Business

Top Level Design, LLCʹs goal for the .design gTLD is to create a designated Internet space for designers. Presently, designers are relegated to ambiguous TLDs like .com and .net, which says nothing about their work. This TLD will allow them to identify themselves from among the billions of other web pages populating the Internet, and allow Internet users to easily be able to identify them as well. Most important, it will be a place where designers can further enhance the realization of their ideas and concepts which make them unique.

The design market includes a wide array of specialties, including but not limited to: graphic designers, interior designers, fashion designers, industrial designers, web designers, architects, game designers, civil engineers, and essentially any individual or company specializing in the practical and artistic aspects of creating a unique product. The number of international firms and individuals involved in the design process, and who would consequently be served by a .design TLD, is well into the hundreds of thousands. The 2010 figures provided by the US census show that the US market alone has 21,500 fashion designers; 66,500 floral designers; 279,200 graphic designers; 40,800 industrial designers; 56,500 interior designers; and 11,700 set and exhibit designers. While these are individuals and not companies, and there is no clear way of verifiably turning these figures into projected domains registered, it certainly gives an idea of how large and how varied the design sector is. By fully understanding the size and scope of this market, it is possible to see the utility of and need for a .design TLD. Furthermore, using a tool we have created to analyze the second-level names in the Internet’s most popular zone file, the .com TLD, we have found that the word design appears 721,400 times in registered .com domains, and that 322,804 of those occurrences appear at the end of a multi-word domain. Again, there is no clear way to turn these figures into projected domains registered, but it shows the large size of the market that we would be targeting, and how many people a .design TLD could positively affect.

It is our goal to become a model TLD within ICANN’s expansion of the root zone, and to embody the innovative, inclusive spirit that created the program. Like ICANN, we recognize the many stakeholders that have an equal voice in the safe, productive development of the root zone and the Internet, and we specifically want to cater to the voices of those designers involved in presenting their work and talent on the web. We trust that as we become the recognized, secure, and personal designation for all types of international designers, the Internet and its users will benefit from clear designation and the creation of thousands of unique and compelling design related websites. The .design TLD will be an open TLD, with wholesale pricing higher than currently available gTLDs. We believe that this pricing strategy will help encourage the productive development of the domain space, and encourage those individuals that wish to create malicious content, parked pages, or are generally not looking to reflect their involvement in design through their TLD to use cheaper TLD offerings to host their content.

It is also our goal at Top Level Design, LLC’s to make the .design TLD a viable and profitable business. We believe this to be the most likely scenario, and the projections and financial analysis included in this application demonstrate such. We hope to grow at a rate that allows us to continually improve our registry offerings and increase benefits for both our customers and employees. However, our commitments and projections at this time are focused on conservatively estimating our revenue in order to best prepare for a TLD market with the possibility of many more TLDs.

18.1.1 Dealer.com

Dealer.com’s mission is to be the most sought after automotive web solutions provider in the world. Dealer.com pursues this mission with the highest degree of integrity and a focus on creating superior products, satisfied clients and empowered employees - all with minimal impact on the environment.

Dealer.com’s solutions include those for franchise automotive dealers, independent auto dealers, dealer groups, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and advertising agencies. Its proprietary platform is a customizable, multilayered software application that not only creates SEO-friendly websites but also features a completely integrated toolkit for dealerships both large and small.

This integrated platform has been engineered for maximum efficiency and performance to empower its customers’ connections with consumers. Built from the ground up and using the latest technology, Dealer.com offers the most powerful digital marketing platform in the industry, aggregating the following solutions:

Online Advertising: Paid search management, email marketing, search engine optimization, social media & blogging;

Dealer Websites: Inventory integration, merchandising tools, mobile sites, custom branding;

Inventory Marketing: Video, incentives and specials, eBrochures, window stickers;

Lead Management: Contacts, leads, auto-responder management, lead life cycle and sales process; and

Performance Analytics: Call tracking, site activity and lead tracking, merchandising tracking, pay-per-click and advertising tracking.

