New sTLD RFP Application .tel-Pulver Part B. Application Form

Name and Address fields

Company/Organization Information

Company Name	NetNumber, Inc.
Company Address 1	650 Suffolk Street, Suite 307
Company Address 2	N/A
Company City	Lowell
Company State/Province	MA
Company Postal Code	01854
Company Website Address	www.netnumber.com
Company Country	USA

Sponsoring Organization Information

Sponsoring Organization Name	Pulver.com
Sponsoring Organization Address 1	115 Broadhollow Road, Suite 225
Sponsoring Organization Address 2	N/A
Sponsoring Organization City	Melville
Sponsoring State/Province	NY
Sponsoring Organization Postal Code	11747
Sponsoring Organization Country	USA
Sponsoring Organization Website Address	www.pulver.com

Namestrings and Conventions

First sTLD choice:	.tel
Naming Conventions:
The objective of the ".tel" TLD is to enable IP Communications Service Providers (IPCSPs) to register telephone numbers as domain names on the Internet and to associate IP-based services with those registered telephone numbers. In the context of this top-level domain the string “tel” refers to “telephone number” which is used to derive a valid domain name. This string adheres to RFC1034 and RFC1123 for the characters used in this name. The name “tel” represents an internationally acceptable well-understood acronym identifying “telephone”. This definition is also referenced in RFC2806 section 2.7.2 which uses the string “tel” to define the URL scheme identifying a “telephone number” by using “tel” as the URL scheme name. Sub-domains of ".tel" may not be arbitrarily defined; rather they are defined in accordance with the ITU E.164 standard. A valid e164 domain name under the ".tel" TLD is defined as follows: Start with a telephone number: 1-212-332-1234. Remove all non-numeric characters: 12123321234. Reverse the order of the number: 43212332121. Separate by dots: 4.3.2.1.2.3.3.2.1.2.1. Add the sTLD: 4.3.2.1.2.3.3.2.1.2.1.tel. The “.tel” Registry is responsible for enforcing these restrictions in the registry’s zone before accepting a registration from an IP Communications Service Provider (IPCSP).

Second sTLD choice:	N/A
Naming Conventions:
N/A

Third sTLD choice:	N/A
Naming Conventions:
N/A

Sponsoring Organization Structure

The Sponsoring organization for the “.tel” sTLD is Pulver.com (www.pulver.com). Pulver.com is a private US corporation dedicated to the creation of a community of interest focused on the advancement of the IP communications industry. Pulver.com ("The voice of telephony on the net") is the pre-eminent organization for creating and fostering a global community of interest for the IP Communications industry. Pulver.com, through the Pulver Report newsletter (circulation of >50,000 readers) and through regular "Voice on the Net" (VON) conference events held in the US, Europe and Asia, will provide the ".tel" sTLD with on-going mechanisms for open interaction with a large qualified base of IP Communications constituents including service providers, equipment vendors, end-users, and regulatory bodies. For example, the Spring VON event which will be held in Santa Clara, CA March 28 – April 1st 2004 will be attended by representatives from over 1,000 organizations from 25 countries. All of these companies have demonstrated their willingness to invest of both the time and money necessary to actively participate in the IP Communications industry community created by Pulver.com. The list of participants from the IP Communications industry includes service providers, equipment vendors, software developers, universities, regulatory bodies, and research groups. Outlined below is a small sampling of several well known organizations from around the world that are sending representatives to participate in the upcoming Spring VON event: 3Com Corporation Agilent Technologies Alcatel America Online AT&T Avaya Belgacom Bell Canada British Telecom Cablevision California PUC Commissioner Center for Democracy & Technology Cincinnati Bell Cisco Systems Columbia University Community Broadband Networks Connexion by Boeing Cornell University CRTC, Canadian Federal Gov't CrystalVoice Communications Department of Defense EarthLink, Inc. Ericsson FCC FiberToTheHome.INFO Fidelity Communications Forrester Research, Inc. France Telecom R&D Free World Dialup Frontier Communications Gartner Dataquest GE Vendor Financial Services General Dynamic Decision Systems GoldStar Communications, LLC Guadalupe Valley Telephone Cooperative, Inc. Gulf Telecom Harris Corporation Hewlett Packard Hitachi America, Ltd. Hutchison 3G Austria Jaguar KDDI America Korea Telecom Level 3 Communications Lockheed Martin Marconi Motorola NEC Net2Phone NetCentrex NTT East PA Public Utility Commission Qwest Rutgers University San Jose Mercury SBC Siemens SIP Forum Sprint Stanford University Swisscom Telefonica CTC Telekom Austria TeliaSonera The Yankee Group Time Warner Cable University of Zurich US Telecom Association Verizon VOIP Americas Vonage Yahoo! Inc.

