IATA “.travel” TLD Application

Sponsoring Organization's Proposal

Section C

Sponsoring Organization's Proposal

Overview

In this application, IATA, a not-for-profit association that has played a leading role in the global travel industry since 1919, with members in 143 countries and offices in 75 countries, seeks to launch a new TLD focused on the travel industry which will be known as “.travel”. This will be a restricted TLD, available only to businesses in a position to meet objective and transparent criteria which establish their legitimacy as reputable providers of travel-related products, services and information. Thus, members of the Internet community will be able to rely on “.travel” addresses as reliable sites in which to engage in e-commerce transactions. While travel is already the largest sector of commerce conducted on the web, the introduction of this restricted TLD will promote even further the realization of the efficiencies and convenience of e-commerce for consumers and suppliers alike, in all parts of the world.

IATA is uniquely and ideally positioned to sponsor this initiative. Its core activities have always included the setting of industry standards to facilitate cooperation among travel industry suppliers, for the benefit of their customers. In this digital age, it is only logical that IATA exercise its traditional leadership role to enable the travel industry and the customers of that industry to fully exploit the potential of the Internet.

As a not-for-profit organization, IATA will operate the “.travel” TLD on a cost recovery basis. In line with longstanding tradition and commitments made in regard to other such activities, any surpluses that might result would be dedicated to public interest-based initiatives such as expanding the availability of internet services to travel suppliers and consumers in developing nations in order to “bridge the digital divide,” and increasing travel industry infrastructure and efficiency to make travel more affordable to consumers worldwide.

Significantly for the broader Internet community, this proposal offers the potential to introduce much needed competition in the provision of registry services, which will drive down prices and increase the array of choices to the benefit of users not only of “.travel” but of all TLDs. The plan to introduce quality controls to validate the businesses which seek “.travel” domain names will serve as a model for future restricted TLDs focused on other sectors of the economy.

For all of these reasons, which are more fully addressed in the remainder of this application, IATA respectfully submits this proposal clearly merits approval by ICANN.

I. SPONSORING ORGANIZATION STRUCTURE

C1. Please submit a comprehensive description of the structure and nature of the sponsoring organization and the manner in which that organization will conduct its operations, including policy‑formulation activities. We strongly recommend retaining professional legal assistance to aid in the formulation of your Sponsoring Organization's Proposal and accompanying documents.

The following documents should be attached to the description:

• articles of incorporation, association, etc.;

• bylaws or any similar organizational document;

• list of persons presently on the supervising Board of the organization (or to be initially on the Board); and their resumes.

• To the extent applicable and not clear from the attached documents, the description should address the following topics in detail.

IATA lies at the very heart of the world’s largest industry – travel and tourism. It is a not-for-profit association, whose membership consists of 275 airlines, based in 143 different countries and territories, which together transport in excess of 95 percent of the world’s scheduled international air traffic. IATA’s membership runs the gamut from the very largest airlines operating thousands of flights each day over worldwide route networks, to relatively small airlines concentrating on service in particular geographic regions of the world. Attachment C1.A contains a complete list of IATA’s current membership.

IATA’s Head Office is located in Montreal, Canada and has its Executive Office in Geneva, Switzerland. Additional offices have been established in 75 countries. IATA’s worldwide network of offices is set forth in Attachment C1.B.

In addition to its airline membership, IATA counts among its customers approximately 90,000 IATA accredited and endorsed travel agents located in 209 countries; the operators of other modes of transportation such as railways and ferry companies; and numerous other suppliers of travel-related services including hotels, travel insurance providers, etc. Attachment C1.C shows a list of allied and associated organisations that are participants in our Partnership Program.

IATA was originally founded in 1919, when air travel was truly in its infancy. After the Second World War, when the United Nations decided to base ICAO, its specialized agency that deals with air travel, in Montreal, IATA was re-constituted by a Special Act of the Canadian Parliament, which received Royal Assent on December 18, 1945. Attachment C1.D contains a copy of the Special Act of Parliament establishing IATA.

