Unsponsored TLD Agreement: Appendix U (.info)

(11 May 2001)

Evaluation of Concepts

Afilias shall provide the following reports and related data to ICANN for use in its proof of concept evaluation. Such reports shall be provided according to the schedule described herein during the Term of the Registry Agreement. Capitalized terms shall have the meanings defined in the Registry Agreement and its Appendices.

The reports provided by Afilias as described in this Appendix shall be subject to confidentiality restrictions according to categories described in Section 10.

1. Concept: Procedures for Maintaining Registry Stability and Fairness to Customers in the Launch of an Open TLD

1.1 Sunrise Period Effectiveness - within 120 days after the end of the Sunrise Period, Afilias shall provide the following information and reports to ICANN.

1.1.1 Total initial registration volume by day during the Sunrise Period.

1.1.2 Total initial registration volume by week during the Sunrise Period.

1.1.3 Total initial Sunrise Period registration volume with holder addresses in the regions described below:

1.1.3.1 Africa;

1.1.3.2 Asia Pacific;

1.1.3.3 Europe;

1.1.3.4 Latin America/Caribbean; and

1.1.3.5 North America.

1.1.4 Total number of ICANN-Accredited Registrars qualified to submit registrations on each day of the Sunrise Period.

1.1.5 Total number of domain names registered during the Sunrise Period under the sponsorship of each ICANN-Accredited Registrar.

1.1.6 A summary of the complaints received from registrars regarding the processing of each round during the Sunrise Period.

1.1.7 A description of significant technical difficulties encountered in operating during the Sunrise Period.

1.1.8 An assessment of whether the Cooling Off Period was useful.

1.1.9 A tabulation, by registrar, of the terms in years of Sunrise registration requests submitted to the round-robin system.

1.1.10 A tabulation, by registrar, of the terms in years of Sunrise registration requests successfully filled by the round-robin system.

1.1.11 A report detailing the modifications and adjustments to the Registry Database and round robin logical queue system during the Evaluation Period.

1.2 Dispute Resolution Mechanism - within 90 days after the last day to make Sunrise challenges, Afilias shall provide the following information and reports to ICANN.

1.2.1 A statement of the total number of challenges submitted.

1.2.2 A statement of the total number of challenges rejected for non-payment of the US $295 fee.

1.2.3 A tabulation of the number of names subject to multiple challenges (i.e. x names were subject to exactly two challenges, y names were subject to exactly three challenges, etc.), other than challenges rejected for non-payment.

1.2.4 A statement of how many names sponsored by each registrar were subject to at least one challenge.

1.2.5 A statement, broken down by sponsoring registrar, of the number of names subject to successful Sunrise challenge.

1.2.6 A breakdown by country of the registration offered by the domain-name holder of the number of successful and unsuccessful challenges.

1.2.7 A statement, broken down by sponsoring registrar, of the number of names involved in challenges where the holder failed to submit any materials within 60 days of the notification of challenge.

1.2.8 A statement, broken down by the region of the holder's address as described below, of the number of names subject to successful Sunrise challenge:

1.2.8.1 Africa;

1.2.8.2 Asia Pacific;

1.2.8.3 Europe;

1.2.8.4 Latin America/Caribbean; and

1.2.8.5 North America.

1.2.9 A statement, broken down by the region of the successful challenger's address as described below, of the number of names subject to successful Sunrise challenge:

1.2.9.1 Africa;

1.2.9.2 Asia Pacific;

1.2.9.3 Europe;

1.2.9.4 Latin America/Caribbean; and

1.2.9.5 North America.

1.2.10 A tabulation showing the time after submission of evidence of registration, in which Afilias resolves challenges to names (i.e. x names resolved 10 days after receiving evidence, y names resolved 11 days after receiving evidence, etc.).

1.2.11 A statement of the number of successful challengers that did not register the challenged name during the 10 day "hold" period, broken down by priority of the challenger (i.e. x first-priority challengers chose not to register the challenged name; y second priority challengers were offered the opportunity to, but did not, register the challenged name, etc.).

1.2.12 A summary of the complaints received from registrars regarding the dispute resolution mechanism.

1.2.13 A description of significant technical difficulties encountered in connection with the dispute resolution mechanism.

