ruling

After ICANN's acceptance of the GAC's advice and its subsequent denial of Amazon's application for .amazon, Amazon filed for an Independent Review. In the final declaration dated 11 July 2017, the panel determined that ICANN's board gave too much deference to the GAC's advice. Furthermore, the panel determined that the board "failed in its duty to explain and give adequate reasons for its decision, beyond merely citing to its reliance on the GAC advice and the presumption."

Statements from the community

During the process of discussion about the delegation of .amazon, statements by the community have referenced the issue, with linkages to the theme coming from the environmental perspective and even from underserved communities, i. e. indigenous issues.

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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