.flowers

Status:	Delegated
Date Implemented:	25 December 2014
Type:	Generic
Category:	Lifestyle
More information:

.flowers is a TLD delegated in ICANN's New gTLD Program. Piper Ventures, LLC manages the TLD and is its Registry. The proposed application succeeded and was delegated to the Root Zone on 25 December, 2014.

Current Applicant

1. Uniregistry, Corp.- The company applied for 54 new gTLDs.

Previous Applicants

1. Top Level Domain Holdings Ltd.It is one of 68 applications filed by the company on its own behalf. This applicant submitted a Public Interest Commitment, which can be downloaded here.
2. Donuts (Fern Willow, LLC)- This is one of the 307 new gTLD application filed by the company. Donuts created Fern Willow, LLC to specifically apply for the .flower string. Daniel Schindler, co-founder and EVP for Marketing & Sales, is the main contact person in the application. This applicant submitted a Public Interest Commitment, which can be downloaded here.
3. Piper Ventures, LLC- Its application was submitted by FairWinds Partners, a gTLD consultancy firm headed by managing partners Joshua Borne and Phil Lodico.

Private Auction

In September 2014, all applicants except Uniregistry withdrew their applications of the string. This was due to an assumed private deal for an undisclosed amount.

Piper Ventures, LLC

The application from Piper Ventures, LLC was issued a GAC Early Warning from the representative of Australia and GAC Chair, Heather Dryden. 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 states that the applicant is "seeking exclusive access to a common generic string .. that relates to a broad market sector," which Ms. Dryden notes could have unintended consequences and a negative impact on competition.

TLDH & $15mm Auction Funding

On February 26 2013, Top Level Domain Holdings Ltd. announced that it had entered into a funding agreement worth $15 million to be used in the case of auction for a specific unnamed TLD. The investor will not receive ownership of the TLD but a share of future revenues. TLDH did not name the TLD that the funds are directed for, and it is in 11 head to head contentions and 12 featuring more than one contender.

Top-Level Domain

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).