QUESTION 1: Do you intend
to protect existing registrants from revocation of their domain names based solely
upon the premise that the registrant is not registered as a 501(c)(3) organization
or is without some other not-for-profit organization designation? ANSWER 1: The
DotOrg Foundation will transfer and continue all existing registrations, without
regard to the 501(c)(3) or not-for-profit status of the registrant. The .org
domain will continue to accept all new registrations and renewals under current ICANN
registration rules, without regard to a registrant's status.
QUESTION 2: Do you
intend to amend or add to the UDRP to reflect a new policy that a name can be transferred
to another registrant based solely upon the fact that the existing registrant cannot
prove to the arbitration panel that the domain name in question is being used for
non-commercial activities by a not-for-profit organization?
ANSWER 2: No, the
DotOrg Foundation will apply the UDRP as it currently stands and would apply any
future UDRP changes adopted pursuant to the ICANN process.
QUESTION 3: Will you
continue to support a .ORG registry that is open for registration by the general
public, as recommended in item 2b of the Final Report (version 5.4) on .ORG divestiture
(1), drafted by the DNSO Dot Org Names Council Task Force?
ANSWER 3: The DotOrg
Foundation intends to continue open registration policies for the .org TLD.
At the same time, we plan to increase noncommercial participation in the .org domain
by offering products and services that differentiate the TLD and focusing our marketing
efforts on the global noncommercial sector.
QUESTION 4: Even though all of the
proposals indicate each applicant's determination to differentiate the marketing
techniques for the .ORG gTLD, if selected, would you (as the new registry operator)
continue to embrace the openness of .ORG as a "generic" gTLD (without registrant
restrictions) as originally reflected in RFC 1591(2)?
ANSWER 4: As we stated
in answer to Question 3, we plan to retain an open .org domain, pursuant to the recommendations
of the Names Council Task Force. RFC 1591 states that the .org "domain is intended
as the miscellaneous TLD for organizations that didn't fit anywhere else."
The RFC allows for registration by registrants beyond the nonprofit or noncommercial
designation. Considering that the .org TLD has grown significantly since issuance
of RFC 1591 in 1994 and its current 2.7 million domain names are in large part held
by registrants that are not "noncommercial," the DotOrg Foundation believes that
it would be unfair to change the .org registration rules at this point. Therefore,
it is the DotOrg Foundation's intent to manage a registry for all .org registrants,
while launching product and marketing efforts aimed at increasing noncommercial .org
registrations.