Attachment C1.E contains the Articles of Association of IATA, which provide further details concerning the governance and management of IATA. Under IATA’s Articles, the Association is ultimately responsible to its Annual General Meeting, which consists of the Chief Executive Officers of all IATA Member airlines. Management of the Association is entrusted to a Board of Governors, consisting of the CEOs of thirty-one Member airlines. Drawn from a mix of large and small airlines from all parts of the world, the current composition of the IATA Board of Governors, together with biographical information on each Member of the Board, is listed in Attachment C1.F. The IATA governance structure ensures the Association remains responsive to the diverse needs of a dynamic and global industry.

C2. Organization Information. Principal location, legal status of the organization, laws under which it is organized, type of organization (for profit, non‑profit, corporation, association, etc.).

As set forth in C1, IATA’s Corporate Headquarters is in Montreal, Canada, and its Executive Office is located in Geneva, Switzerland. Other principal regional offices are located in Amman, Jordan; Beijing, China; London, England; Miami, USA; Nairobi, Kenya; and Singapore, with a network of offices in a total of 75 different countries. IATA is organized as a not-for-profit association under Canadian Federal law (Special Act of Parliament of Canada). See Attachment C1.D.

C3. Organization Structure. Size of organization, number of officers, directors and advisors, roles/duties of directors and officers and other staff, supporting and/or contributing organizations, affiliates, membership.

IATA currently employs over 1,700 staff. Its senior management consists of a Director-General & Chief Executive Officer, and eight (8) Vice Presidents. These individuals are listed, their resumes, and descriptions of their roles and duties, are provided, in Attachment C3.A. A complete listing of IATA’s current membership is contained in Attachment C1.A, referenced above. Exhibit C3.B is IATA’s “GlobalSource” CD-ROM containing a listing of the approximately 90,000 travel agency locations accredited or endorsed by IATA and IATAN (IATA’s wholly-owned US subsidiary) throughout the world.

C4. Organization Purpose. Functions and mission of the organization, definition of community to be served (if any), method of ensuring operation in the interest of the stakeholders of the community to be served and the Internet at large.

The essence of IATA is to serve as a neutral, trusted, intermediary to develop standards which facilitate cooperation among travel industry enterprises. Because IATA has developed standardized airline ticket formats which are recognized around the world, it is possible to buy a ticket from a travel agency in Vancouver, Canada, that will be recognized and accepted by a domestic airline in South Africa, for a flight from Johannesburg to Cape Town. Similarly, the IATA “interline” system makes it possible to purchase a single ticket, with a single payment, covering travel on a succession of different airlines (e.g., United Airlines from Los Angeles to New York; connecting to Virgin Atlantic for the flight from New York to London; and returning from London direct to Los Angeles on British Airways). Few industries in the world today can offer their customers the flexibility and benefits of this type of cooperation and standardization, all of which is dependent upon the coordination role played by IATA.

IATA has been entrusted by the industry, and by governments around the world, to design and equitably administer the coding systems essential for the smooth and efficient functioning of the travel industry. It is IATA that assigns airport codes (such as “LAX” for Los Angeles or “SYD” for Sydney); airline designator codes (such as “AA” for American Airlines or “MK” for Air Mauritius); and that assigns tens of thousands of unique codes to identify travel agency locations around the world. The IATA coding system has been the backbone of communications and information exchange in the travel industry for decades.

IATA provides a broad range of products and services to meet the needs of travel industry customers. IATA Industry Settlement Systems is the principal vehicle for processing payments from travel agents to their principals, handling remittances in excess of US$ 130 billion each year. The IATA Clearing House provides an efficient means for Members, which include not only airlines but other transport entities as well, to offset debits and credits due each other, processing over US$ 32 billion in transactions in 1999. Numerous IATA publications (which increasingly are available in electronic format as well as traditional “hard copy”) are recognized as the authoritative source for state-of-the-art information in the field of transportation and travel. These exhibits include:

· Customer Focus Guides: Cargo, Travel and Tourism, Airlines, Airports, Civil Aviation (Exhibit C4.A)

· IATA Handbook Part 1, 2, & 3 (Exhibit C4.B)

· Airline Coding Directory (Exhibit C4.C)

· IATA City Code Directory (Exhibit C4.D)

· Multi-Lateral Interline Traffic Agreement (MITA) (Exhibit C4.E)

· Passenger Services Conferences Resolutions Manual (Exhibit C4.F)

· Passenger Agency Conference Resolutions Manual (Exhibit C4.G)

· IATA GlobalSource CD ROM (Exhibit C3.B, the world’s most comprehensive directory of travel agencies).