Appropriateness of Sponsored TLD Community

The ".tel" sTLD will be a resource for IP Communications Service Providers (IPCSPs) that enables the mapping of legacy telephone numbers to the Internet address information required by IP-enabled communications applications and services. The underlying role of the ".tel" sTLD is to facilitate the smooth migration of communications services from the PSTN to the Internet by allowing IPCSPs to utilize the telephone numbers that have been assigned to them or to their subscribers as a resource for addressing IP-based communications services. In the context of the “.tel” sTLD, an IP Communications Service Provider (IPCSP) is defined as any entity that provides IP-based communications services to individual subscribers. Examples include enterprises, universities, government agencies, as well as incumbent and emerging IP-based communications service providers. The requirement for the “.tel” sTLD existed in October 2000 when Pulver.com and NetNumber, Inc. first submitted an application for the “.tel” TLD, and the need is even more apparent today. Outlined below is a list of representatives from the IP Communications community who are prepared to act as references supporting both the need for the “.tel” TLD as well as supporting Pulver.com as the sponsor of the “.tel” TLD for the benefit of the IPCSP community. Martine LAPIERRE Chief Technology Officer Alcatel Mobile Communications Group martine.lapierre@alcatel.fr Bryan Wiener President Net2Phone Global Services bwiener@net2phone.com Bill Jarvis President and CEO GoBeam, Inc. Bill.jarvis@gobeam.com Alain Fernando-Santana CEO NetCentrex Inc. afs@netcentrex.net Ofer Gneezy President and CEO iBasis Ogneezy@ibasis.net Bryan R. Martin Chairman & CEO 8x8, Inc. bmartin@8x8.com Jerry Knight CTO Accessline Communications jknight@accessline.com Brian J. Allain President Ranch Networks brian@ranchnetworks.com Louie Holmes President TelCel Communications Inc. lmh@tlcl.net Marc J. Zionts CEO Excel Switching Corporation mzionts@xl.com R.J. Auburn CTO Voxeo Corporation www.voxeo.com Dennis M. Maloney Vice President Solus Communications dmaloney@soluscomm.com Eric Burger Chief Technology Officer SnowShore Networks, Inc. eburger@snowshore.com Jerry Knight CTO AccessLine Communications jknight@accessline.com Paul Gregory CEO NuCall Communications Inc. Paul@NuCall.com Afaque Ahmed CEO FoneBooth Networks Inc. afaque@fonebooth.net Brett Shockley CEO Spanlink Communications brett.shockley@spanlink.com Brian O'Neill CTO BaseVoice LLC brian.oneill@basevoice.com Dror Mei-Tal President Global Telecom Brokers drorm@gtb.net Alexander L. Wolf Chief Operating Officer Norvergence alexwolf@norvergence.com Saied Kazemi President Millenigence, Inc. saied@millenigence.com Ralph Hayon CEO Natural Wireless ralph@naturalwireless.com Jill D Smith President and CEO eDial, Inc jill.smith@wlm.edial.com Mark Bruk CEO Xten Networks, Inc. mark@xten.com Sridhar Ramachandran CTO NexTone Communications Sridhar@nextone.com Andy Voss President & CEO Sansay, Inc. avoss@sansay.com Craig Walker President and CEO Dialpad Communications, Inc. craig@dialpad.com Harry M. Taxin President & CEO MegaPath Networks Inc. harry@megapath.net R. Brough Turner Sr. VP & Chief Technology Officer NMS Communications rbt@nmss.com Brian McClintock Executive Vice President and COO New Global Telecom, Inc. Brian.McClintock@ngt.com Michael Camp CEO VocalData Inc. mcamp@vocaldata.com Jim Brown President Dictronics, Inc. hjbrown@dictronics.com

