[bc-gnso] FILED: BC comment on amending Registry Agreements for .STUDY, .COURSES, .LAMBORGHINI, .VOLKSWAGEN, .BUGATTI, .AUDI and .DELTA

[Steve DelBianco <sdelbianco@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Today we filed our comment on amending Registry Agreements for .STUDY, 
.COURSES, .LAMBORGHINI, .VOLKSWAGEN, .BUGATTI, .AUDI and .DELTA  (see below and 
here<http://www.bizconst.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/BC-comment-on-amending-Registry-Agreements-for-.STUDY-.COURSES-.LAMBORGHINI-.VOLKSWAGEN-.BUGATTI-.AUDI-and-.DELTA_.pdf>).

As of tonight’s deadline, the BC was the only comment filed on this issue. 
(link<https://www.icann.org/public-comments/ctn-release-tlds-2015-12-15-en> to 
comments page)

Many thanks to Andy Abrams for drafting this comment for the BC

——

The ICANN Business Constituency (“BC”) appreciates the opportunity to provide 
comments regarding the proposed amendments to the .STUDY, .COURSES, 
.LAMBORGHINI, XN--3OQ18VL8PN36A, .VOLKSWAGEN, .BUGATTI, .AUDI and .DELTA 
registry agreements submitted through the Registry Services Evaluation Policy 
(RSEP) on 11-Sept-2015, 01-Oct-2015, 08-Oct-2015, 08-Oct-2015, 08-Oct-2015, 
08-Oct-2015, 08-Oct-2015, and 02-Nov-2015, respectively, and posted for public 
comment on 01-September-2015 at 
https://www.icann.org/public-comments/ctn-release-tlds-2015-09-01-en .

The .LAMBORGHINI, XN--3OQ18VL8PN36A, .VOLKSWAGEN, .BUGATTI, .AUDI and .DELTA 
Requests



In their respective RSEP requests, Registry Operators Automobili Lamborghini 
S.p.A, Volkswagen (China) Investment Co., Ltd., Volkswagen Group of America 
Inc., Bugatti International SA, AUDI Aktiengesellschaft, and Delta Air Lines, 
Inc. seek the release of all country and territory names, as defined in Section 
4 of Specification 5 of the Registry Agreement, at all levels of the 
.LAMBORGHINI, XN--3OQ18VL8PN36A, .VOLKSWAGEN, .BUGATTI, .AUDI and .DELTA TLDs.  
The BC fully supports these requests submitted by .BRAND registries.


The BC has consistently supported the release of country and territory names at 
all levels in .BRAND TLDs; this comment aligns with those prior comments.  See 
Business Constituency, Comment on Neustar's Proposal for Country and Territory 
Names<http://forum.icann.org/lists/comments-ctn-release-neustar-19sep14/pdfjYdQmbpklt.pdf>
 (Nov. 8, 2014); Business Constituency, Comment on the Release of Country and 
Territory Names in the .BMW and .MINI 
TLDs<http://forum.icann.org/lists/comments-bmw-mini-amendment-11dec14/msg00001.html>
 (Jan. 24, 2015); Business Constituency, Comment on Release of Country and 
Territory Names for the .EMERCK, .BERLIN, and .HAMBURG 
TLDs<http://forum.icann.org/lists/comments-emerck-hamburg-berlin-amendment-02mar15/msg00000.html>
 (April 1, 2015); Business Constituency, Comment on Release of Country and 
Territory Names for the .HONDA, .AXA, .EPSON, .HSBC, .XYZ and .COLLEGE 
TLDs<http://forum.icann.org/lists/comments-ctn-release-tlds-31mar15/msg00000.html>
 (April 28, 2015); Business Constituency, Comment on Release of Country and 
Territory Names for the .SONY, .ARCHI, .BIO and .SAARLAND 
TLDs<http://www.bizconst.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/BC-comment-on-Release-of-countryterritory-names-in-.SONY-.ARCHI-.BIO-.SAARLAND.pdf>
 (June 14, 2015); Business Constituency, Comment on Release of Country and 
Territory Names for the .KOMATSU and .RICOH 
TLDs<http://www.bizconst.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/comment-on-proposed-amendments-to-.KOMATSU-and-.RICOH-registry-agreements.pdf>
 (June 14, 2015); Business Constituency, Comment on Release of Country and 
Territory Names for the .GLOBAL, .BNPPARIBAS, .BRIDGESTONE and .FIRESTONE 
TLDs<http://www.bizconst.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/BC-comment-on-geo-names-in-GLOBAL-FIRESTONE-etc.pdf>
 (August 2, 2015); Business Constituency, Comment on Release of Country and 
Territory Names for the .BROTHER .GEA .ACO .SECURITY .PROTECTION .THEATRE and 
.RENT 
TLDs<http://www.bizconst.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Comment-on-geo-names-in-registry-agreemetnf-for-BROTHER-and-others.pdf>
 (Oct. 22, 2015).


