.ged

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Status:	PASSED EE
Registry Provider:	Afilias
Type:	Generic
Category:	Education
Priority #:	1193 - GED Domains LLC

.ged is a proposed TLD in ICANN's New gTLD Program. The applicant is GED Domains LLC.

The application failed its initial evaluation in July, 2013. It was the first example of an applicant passing its technical and financial evaluations but still requiring extended evaluation. This is due to the fact that the application proposes a registry service related to IDNs that the panel believes warrants a deeper investigation. The applicant subsequently requested and passed Extended Evaluation (EE).

Letter to ICANN on String Similarity

Weeks prior to the announcement of the String Similarity Panel's decision, the VPs of the .gea and .ged bids sent a letter to ICANN imploring them to recognize the differences in their TLD regardless of any perceived visual similarity. THe results of the string similiarity panel had been long delayed and the lack of guidance or sense of direction for the results can be read into the move by these new gTLD applicants. They note that their scopes are entirely different, serving different niche industries, and that they will be operating close registries. This leaves little room for any overlap, they argue, writing "for any likelihood of confusion to exist, it must be probable, not merely theoretically possible, that confusion will actually arise in the mind fo the average, reasonable Internet user. Mere visual similarity is not a sufficient basis to support a finding of string confusion."

It was revealed days later that only 2 contention sets were created by ICANN, .unicom with .unicorn, and .hotels with .hoteis.

Application Details

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

"The primary mission and purpose of the .GED gTLD is to provide a trusted, verified, vetted, and intuitive online community to aggregate GED® test information and quality GED® products and services for potential candidates, consumers, states, and authorized licensees and partners. Forty million adults in the United States alone lack high school credentials as well as the associated access to opportunities for training, higher education, and family-sustaining jobs. Every day, however, new websites are created online to defraud this audience by selling bogus online high school diplomas, tests, and preparation systems that are not part of the nationally recognized GED® testing program. The .GED gTLD will become a recognizable symbol of quality products and services associated with the official GED® testing program. GED Domains LLC, the entity which has filed this application, will be the vehicle which brings the .GED gTLD to market.

GED Domains LLC is a wholly owned subsidiary of GED Testing Service LLC which is a joint venture between the American Council on Education (ACE) and NCS Pearson Inc, a wholly owned subsidiary of Pearson Plc (Pearson), two industry-leading organizations with a common focus on adult learning. ACE is a major coordinating body for the nation’s higher education institutions, representing more than 1,600 college and university presidents, and more than 200 related associations nationwide. For 70 years, ACE has served as the steward of the GED® testing program overseeing all aspects of the GED® test, including but not limited to: policy, development, testing, and compliance.

Pearson is the worldʹs leading learning company, providing educational materials and services, business information through the Financial Times Group, and consumer publishing through the Penguin brand. Pearson serves learners of all ages around the globe, employing 36,000 people in more than 70 countries, and is listed on the London and New York stock exchanges.

18.1.1 History of the GED® Brand GED® is a registered trademark for the nationally recognized test administered by states and jurisdictions to measure high school-level skills and knowledge for adults who did not complete a traditional high school program. At the request of the United States military, the GED® test was first developed in 1942 to help World War II veterans finish their high school studies and reenter civilian life. New York was the first state in 1947 to accept a GED® test credential as a high school equivalency credential and by 1974 all states accepted the credential. GED® test credentials are now awarded in all 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, U.S. territories and insular areas, Canada and internationally. The GED® test credential is now the most widely accepted and respected high school equivalency credential.

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Only partners and licensees authorized by GED Testing Service, the parent of GED Domains LLC, will be permitted to register domain names. This vetting will be done by GED Testing Service and will be part of a broader business and licensing agreement. As part of that licensing agreement businesses will be required to adhere to trademark usage and brand standards as well as proving that their products meet the standards set forth by the GED Testing Program to enhance the candidate experience. Only after this vetting has occurred will that entity be allowed to register a domain name with GED Domains LLC. In addition to this pre-validation, GED Testing Service LLC will incorporate post-registration safe guards to ensure ongoing monitoring and compliance with these requirements. Because of this condition precedent, any registration and use requirements are more appropriately vested in these licensing agreements and not in a domain name registration agreement. Because GED® is a valuable brand whose protection is of paramount importance, any registration and use (e.g. trademark quality control provisions) must vest in these other agreements."