1.2.14 Registry Operator's evaluation of the overall effectiveness of dispute resolution policies adopted for the Registry TLD.

1.3 Land Rush Period Effectiveness - within 90 days after the end of the Land Rush Period, Afilias shall provide the following information and reports to ICANN.

1.3.1 Total initial registration volume by day.

1.3.2 Total initial registration volume by week.

1.3.3 Total initial Land Rush registration volume for holder addresses in the regions described below:

1.3.3.1 Africa;

1.3.3.2 Asia Pacific;

1.3.3.3 Europe;

1.3.3.4 Latin America/Caribbean; and

1.3.3.5 North America.

1.3.4 Total number of ICANN-Accredited Registrars qualified to submit registrations on each day of the Land Rush Period.

1.3.5 Total number of domain names registered during the Land Rush Period under the sponsorship of each ICANN-Accredited Registrar.

1.3.6 A summary of the complaints received from registrars regarding the processing of each round during the Land Rush Period.

1.3.7 A description of significant technical difficulties encountered in operating during the Land Rush Period.

1.3.8 A tabulation, by registrar, of the terms in years of Sunrise registration requests submitted to the round-robin system.

1.3.9 A tabulation, by registrar, of the terms in years of Sunrise registration requests successfully filled by the round-robin system.

1.4 Effectiveness of Batch Processing, Round Robin Logical Queue System - within 90 days after the end of the Land Rush Period, Afilias shall provide the following information and reports to ICANN.

1.4.1 Provide a written report detailing the effectiveness of the batch processing, round robin logical queue system during the Sunrise Period. Include such items as lessons learned during the process and methods of improvement.

1.4.2 Provide a written report detailing the effectiveness of the batch processing, round robin logical queue system during the Land Rush Period. Include such items as lessons learned during the process and methods of improvement.

1.4.3 For each round of the round robin logical queue system, as described in Appendix J:

1.4.3.1 the last date on which registrars were allowed to submit requests for registrations into their request logical queues for each round;

1.4.3.2 processing time required to process the combined logical queue;

1.4.3.3 the names of the registrars submitting requests for registrations;

1.4.3.4 the number of registration requests submitted by each registrar;

1.4.3.5 the number of requests filled for each registrar;

1.4.3.6 the number of requests submitted by each registrar that were not filled because of a successful request processed in an earlier logical queue;

1.4.3.7 the number of requests submitted by each registrar that were not filled because of a successful request processed earlier in the same logical queue;

1.4.3.8 a tabulation showing the number of names subject to multiple requests in the combined logical queue (i.e. x names were subject to exactly two requests, y names were subject to exactly three requests, etc.); and

1.4.3.9 a tabulation showing the number of names subject to multiple requests in each registrar's logical queue (i.e. x names were subject to exactly two requests, y names were subject to exactly three requests, etc.).

1.5 Miscellaneous.

1.5.1 Within 30 days after the first anniversary of the Commencement-of-Service Date, provide a tabulation of the number of Sunrise Period domain name registrations which were transferred to another holder during each month after the Commencement-of-Service Date.

1.5.2 Within 30 days after the first anniversary of the Commencement-of-Service Date, provide a tabulation of the number of Land Rush Period domain name registrations which were transferred to another holder during each month after the Commencement-of-Service Date.

1.5.3 Within 30 days of learning of any lawsuit concerning the start-up activities in .info, please identify the lawsuit and provide a copy of the complaint or describe its allegations.

2. Concept: Introducing an Open TLD as a Means of Effective Competition with a Dominant, Well-Financed TLD Such as .com

No later than one month after each anniversary date after the Commencement-of-Service Date, Afilias shall provide to ICANN an Annual Proof-of-Concept Report on Effectiveness of Competition, with the following information:

2.1 Marketing Efforts.

2.1.1 Total Afilias expenditures for marketing the .info TLD, broken down by calendar quarter ending in the year to which the report relates and by the region where the expenditure was made:

2.1.1.1 Africa;

2.1.1.2 Asia Pacific;

2.1.1.3 Europe;

2.1.1.4 Latin America/Caribbean; and

2.1.1.5 North America.

2.1.2 Types of marketing media utilized by Afilias, broken down by calendar quarter ending in the year to which the report relates.