Representation

Pulver.com provides a highly effective infrastructure for sharing information with IP Communications industry participants on a global basis. Pulver.com provides the IP Communications industry with forums, discussion lists, scheduled industry events and ad hoc meetings to deal with any number of issues facing the industry. Pulver.com has the unique ability to ensure global participation from appropriate industry representatives for discussion of ".tel" policy issues. Newsletter support: The Pulver Report is published and distributed via e-mail to over 50,000 Internet-Telephony industry participants with over 30% per cent international readers. The Pulver Report will provide a public forum for communication of ".tel" policy issues across a broad spectrum of industry participants on a monthly basis. Public Meetings: Coinciding with Pulver.com hosted events, such as VON (which occurs in the US, Europe and Asia on a regular basis), Pulver.com will provide a regular forum for open discussion of ".tel" policy issues to promote and advance the ".tel" TLD as a tool in the continued development of IP Communications services.

Openness and Tansparency

Pulver.com will define policies and procedures for the “.tel” sTLD in an open and transparent manner through procedures designed to ensure fairness. ACCESS TO INFORMATION No later than five (5) days after each meeting during which policies and procedures relating to the operation of the “.tel” sTLD are discussed, any actions taken by Pulver.com shall be made publicly available in a report published in the English language and displayed on a publicly-accessible website under www.pulver.com. NOTICE AND COMMENT PROVISIONS Pulver.com shall post on the web site www.pulver.com a calendar of scheduled meetings for the upcoming year during which “.tel” policy issues shall be discussed in a public forum along with an agenda for each meeting.

Initial Directors, Officers, and Other Staff

Pulver.com will establish an 11 member Board of Directors (“Board”) with delegated policy making authority, under a legal structure acceptable to ICANN, to guide the ongoing development of the “.tel” sTLD. The Board will include two permanent members, one nominated by Pulver.com as the Sponsor of the “.tel” TLD and one nominated by the Registry operator, initially NetNumber, Inc. The remaining 9 rotating members will be made up of business, technical, and policy making leaders from within the IP Communications industry. The initial representatives nominated by Pulver.com and NetNumber, Inc. are as follows: Jeff Pulver: Jeff is the founder and President/CEO of Pulver.com, which produces the Voice on the Net (VON) conferences, builds Internet communities, and tests innovations in Internet technology. A pioneer in the field of IP (Internet Protocol) Telephony, Mr. Pulver has been tracking enabling and emerging net technologies since 1994 and is one of the world's leading experts on up-and-coming communication technology and their effect on business communications. He moderates the Voice on the Net and other mailing lists; publishes the Pulver Report, which is read by over 50,000 people; and maintains the pulver.com website, which is a meeting place and comprehensive source of information on the convergence of Internet and Telecom. Douglas J. Ranalli: Douglas is the Founder and Chief Strategy Officer of NetNumber, Inc. Mr. Ranalli is a seasoned leader and entrepreneur with experience in three high-growth start-ups. Prior to founding NetNumber, Mr. Ranalli was the founder and CEO of Fax International, Inc. an early entrant into the international fax over IP business that reached #20 on the INC 500 list of fastest growing private companies in the US in 1997. Prior to Fax International, Mr. Ranalli founded a publication for college students called DORM magazine while attending Cornell University as an undergraduate engineering student. Under Doug’s leadership, DORM grew to a controlled circulation of 1.2 million before being sold to Time Inc. in 1987. Mr. Ranalli is the holder of multiple communications related patents and is the subject of a case study developed by the Harvard Business School entitled "Fax International Japan" which is utilized by a variety of MBA programs around the world. Mr. Ranalli holds degrees in Industrial Engineering (BS) from Cornell University and an MBA from the Harvard Business School.