As set forth in our previous comments supporting similar RSEP requests, the BC 
believes that the use of country and territory names will allow .BRAND 
registries to create customized and relevant localized content for consumers in 
various countries and regions across the world, especially in developing 
nations with predominantly non-English-speaking populations.  This geographic 
segmentation will not only bring greater efficacy to .BRAND TLDs, but it will 
benefit businesses and consumers alike by fueling economic development in 
regions which currently have limited choice with respect to linguistically and 
culturally tailored domain names and content.



In addition, we firmly believe that the release of country and territory names 
for .BRAND TLDs will enhance security and trust in online commerce by 
permitting businesses to exercise more control over the security and stability 
of their customized web sites.



Finally, the BC considers that use of country and territory names within a 
.BRAND registry will always avoid confusion with an official government web 
property.  Indeed, the very basis of the .BRAND TLD model is for the brand to 
serve a unique source identifying function at the top-level, and for geographic 
names to serve a purely descriptive function at the second level.  Thus, 
especially given the context of the underlying commercial sites, consumers 
directed to country.brand domain names will always be aware that they are 
engaging with a geographically-targeted version of a company’s official web 
site as opposed to a government property.  The BC also notes the historical 
availability of country and territory names at all levels in all legacy TLDs.  
.BRAND TLDs should be afforded the same opportunity to allocate such names, 
given that the risk of abuse or confusion by the use of such names in a .BRAND 
registry is low.



The .STUDY and .COURSES Requests


In its RSEP request, Registry Operator Open Universities Australia Pty Ltd 
seeks the release of all country and territory names, as defined in Section 4 
of Specification 5 of the Registry Agreement, at all levels of the .STUDY and 
.COURSES TLDs.



The .STUDY and .COURSES requests are distinct from the RSEP requests discussed 
above because they relate to open TLDs, as opposed to .BRAND TLDs or geographic 
TLDs.  In our view, the historical availability of country and territory names 
at all levels in all legacy TLDs still militates in favor of a presumptive 
approval of the request for the release of country and territory names.



However, in recognition of the fact that the geographic segmentation and 
non-confusion arguments set forth in the previous sections are less persuasive 
for open TLDs than for .BRANDs or geographic TLDs, we believe that the 
presumption of approval may be overcome by a particular government’s objection 
to the release of its country or territory name.  In contrast, for .BRAND and 
.GEO TLDs, the BC strongly believes that the presumption of approval should 
only be able to be rebutted upon a showing of a justified and well-supported 
objection that convincingly demonstrates probable harm and/or confusion due to 
the use of its country or territory name at the second level.  Thus, given the 
above rationale, to the BC the central question is one of degree, whereby 
restricted-access TLDs, such as .BRANDS and geographic TLDs, should enjoy the 
strongest presumption of approval (rebutted only upon justified and 
well-supported governmental objections), whereas purely open TLDs should enjoy 
a lesser presumption of approval (rebutted upon any governmental objection).



In the future, in order to make the requested delineation more clear, the BC 
would support bifurcating similar public comment periods on country and 
territory names into buckets corresponding to restricted access TLDs, such as 
.Brands or geographic TLDs, versus purely open TLDs.



These comments were drafted by Andy Abrams and approved in accordance with our 
charter.