Charleston Road Registry is an American company, wholly owned by Google, which was established to provide registry services to the Internet public. Google is an American multinational public corporation and global technology leader focused on improving the ways its hundreds of millions of users connect with information. Since its formation, Google has been developing technology that can improve upon existing ways of doing business on the Internet. Google provides a variety of services and tools for Internet users and advertisers of all sizes, from simple search features and local ads to enterprise-scale business applications and global advertising solutions. These tools make it easier for people to make use of the world’s information and enable entrepreneurs and publishers around the world to grow their businesses.

In line with Google’s general mission, Charleston Road Registry’s mission is to help make information universally accessible and useful by extending the utility of the DNS while enhancing the performance, security and stability of the Internet for users worldwide. Charleston Road Registry aspires to create unique web spaces where users can learn about Google products, services and information in a targeted manner and in ways never before seen on the Internet. Its business objective is to manage Google’s gTLD portfolio and Google’s registry operator business. As discussed further in the responses to question 23 and 31, Charleston Road Registry intends to outsource all critical registry functions to Google Registry Services.

The proposed gTLD will provide Google with direct association to the term, ʺand,ʺ which is an abbreviation of ʺandroid,ʺ and meant to refer to the Android platform and operating system. Android is one of the leading mobile platforms in the world, and more than 300 million Android devices on more than 825 product types have been activated worldwide. Individuals from 190 countries download apps from among the 450,000 Android apps currently available each day. The mission of this gTLD, .and, is to provide a dedicated domain space in which Google can enact second-level domains that relate to the offering of Android-specific content. This mission will enhance consumer choice by providing new availability in the second-level domain space in which Google can develop and introduce new content and offerings. It also creates new layers of organization on the Internet and signals the kind of content available in the domain.