Selection of Directors, Officers, Members, Staff

The 9 rotating members of the “.tel” Board shall be divided, as nearly as possible, into three equal groups. The term of the original Board members shall be determined by lot with one-third (1/3) of the members serving for one year, one-third (1/3) of the members serving for two years and one-third (1/3) of the members serving for three years. Thereafter, Board members shall serve a term of three years and until their respective successors are named. Each term shall begin and conclude following the appropriate annual meeting. A Board member shall not serve consecutive, full three (3) year terms, A Board member may serve one (1) full three (3) year term and then seek office again after at least one (1) year has expired and the next year’s Board positions are available. However, when a Board member is elected due to a vacancy in the Board, the member may seek a consecutive full term of three years since the first term was not a full, three (3) year term. Vacancies in the Board of Directors may be filled by a majority of the remaining Directors then in office, though less than a quorum. Each Director elected shall hold office until his or her successor is elected. A vacancy or vacancies shall be deemed to exist (i) in the case of the death, resignation or removal of any Director, or (ii) if the authorized number of Directors is increased without election of the additional Directors so provided for, or (iii) in case of failure at any time to elect the full number of authorized Directors, or (iv) if any Director fails to attend three (3) consecutive meetings of the Board without a reasonable excuse. If any Director tenders his or her resignation to the Board of Directors, then the Board shall have the power to elect a successor to take office at such time as the resignation shall become effective. No reduction in the number of Directors shall have the effect of removing any Director prior to the expiration of his term of office. Board members will receive no compensation and will be required to cover their own costs associated with participation in “.tel” sTLD public meetings.

Meetings and Communication

Bi-Monthly Newsletter: Pulver.com will dedicate a section of the bi-monthly Pulver Report to the communication of current issues relating to the operation of the “.tel” sTLD. The Pulver Report is published and distributed via e-mail to over 50,000 IP Communications industry participants with over 30% per cent international readers. Interested parties may subscribe to the Pulver Report at no cost via the Internet at http://www.pulver.com/reports/subsc.html. Regular Public Meetings: Coinciding with Pulver.com hosted events, such as VON (which occurs in the US, Europe and Asia on a regular basis), Pulver.com will provide meeting facilities to enable the “.tel” Board to communicate directly with the IP Communications industry in an open and public forum. For example, the calendar of appropriate Pulver.com events for 2004 is as follows: March 28 - April 1st - Spring 2004 VON Conference & Expo , Santa Clara, CA June 7-10 - VON Europe 2004 Conference & Expo, London, UK June 22-23 - SIP Summit 2004, Chicago, IL Oct 18-21 - Fall 2004 Conference & Expo, Boston, MA

Fiscal Information

Pulver.com is a New York State S corporation that encompasses several areas of activity including: Pulver.com Enterprises, Consulting, Conferences, VON-events, and VON-Europe. Fiscal information for these various groups is as follows: Annual Revenue: $5.5 million Annual Expenses: $4.1 million Employees: 30 Paid in Capital: $6.3 million

Indemnification from Liability

No director, officer or employee of Pulver.com or NetNumber, Inc. shall be liable for debts, liabilities or obligations arising out of the operation of the “.tel” sTLD.

Proposed Extent of Policy-Making Authority

Scope of authority sought Pulver.com seeks authority from ICANN to create, maintain, and monitor three specific policies that are directly tied to the unique utility of “.tel” within the IP Communications industry. Naming Policy: Policy that defines the unique characteristics of a valid domain name under the “.tel” sTLD as summarized in the Naming Conventions section of this application. Registration Validation Policy: Policy that limits registrants to IP Communications Service Providers (IPCSPs) who are registering names on behalf of individual subscribers who have been assigned control over the E.164 numbers being registered as names under the “.tel”. sTLD. Conflict Resolution Policy: Policy that defines the mechanism by which two or more IPCSPs resolve a conflict over which IPCSP actually represents the individual subscriber consumer or enterprise) who has been assigned an E.164 number that is being registered within the “.tel” sTLD. Reasons/justifications for seeking authority The policies Pulver.com seeks authority over are the core policies that define the utilization of ".tel" as a shared resource for bridging the addressing gap between legacy telephone numbers and emerging standards of the IP communications industry. Guaranteeing policies in the Interest of the Internet at large All policies related to the operation of the “.tel” TLD will be under the control of the “.tel” Board. Furthermore, all policy issues related to the “.tel” TLD will be discussed in an open forum sponsored by Pulver.com as described above in “Meetings and Communication”. The ongoing decision by thousands of IP Communications companies to actively participate in the community of interest created by Pulver.com is in itself evidence of the trust the industry places in Pulver.com’s ability to advance the best interests of the IP Communications industry. Variation from existing ICANN policies at opening of TLD Other than the “.tel” specific policies outlined above, no variation from existing ICANN policies is envisioned.