Dealer.com also offers an array of Digital Marketing services that involve strategy, project management, consulting, training and regular maintenance to achieve maximum results for its customers. Dealer.com solutions also include Managed Services, training and award-winning customer service to complement its innovative platform.

18.1.2 Mission and Purpose

The intended mission and purpose of the .DEALER gTLD is to serve as a trusted and intuitive namespace for the benefit of Dealer.com, its qualified subsidiaries’, affiliates’ customers and other Internet users. The .DEALER gTLD will deepen and broaden these entities’ relationships with those audiences.

The .DEALER gTLD may be thought of most appropriately as a “Brand TLD” in that it serves primarily to provide a trusted, hierarchical and intuitive namespace for businesses that use Dealer.com’s broad range of online dealership products and services. Although ICANN has not specifically recognized a Brand TLD category, such as the .DEALER gTLD, in the current round, it is widely anticipated in the brand community that this will become a specialty subset of gTLDs. The .DEALER gTLD is planned to protect Dealer.com’s online presence and identity, expand its marketing and promotion efforts, provide a secure channel for online products and services, and offer a platform through which to consolidate many of the intellectual property activities of Dealer.com.

Dealer.com intends to initially limit registration and use of domain names within the .DEALER gTLD to Dealer.com and its qualified partners and affiliates. This initial limited use will allow Dealer.com to establish .DEALERʹs operations and achieve full sustainability. This limited distribution coupled with the other requirements set forth in Specification 9 of the template Registry Agreement is intended to exempt Dealer.com from its annual Code of Conduct Compliance requirements.

After the initial stages of operation, Dealer.com will evaluate whether opportunities exist to carry out the business strategy for the gTLD through expansion that continues the sustainable operations of the registry through fee-based registrations to parties other than Dealer.com and its qualified partners and affiliates.

1. Stage One

The initial stage of implementation of the gTLD will involve the .DEALER gTLD registering a limited number of .DEALER second-level domain names. This stage is designed to meet Dealer.com’s existing corporate requirements for use of domains including:

(1) Testing by Dealer.com’s IT to ensure full administrative and technical access to the domain names.
(2) Testing by Dealer.com’s security personnel to ensure unbroken and secure use of all names.
(3) Testing by IT personnel and users to ensure interoperability with various software and web-based applications.

2. Stage Two

Once all testing has been successfully completed, Dealer.com will begin allocating domain names in the .DEALER gTLD for more widespread corporate use. During this same period of time, Dealer.com may begin evaluating strategies to migrate traffic away from its existing second-level domain name, to Dealer.com’s new .DEALER gTLD.
It is in Stage Two, that Dealer.com will also evaluate and potentially expand the operations of the .DEALER gTLD to permit registration by other registrants such as licensees or other strategic partners. The dates of such expansion are subject to change depending upon business, strategic and industry factors at the time.

3. Stage Three

The third stage may potentially involve the migration of Internet traffic away from the gTLDs in which Dealer.com’s domain names are currently registered, and toward the new Dealer.com branded gTLD, if Dealer.com has not already executed on this strategy earlier. Based on its experience in the initial stages, Dealer.com will assess whether its business plan and expansion strategy should be augmented by extending registration rights to third parties beyond licensees and⁄or strategic partners. It is anticipated by Dealer.com that changes to the domain name industry, and particularly the impact of the .DEALER gTLD, will take a number of years to be felt and assessed. Any decision to expand the gTLD beyond corporate, partner and licensee use and permanently migrate traffic away from existing gTLDs will take into effect this experience as well as the technical analysis of potential expansion.

Utilizing current projections based upon Dealer.com’s existing and future business plans, current domain name portfolio, and other strategic factors, Dealer.com estimates second-level domain name registrations to be in line with the projections set forth in the financial template provided in the response to Question 46 of this application.