IATA is also working toward the launch of a digital security service for the travel industry, which will capitalize on IATA’s traditional role as a neutral, trusted intermediary to provide a basis for ensuring authentication, integrity, confidentiality and non-repudiation for electronic transactions conducted over public networks.

Now that our industry, along with the rest of the world, is coming to rely increasingly on the internet to meet its communications and information exchange requirements, IATA has identified a need to create a “.travel” restricted Top Level Domain. IATA is prepared to devote its unique expertise to sponsor and effectively manage this new TLD, for the benefit of the travel industry and the millions of consumers worldwide served by our industry.

IATA’s interest in offering the Internet community a travel industry-orientated TLD is not of recent vintage. On July 2, 1997, IATA became a signatory to the Memorandum of Understanding on the Generic Top Level Domain Name Space of the Internet Domain Name System (gTLD-MoU). Pursuant to that decision, IATA pursued the establishment of a new TLD for the travel industry. Now that ICANN has announced its intention to authorize new TLD’s, and now that the travel industry has established itself as the largest e-commerce segment of the “.com” world, IATA enthusiastically renews its longstanding interest in achieving the myriad benefits of the proposal to create a TLD for this, the world largest, industry.

Over the years, IATA has established criteria and processes, which validate, equitably and efficiently, whether a business constitutes a part of the travel sector of the world’s economy. Since its inception, IATA has organized on-going “Traffic Conferences” which are forums in which its Members and other partners come together to discuss such matters as industry standards and procedures. The IATA Traffic Conferences are open to all governments of the world to observe, and proceedings are filed for public comment with relevant governmental agencies, such as the US Department of Transportation. It is through these Traffic Conferences, which operate on the basis of consensus, that IATA has developed industry standards for such things as the design of universally-recognized passenger tickets and baggage tags, accreditation of travel agencies, and the industry coding systems.

Recognizing the unique needs of the travel industry for cooperation and coherence in such matters, the IATA Traffic Conferences have been granted a public interest-based exemption from the antitrust laws of the United States. Civil Aeronautics Board Order 68-7-55, July 12, 1968. Exemptions from the competition laws of the European Union, Australia, and other nations have also been obtained.

In order to do business as an airline, it is imperative to be assigned a two-character airline designator code by IATA. This coding system, open to both IATA Members and non-members, exists pursuant to a Resolution 762 of the IATA Passenger Services Conference, which is contained in Attachment C4.C. Without an IATA airline designator code, computer reservations systems would be unable to accept an airline’s schedule, other airlines would find it impossible to participate in the through-ticketing of connecting passengers, and myriad financial, information, and communications systems would be unavailable. Possession of an IATA designator code is as vital to an airline as possession of a domain name for any business intending to engage in e-commerce.

Because airline designator codes consist of only two characters (usually two letters, but sometimes a letter and a numeral), the supply of codes is limited. It is IATA that has been entrusted to allocate this scarce resource among both Member and non-member airlines worldwide. IATA has developed criteria to validate that applicants are indeed legitimate airlines, and has implemented a fee structure which creates an incentive for the surrender for re-allocation of codes no longer in use (e.g., because an airline has merged or gone out of business), and provides a source of funding for projects which benefit the entire travel industry.

IATA also is responsible for allocating the three-letter codes which designate the cities and airports of the world (e.g., “JFK” for New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport; “NYC” for New York City; “LHR” for London-Heathrow Airport; and “LON” for London, England). See Resolution 763 contained in Attachment C4.D. Whenever controversies arise concerning the allocation of these codes, IATA procedures come into play to obtain the input of all concerned parties, including the relevant governmental authorities. Based upon that input, IATA strives to build a consensus consistent with pertinent public interest considerations among the affected stakeholders.

Another area of IATA’s responsibilities has been the development of standards for accreditation and endorsement of travel agencies, to ensure these businesses are reputable, financially solvent, and equipped to provide the travelling public with knowledgeable and professional services. See, for example, Resolution 814, contained in Attachment C4.E. IATA has processes in place to review and action approximately 90,000 application renewals every year from accredited and endorsed travel agencies around the world.

Attainment of the benefits of a restricted TLD will require the equitable and substantive evaluation of domain name requests, to weed-out applications from other than bona fide travel industry constituents, while ensuring the TLD is available for use by its intended constituency. Because of its expertise in performing precisely this type of function with respect to travel industry systems that have been in existence for decades, IATA is uniquely and ideally suited to carry out this responsibility.

IATA views the community to be served by the “.travel” TLD as the peoples of the world who travel, and the firms which provide services in the travel sector of the global economy. IATA has several mechanisms already in place for ensuring the “.travel” TLD will be managed in the best interest of the stakeholders of the community to be served.

First, as noted in response to C1, IATA is ultimately accountable to its Annual General Meeting comprised of the Chief Executive Officers of 275 international airlines, drawn from 143 different countries. Accordingly, IATA is uniquely positioned and indeed mandated to ensure the objectives and aspirations of all parts of the global travel community are given the maximum possible opportunity to flourish.

Second, to provide an effective channel for direct input to IATA regarding management of the “.travel” TLD, IATA proposes to establish a new .travel Advisory Committee, which would include a broad range of representatives of members of the “.travel” stakeholder community, including specifically travel consumer groups, and travel services suppliers.

IATA has a long history of organizing and facilitating entities of this nature to provide a forum for dialogue and action across diverse stakeholder groups on issues of mutual concern. For example, earlier this year, IATA launched the “Simplifying Passenger Travel Interest Group” which brings together government control authorities (i.e., Immigration and Customs agencies), airports, airlines, and technology providers, to expedite the travel experience for passengers using innovative technological solutions such as biometrics and smart cards. Attachment C4.A contains further information on the vision and work program of this Group. Another Interest Group coordinated by IATA, known as “Cargo 2000,” brings together freight forwarders and airlines to focus on automating cargo processing in order to achieve efficiencies and economies for the benefit of cargo shippers. In the two year period preceding the “Y2K” rollover on January 1, 2000, IATA took the initiative to coordinate an unprecedented effort to assist travel industry enterprises worldwide in assessing their Y2K readiness and to take the necessary measures to achieve compliance. This project brought together, under leadership of IATA, Member and non-member airlines, airport authorities, air traffic control providers, fuel suppliers, and a myriad of other travel industry-related interests, to work together toward the common and vital objective of avoiding any disruption to services available to the travelling public on the Y2K rollover date.

Yet another instance where IATA has sponsored and coordinated dialogue among diverse stakeholder groups is the “Airline-Consumer Forum,” which has been in existence for the past fifteen (15) years. The Consumer Forum brings together airline and consumer organization representatives at least twice-yearly to discuss and agree actions on issues of common interest. The current membership of the Airline Consumer Forum is shown in Attachment C4.B. Thus, IATA’s commitment and ability to establish a successful and meaningful Advisory Group to provide input in the management of the “.travel” TLD is proven by the years of practical experience gained in coordinating the extensive range of multi-stakeholder groups described above.

Third, IATA already has a fully developed website, www.iata.org, which provides a convenient and virtually cost-free means for members of the travel community, in the broadest sense, to provide their input to IATA.

For the reasons detailed in C5 below, approval of this application will benefit the internet at large by offering a competitive alternative to the existing “.com” TLD, focused on the largest economic sector on the web today, the travel industry. It will significantly alleviate the pressure on the availability of “.com” domain names, and will validate innovative policies targeted against speculation and trafficking in domain names and discouraging the hoarding of domain names on which no distinctive content has been posted, which may be useful to apply to other new gTLDs to be established in the future.

C5. Appropriateness of Community. If the organization is intended to serve or represent a particular community, define the community and explain why that definition fits the TLD proposal.