Policy-Making Process

With respect to any policies that are being considered by the “.tel” Board for adoption that substantially affect the operation of the ".tel" TLD, including the imposition of any fees or charges, the Board will: (i) provide public notice on the www.pulver.com web site explaining what policies are being considered for adoption and why; (ii) actively seek input from related industry groups early in the policy making process; (iii) provide a reasonable opportunity for parties to comment on the adoption of the proposed policies, and to see the comments of others; and (iv) hold a public forum at which the proposed policy would be discussed. After voting on any policy, the Board will publish in the meeting minutes the reasons for any action taken, the vote of each Director voting on the action, and the separate statement of any Director desiring publication of such a statement.

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A. Add new value to the Internet name space

Industry Background: The global communications industry is moving at remarkable speed to embrace the new world of Internet Protocol (IP) technology. Underlying economics and the growing demand for data services dictate that networks like the Internet, corporate intranets, and managed extranets will be the telecommunications networks of the future. Standard communications devices like telephones, fax machines, and voicemail systems are quickly becoming IP-enabled devices that connect to both the existing telephone network and to data networks like the Internet. As IP-enabled communications devices begin to proliferate around the world, a requirement has emerged to integrate the existing addressing scheme of the legacy Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) with the emerging addressing schemes of the Internet-Telephony industry. In short, a requirement exists for a directory service that will translate existing legacy telephone numbers into Internet addresses The underlying need for the ".tel" TLD can be summarized as follows: An enormous global investment has been made in training end-users all over the world to use standard legacy telephone numbers to place calls, send faxes, leave voicemail messages, etc. Unfortunately, IP networks like the Internet, corporate intranets, and managed extranets don't work off of telephone number addressing. Instead, IP networks work off of IP addressing, SMTP addressing, URL's and other non-telephone number formats. The ".tel" TLD will provide a smooth migration of legacy telephone numbers over to the new world of Internet protocol networks. The smooth transition enabled by the ".tel" TLD is the ability to link telephone numbers to Internet addresses for IP-enabled communications devices so that end-users can continue to use telephone numbers as a common addressing mechanism for both PTSN and Internet services. Enterprise IP-PBX example: IP-enabled PBX (Private Branch Exchange) systems are telephone systems that have the ability to connect calls over both the PSTN and data networks like the public Internet. Major suppliers of IP-PBX systems include 3Com, Cisco, Nortel, Lucent, Ericsson, etc. One of the goals of IP-PBX systems is to provide "least cost routing" for every call placed by an end-user. In the Internet-Telephony world, the true least cost route comes from setting up a call "end-to-end" over the public Internet. The process starts with an end-user picking up a phone and dialing a telephone number. The IP-PBX looks at the number and tries to make a least cost routing decision. The least cost option is to connect the call over the Internet. The higher-cost back up is to send the call out over the existing telephone network (PSTN). In order to send a call out over the Internet the IP-PBX needs to check a global directory to determine if the telephone number can be translated into an Internet address for an IP-PBX or IP-phone at the distant end. The ".tel" TLD is the top-tier of a globally distributed directory solution that enables IP Communications Service Providers (IPCSPs) to register the phone numbers of their individual or enterprise subscribers on the Internet and associate those phone numbers with any number of IP-enabled communications devices (phone, fax, e-mail, PDA, etc.) or services. Early deployments of IP-communications systems avoided the address translation problem being addressed by the ".tel" TLD by limiting the scope of IP-telephony solutions to just internal corporate communications. By limiting the scope of the solution, each IP-PBX could be programmed with up-to-date Internet address information for every end-user inside a given company. This "closed user group" solution has been an important first step for the emerging Internet-Telephony industry but it is breaking down as users try to expand the IP-telephony model beyond a small user group. As a next step in the evolution of the IP Communications industry, an industry sponsored and supported directory infrastructure is a requirement.

