.webs

Status:	Proposed
country:	International
Type:	Generic
Category:	Technology
Priority #:	539 - Vistaprint Limited (Community App) 1717 - Vistaprint Limited

.webs is a proposed gTLD in ICANN's new gTLD program. There are two applications from Vistaprint Limited, one is a Community Application and another is a Normal Application, presumably in case they fail to receive Community recognition from ICANN.

They define their community as users of their online portal, webs.com: "The ‘WEBS’ community was created in late 2005 by Freewebs, now called Webs, Inc. Webs, Inc. presently is a subsidiary of the Applicant... Since 2006, the Applicant started by giving its users the option to publish their myWebs profile as a page on their website, making it accessible and searchable to all Freewebs – and later on Webs – visitors. The Applicant invested in creating the tools necessary for its members to simply create their Web presence and share their passions with the world. Since its inception, the name of the community was ‘WEBS’. This is shown by the mention of ‘myWebs’ and the mention of the name ‘Webs’ as such to refer to the blog that was used by the community to communicate with each other to share Webs experiences... In 2008 this resulted in the rebranding of the company name from Freewebs into Webs. The community only became stronger and the aim was to have visitors to become active participants. The Applicant, through the Webs platform lets site owners create community-driven sites that visitors can join as members. By giving site members the ability to comment on photos, post to a blog, add to a site calendar, and more, a site becomes more of a living, breathing entity and a reflection of the Webs community."

To begin with the TLD will be a Single Registrant TLD, meaning that the applicant will use it for their own commercial and internal profits and not offer registration to the wider community. "At a later stage, in addition to the Applicant and⁄or its subsidiaries, members of the Webs community will possibly be entitled to register domain names in .WEBS. That is to say, one of the main eligibility criteria will be that the interested party wishing to register a domain name in the .WEBS TLD is either a member of the Applicant or has a sufficiently close link to the Webs community."