2.1.3 Total expenditure for each marketing media provided above, broken down by calendar quarter ending in the year to which the report relates.

2.1.4 (For the first annual report:) Provide a breakdown of marketing expenditures during the Sunrise Period for the following global regions:

2.1.4.1 Africa;

2.1.4.2 Asia Pacific;

2.1.4.3 Europe;

2.1.4.4 Latin America/Caribbean; and

2.1.4.5 North America.

2.1.5 (For the first annual report:) Provide a breakdown of marketing expenditures during the Land Rush Period for the following global regions:

2.1.5.1 Africa;

2.1.5.2 Asia Pacific;

2.1.5.3 Europe;

2.1.5.4 Latin America/Caribbean; and

2.1.5.5 North America.

2.1.6 Total annual marketing expenditure.

2.2 Total number of ICANN-Accredited Registrars registering domain names in the TLD.

2.2.1 Total number of ICANN-Accredited Registrars authorized to register domain names in the .info TLD broken down on a quarterly basis (include a geographic breakdown by global region).

2.2.2 Total number of new ICANN-Accredited Registrars authorized to register domain names in the .info TLD broken down on a quarterly basis (include a geographic breakdown by global region).

2.2.3 Total number of ICANN-Accredited Registrars authorized to register domain names in the .info TLD that were terminated broken down on a quarterly basis (include a geographic breakdown by global region).

2.2.4 Describe the reason for each termination listed above.

2.2.5 Total number of registrations under management by each ICANN-Accredited Registrar, broken down on a quarterly basis to include members of Afilias.

2.3 Number of initial registrations during each calendar month ending in the year to which the report relates.

2.4 Number of renewals during each calendar month ending in the year to which the report relates.

2.5 Number of registration transfers during each calendar month ending in the year to which the report relates.

2.6 Provide the Geographic breakdown of registrants by global region:

2.6.1 Africa;

2.6.2 Asia Pacific;

2.6.3 Europe;

2.6.4 Latin America/Caribbean; and

2.6.5 North America.

2.7 Total domain names expiring and not renewed during each calendar month ending in the year to which the report relates.

2.8 Average term of new registrations during each calendar month ending in the year to which the report relates.

2.9 Average term of renewals during each calendar month ending in the year to which the report relates.

3. Concept: Adding an Open TLD Will Result in an Expansion and Globalization of the Effective Namespace, Rather than Wasteful Duplication of Registrations

Sunrise Report - within 120 days after the end of the Sunrise Period, Afilias shall provide to ICANN an "Expansion of the DNS" report with the following elements:

3.1 Total number of duplicate registrations (i.e. same name) with each of the following TLDs during the Sunrise Period:

3.1.1 .com;

3.1.2 .net;

3.1.3 .org;

3.1.4 .de; and

3.1.5 .co.uk.

3.2 An estimate of the percentage of such duplicate registrations registered to the same holder (e.g., example.info and example.com registered to the same holder).

3.3 The estimated percentage of such duplicate registrations sharing at least one nameserver with respect to each of the five domains listed in 3.1.1 to 3.1.5.

3.4 Total number of domain names under management during the Sunrise Period with holder addresses in the regions described below:

3.4.1 Africa;

3.4.2 Asia Pacific;

3.4.3 Europe;

3.4.4 Latin America/Caribbean; and

3.4.5 North America.

3.5 Number of ICANN-Accredited Registrars, broken down by global region, registering domain names during the Sunrise Period:

3.5.1 Africa;

3.5.2 Asia Pacific;

3.5.3 Europe;

3.5.4 Latin America/Caribbean; and

3.5.5 North America.

Land-Rush Report - within 90 days after the end of the Land-Rush Period, Afilias shall provide to ICANN an "Expansion of the DNS" report with the following elements:

3.6 Total number of duplicate registrations (i.e. same name) with each of the following TLDs during Land-Rush Period:

3.6.1 .com;

3.6.2 .net;

3.6.3 .org;

3.6.4 .de; and

3.6.5 .co.uk.