B. Protect the rights of others

Outlined below is a summary of the initial registration policies that will be proposed to the “.tel” Board for public review if the “.tel” sTLD application is approved. (1) Registrants in the “.tel” sTLD will be restricted to IP Communications Service Providers (IPCSPs) who are providing IP-based communications services to individual or enterprise subscribers who have been assigned day-to-day control over the E.164 telephone numbers being registered in the “.tel” sTLD. (2) Registrants (IPCSPs) will be required to sign a registration agreement verifying that each E.164 number used to derive a registered domain under the “.tel” sTLD is under the day-to-day control of an individual or enterprise subscriber receiving services from the Registrant IPCSP. (3) Registrants will be required to provide a deposit fee as defined by the “.tel” Board to cover any costs associated with implementing the “.tel” Conflict Resolution Process operated by NetNumber, Inc. as the initial Registry operator of the “.tel’ sTLD. (4) The WHOIS database for the “.tel” sTLD will identify the name of the IPCSP responsible for the registration of a given domain name. For privacy purposes, no WHOIS information will be provided regarding the identity of the underlying individual receiving communications services from the IPCSP. (5) The Conflict Resolution Process implemented by the “.tel” Registry will provide an online mechanism allowing any individual, enterprise or service provider to claim day-to-day control over an E.164 number registered in the “.tel” domain and challenge the validity of an existing registration. All costs associated with resolving the conflict over the determination of who has day-to-day control over a given E.164 number shall be born by the entity (challenger or current registrant) found to be in error.

C. Assurance of charter-compliant registrations and avoidance of abusive registration practices

The core registration restrictions outlined in section B above provide for protection against abusive registration practices. Any individual, enterprise or service provider with effective day-to-day control over a given E.164 number can utilize the “.tel” Conflict Resolution Process to force an existing registration to be deleted or modified based on demonstrating day-to-day control over a given E.164 number. Furthermore, no costs shall be incurred by any individual, enterprise or service provider who makes a valid claim against an IPCSP for registering an E.164 number incorrectly.

D. Assurance of adequate dispute-resolution mechanisms

Given the proposed “.tel” Conflict Resolution Process described in section B above, applicants assume that the ICANN Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy will only be used to resolve conflicts within the “.tel” sTLD in extreme situations and only as a last resort. Since it is only possible for one individual or enterprise subscriber to actually have “day-to-day” control over any one E.164 telephone number at a given time, disputes should be resolved quickly. Determining who has rights for a “.tel” domain name becomes a process of determining who has “day-to-day” control over the E.164 number that was used to derive the “.tel” domain name. Defining “day-to-day" control is described as follows: E.164 numbers (telephone numbers) are allocated to service providers using nationally delegated organizations which follow a structure defined by the ITU (International Telecommunications Union). A service provider assigns out telephone numbers when a subscriber requests telephone service. As service providers assign these E.164 telephone numbers the “day-to-day” control passes from the service provider to the individual subscriber or enterprise entity that has requested service. It is these subscribers or enterprise entities that decide what services they would like enabled for their E.164 telephone number(s). Multiple sources of number assignment documentation exist that can be used to resolve conflict over control of a given E.164 number.

E. Provision of ICANN-policy compliant WHOIS service

Given the unique nature of the “.tel” sTLD, Applicant’s propose that the Registry operator provide a publicly available Whois database service on behalf of all ".tel" Registrars as a common component of the Registry service. Applicants propose to limit the information provided in the common Whois database to the name and contact information of the Registrant (IPCSP) that registered a given domain name. Limiting Registrants to IPCSPs (versus individual subscribers) dramatically reduces the complexity associated with maintaining accurate Whois data. For individual privacy purposes, Applicants propose to avoid providing any information regarding the identity of the underling individual communications service subscriber who has been assigned day-to-day control over the registered E.164 number. Applicants are prepared to work with ICANN to modify the above Whois policies to comply with emerging ICANN privacy policies in this area.

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© 2004 The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers