(re-sending) BC comment on Release of geo-names in .SOFTBANK, .ART and .CARAVAN TLDs

[Steve DelBianco <sdelbianco@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

The Business Constituency (BC) appreciates the opportunity to provide comments 
regarding the proposed amendments to the .SOFTBANK, .CARAVAN, and .ART registry 
agreements submitted through the Registry Services Evaluation Policy (“RSEP”) 
on 29-April-2016, 02-June-2016, and 18-May-2016, respectively, and posted for 
public comment on 19-July-2016 at 
https://www.icann.org/public-comments/ctn-release-tlds-2016-07-19-en

The .SOFTBANK and .CARAVAN Requests



In their respective RSEP requests, Registry Operators Softbank Corp. and 
Caravan International, 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 .SOFTBANK and .CARAVAN 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 
list of Business Constituency comments below).


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 .ART Request



In its RSEP request, Registry Operator UK Creative Ideas Limited 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 .ART TLD.



The .ART request is distinct from the RSEP requests discussed above because it 
relates to an open TLD, 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.



--



 Prior BC comments on release of country and territory names at all levels in 
.BRAND TLDs:


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);

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);

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);

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);

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);

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);

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);

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);

Comment on Release of Country and Territory Names for the .STUDY, .COURSES, 
.LAMBORGHINI, XN--3OQ18VL8PN36A, .VOLKSWAGEN, .BUGATTI, .AUDI and .DELTA 
TLDs<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>
 (Jan. 27, 2016);

Comment on Release of Country and Territory Names for the .TORAY and .PICTET 
TLDs<https://cbu.memberclicks.net/assets/docs/positions-statements/2016/2016_05may%20bc-comment-on-release-of-geo-names-in-toray-and-pictet-tlds.pdf>
 (May 10, 2016);

Comment on Release of Country and Territory Names for the .HYUNDAI, .KIA, and 
.GODADDY 
TLDs<https://cbu.memberclicks.net/assets/docs/positions-statements/2016/2016_06june_09%20bc%20comment%20on%20release%20of%20geo-names%20in%20.hyundai%20.kia%20and%20.godaddy%20new%20gtlds.pdf>
 (June 9, 2016).

—

This comment was drafted by Andy Abrams and approved in accord with the BC 
Charter.