3.7 An estimate of the percentage of such duplicate registrations registered to the same holder (e.g., example.info and example.com registered to the same holder).

3.8 The estimated percentage of such duplicate registrations sharing at least one nameserver with respect to each of the five domains listed in 3.6.1 to 3.6.5.

3.9 Total number of domain names under management during the Land Rush Period with holder addresses in the regions described below:

3.9.1 Africa;

3.9.2 Asia Pacific;

3.9.3 Europe;

3.9.4 Latin America/Caribbean; and

3.9.5 North America.

3.10 Number of ICANN-Accredited Registrars, broken down by global region, registering domain names during the Land Rush Period:

3.10.1 Africa;

3.10.2 Asia Pacific;

3.10.3 Europe;

3.10.4 Latin America/Caribbean; and

3.10.5 North America.

Annual Reports - No later than one month after each anniversary date after the Commencement-of-Service Date, Afilias shall provide to ICANN an "Expansion of the DNS" report with the following elements:

3.11 Total number of duplicate registrations (i.e. same name) with each of the following TLDs at the end of each calendar month ending in the year to which the report relates.

3.11.1 .com;

3.11.2 .net;

3.11.3 .org;

3.11.4 .de; and

3.11.5 .co.uk.

3.12 An estimate of the percentage of such duplicate registrations registered to the same holder (e.g., example.info and example.com registered to the same holder).

3.13 The estimated percentage of such duplicate registrations sharing at least one nameserver with respect to each of the five domains listed in 3.11.1 to 3.11.5.

3.14 Total number of domain names under management Post Land Rush Period on a quarterly basis with holder addresses in the regions described below:

3.14.1 Africa;

3.14.2 Asia Pacific;

3.14.3 Europe;

3.14.4 Latin America/Caribbean; and

3.14.5 North America.

3.15 Number of ICANN-Accredited Registrars, broken down by global region, registering domain names during the Post Land Rush Period:

3.15.1 Africa;

3.15.2 Asia Pacific;

3.15.3 Europe;

3.15.4 Latin America/Caribbean; and

3.15.5 North America.

4. Concept: Registry Services Can Effectively Be Provided by a Registry Operator Cooperatively Owned by the Registrars

Annual Reports - No later than one month after each anniversary date after the Commencement-of-Service Date, Afilias shall provide to ICANN a Cooperative Registry Report with the following elements:

4.1 Use of a Rebate Program for Registrars.

4.1.1 Total number of ICANN-Accredited Registrars qualifying for the rebate program during the period covered by the Cooperative Registry Report.

4.1.2 Total dollar amount available for distribution under the rebate program during the period covered by the Cooperative Registry Report.

4.1.3 Total amount of rebate received by each qualifying ICANN-Accredited Registrar during the period covered by the Cooperative Registry Report.

4.1.4 Identify each ICANN-Accredited Registrar, by global region, qualifying for the rebate program during the period covered by the Cooperative Registry Report.

4.2 Effect of Registry Ownership Opportunity on Registrars.

4.2.1 Total number of ICANN-Accredited Registrars qualifying for Class B Share Subscription Program for the period covered by the Cooperative Registry Report.

4.2.2 Total number of ICANN-Accredited Registrars participating in Class B Share Subscription Program for the period covered by the Cooperative Registry Report.

4.2.3 For the period covered by the Cooperative Registry Report, provide a list identifying each Class B Shareholder and their respective percentage of ownership of: (1) all Class B Shares; and (2) all Shares.

4.2.4 For the period covered by the Cooperative Registry Report, provide a list of each Class A Shareholder and their respective percentage of ownership of: (1) all Class A Shares; and (2) all Shares.

4.2.5 For the period covered by the Cooperative Registry Report, provide a breakdown of each Class A and Class B Shareholders by the following global regions:

4.2.5.1 Africa;

4.2.5.2 Asia Pacific;

4.2.5.3 Europe;

4.2.5.4 Latin America/Caribbean; and

4.2.5.5 North America.

4.3 Ability to Effectively Operate the Registry.

4.3.1 Total number of registrations under management during each calendar month ending in the year to which the report relates.

4.3.2 Total number of ICANN-Accredited Registrars registering domain-names in the Registry TLD during each calendar month ending in the year to which the report relates.

4.3.3 Total amount of SLA Credits to ICANN-Accredited Registrars during each calendar month ending in the year to which the report relates.

4.3.4 Total SLA Credits awarded to each ICANN-Accredited Registrars during each calendar month ending in the year to which the report relates.

4.3.5 Provide a breakdown of the SLA Credits awarded to ICANN-Accredited Registrars for the following categories:

4.3.5.1 C1 Service Levels;

4.3.5.2 C2 Service Levels;

4.3.5.3 C3 Service Levels; and

4.3.5.4 Degraded Performance.

4.4 Effectiveness of Cooperative Marketing.

4.4.1 Total number of ICANN-Accredited Registrars participating in the cooperative marketing plan during each calendar month ending in the year to which the report relates.

4.4.2 Total amount of advertising dollars provided by each ICANN-Accredited Registrar under the cooperative marketing plan during each calendar month ending in the year to which the report relates.

4.4.3 Total amount of matching funds provided by Afilias under the cooperative marketing plan during each calendar month ending in the year to which the report relates.

4.4.4 Total amount of matching funds provided to each ICANN-Accredited Registrar during each calendar month ending in the year to which the report relates.

4.4.5 Total amount of cooperative marketing dollars broken down by geographic area (North America, Europe, Asia, and Latin America/Caribbean) during each calendar month ending in the year to which the report relates.

4.5 Ability to Attract and Maintain Registrars - within 180 days after the Commencement-of-Service Date, Afilias shall provide the following information and reports to ICANN.

4.5.1 Total number of ICANN-Accredited Registrars who participated in the Registry Operational Test and Evaluation process.

4.5.2 Total number of ICANN-Accredited Registrars who failed the Operational Test and Evaluation process.

4.5.3 Total number of ICANN-Accredited Registrars re-tested for the Operational Test and Evaluation process.

4.5.4 A summary of complaints received from ICANN-Accredited Registrars regarding the Operational Test and Evaluation process.

4.5.5 Provide a written report detailing the effectiveness of the Operational Test and Evaluation process. Include such items as lessons learned and methods of improvement.

5. Concept: Mechanisms in a Registry Operated by a Registrar Cooperative for Ensuring that all Registrars Follow Sound Business Practices and are Treated Fairly

Annual Reports - No later than one month after each anniversary date after the Commencement-of-Service Date, Afilias shall provide to ICANN a Fair-Treatment Report with the following elements:

5.1 A description of every known violation or alleged violation of the Code of Conduct during each calendar month ending in the year to which the report relates.

5.2 Total number of complaints received by Afilias from registrars regarding services provided by Afilias.

5.2.1 Identify and categorize the types of complaints received from registrars.

5.2.2 List corrective actions, if any, in response to the categorized complaints.

5.3 Total number of ICANN-Accredited Registrars restricted from further registrations for non-payment of registration fees.

6. Concept: Use of Centralized Registry-Level Whois to Enhance Transparency and Accountability in Domain-Name Registrations

Annual Reports - No later than one month after each anniversary date after the Commencement-of-Service Date, Afilias shall provide to ICANN a Whois Report with the following elements:

6.1 Total number of complaints received from registrants regarding Whois information during each calendar month ending in the year to which the report relates.

6.2 Total number of complaints received from ICANN-Accredited Registrars regarding Whois service during each calendar month ending in the year to which the report relates.

6.3 Total number of complaints received from third parties regarding Whois information during each calendar month ending in the year to which the report relates.

6.4 (For the first annual report:) Total initial query volume during the Sunrise Period.

6.5 (For the first annual report:) Total initial query volume during the Land Rush Period.

6.6 Total number of queries during each calendar month ending in the year to which the report relates.

6.7 XWhois Services:

6.7.1 Total number of subscribers (include a geographic breakdown by country and global region).

6.7.2 Total number of queries during each calendar month ending in the year to which the report relates.

6.7.3 Total number of queries broken down by subscriber during each calendar month ending in the year to which the report relates.

6.8 Privacy Complaints:

6.8.1 Total number of complaints relating to privacy issues during each calendar month ending in the year to which the report relates.

6.8.2 Identify and categorize types of privacy complaints.

7. Concept: Capital Requirements in Operating an Open TLD

Annual Reports - No later than one month after each anniversary date after the Commencement-of-Service Date, Afilias shall provide to ICANN a Funding Requirements Report with the following elements:

7.1 Total expenditures during the Sunrise Period.

7.2 Total expenditures during the Land Rush Period.

7.3 Total expenditures during the Post Land Rush Period on a quarterly basis.

7.4 Breakdown of expenditures for the following categories:

7.4.1 Marketing;

7.4.2 Software; and

7.4.3 Hardware.

7.5 Provide a list of the employee positions hired during the following periods:

7.5.1 Pre-Sunrise Period;

7.5.2 Sunrise Period;

7.5.3 Land Rush Period; and

7.5.4 Post Land Rush Period on a quarterly basis.

8. Concept: Introducing an Open TLD will Enhance the Utility of the DNS

Annual Reports - no later than one month after each anniversary date after the Commencement-of-Service Date, Afilias shall provide to ICANN an "Enhancement of DNS Utility" report with the following elements as applicable:

8.1 Use of Multilingual Domain Name Registration Service.

8.1.1 Total number of registrations utilizing the Multilingual Domain Name Registration Service.

8.1.2 Total number of Multilingual registrations with holder addresses in the regions described below:

8.1.2.1 Africa;

8.1.2.2 Asia Pacific;

8.1.2.3 Europe;

8.1.2.4 Latin America/Caribbean; and

8.1.2.5 North America.

8.1.3 Total number of ICANN-Accredited Registrars qualified to submit multilingual registrations.

8.1.4 Number of ICANN-Accredited Registrars, broken down by global region, registering domain names utilizing the Multilingual Registration Service.

8.1.5 A description of significant technical difficulties encountered in utilizing the Multilingual registration service.

8.1.6 A tabulation of the number of registrations for each language utilized for the Multilingual registration service.

8.2 Directory Services.

8.2.1 Total number of consumers utilizing the Directory Services.

8.2.2 A description of significant technical difficulties encountered in providing the Directory Services.

8.3 Monitoring Services.

8.3.1 Total number of registrants utilizing the Monitoring Service.

8.3.2 Total number of Monitoring Service registrants with registrant addresses in the region described below:

8.3.2.1 Africa;

8.3.2.2 Asia Pacific;

8.3.2.3 Europe;

8.3.2.4 Latin America/Caribbean; and

8.3.2.5 North America.

8.3.3 Total number of ICANN-Accredited Registrars qualified to provide the Monitoring Service.

8.3.4 Number of ICANN-Accredited Registrars, broken down by global region, selling Monitoring Services.

8.3.5 A description of significant technical difficulties encountered in operating the Monitoring Service.

9. Commercially Reasonable Efforts and Review

Many of the reports listed above to be provided by Registry Operator require access to data to which Registry Operator may not be privy or which may not be reasonably available to Registry Operator. Recognizing the importance of the proof of concept:

Registry Operator shall use commercially reasonable efforts to obtain all necessary data and complete the required reports as set forth in this Appendix; and

In the event Registry Operator is unable through commercially reasonable efforts to obtain the requisite data to complete the required reports or the compilation of a specific report proves unreasonably costly, ICANN shall, to the fullest extent possible, assist Registry Operator and/or the Registry community in obtaining or coordinating efforts to obtain the data, or alternative data (including as appropriate data of reduced scope) useful in connection with the proof of concept, in a less costly way.

10. Confidentiality

The reports provided by Afilias as described in this Appendix shall be subject to confidentiality restrictions according to categories described in the following table:

Afilias shall clearly label all reports and information provided pursuant to this Appendix with the appropriate confidentiality category prior to submission to ICANN.

ICANN shall use commercially reasonable efforts to prevent public disclosure prior to the times described in the table above.

The following table sets forth, for each item in each report, the confidentiality category (CC) that applies to it:

Earlier drafts:

26 April 2001
24 April 2001

Page Updated 24-Dec-2002
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