Air transport is at the centre of the travel and tourism industry (see Attachment C5.A). Today the sector has an estimated economic impact of some US$ 3,575 billion according to World Travel & Tourism Council estimates and supports about 200 million jobs. Some 657 million tourists travelled to foreign countries in 1999, spending almost US$ 455 billion, according to World Tourism Organization data.

There are more than 100,000 travel agency outlets worldwide and air travel accounts for 60% of their total business. The world’s scheduled airlines performed some 1,560 million passenger journeys during 1999, as reported by ICAO. (The actual number of individual passengers is estimated to have been over 500 million.)

Detailed data on other sectors of the travel industry are difficult to obtain but, according to the International Hotel & Restaurant Association, there are over 300,000 hotels and 8 million restaurants around the world. It is also estimated that more than 6 million people went on ship cruises during 1999.

Of significance for this application has been the rapid growth in the past few years of on-line travel distribution, from basically zero five years ago to about US$ 5 billion in the USA for the year 2000, according to Jupiter Communications. This turnover is expected to more than double during the next three years, with airlines leading the way in the travel industry in terms of the e-commerce share of their total business.

Airlines operating in the USA could be doing more than 10% of their business on-line by 2003, up from 6% today, again according to Jupiter Communications. Growth in other regions of the world is expected to be even faster, although from a smaller base.

The community to be served by the establishment of the “.travel” TLD will consist of all organizations involved in any aspect of travel. Specifically this will include but not be limited to:

Scheduled Airlines

Charter Airlines

Airports

Ferries

Train Operators

Bus and Coach Operators

Ground Handlers

Catering Companies

Car Rental Companies

Hotels and Resorts

Bed and Breakfast Houses

Camp Facility Operators

Tourist Boards/Associations

Tourist Facility Operators

Travel Guide Publishers

Travel Agents

Tour Operators

Consolidators

Internet Service Providers for Travel

Computer Reservation Systems/Global Distribution Systems

C6. Representation. Manner in which the organization will represent and take input from community to be served, the categories of stakeholder to be included in the organization.

As outlined in C4 above, IATA proposes to institute an Advisory Committee modeled on its Airline-Consumer Forum, Interest Groups, and other such multi-stakeholder dialogue and action bodies, to enable representatives of all segments of the “.travel” TLD constituency to provide input directly to IATA. Meetings of this Advisory Committee will be open to the public, notices, agendas and minutes of meetings will be posted on a website, and the location of meetings will rotate through different parts of the world to afford all members of the “.travel” constituency the maximum opportunity to participate. In addition, IATA will encourage individuals to provide input via its website.

To provide appropriate input to policy decisions IATA also intends to establish an IATA-Registrars Forum. This forum will consist of the management of IATA directly concerned with overseeing the policy in respect of “.travel” TLD together with representatives of all registrars approved to process applications for the domain name.

The Forum will:

· provide an input to the policy development in respect of the TLD

· establish a formal two way channel of communication between registrars and the sponsoring organization to increase mutual understanding and determine point position on matters of common interest

· make representation to ICANN, Government regulatory bodies and consumer organizations so as to advance the common interest of the parties and the furtherance of the objective of ICANN to enhance the utility of the DNS.

The IATA-Registrars Forum will meet twice a year.

The Chairman and Vice-Chairman will be selected by the Forum by common consent and the appointment confirmed by the IATA Director General. IATA will appoint a senior executive to act as Secretary to the Forum.

C7. Openness and Transparency. Measures taken to promote openness and transparency, access to information, web site use, public posting of information, meeting minutes, notice and comment provisions.

IATA will make full utilization of its website to efficiently, economically, and rapidly promote communications with the “.travel” constituency. As a start to that process, this application is being posted on the IATA website at www.iata.org, and IATA is encouraging interested persons to provide comments on the application. As noted in C4 above, IATA will establish an Advisory Committee to provide further input on the management of the “.travel” TLD, and will post advance notice and agendas of the meetings of that Committee, as well as minutes of committee proceedings and other relevant documents, on the publicly-accessible portion of the IATA website. Comments on agenda items will be accepted via the website from members of the public for consideration by the Advisory Committee. Meetings of the Advisory Committee will be freely open to the public, and in accordance with longstanding IATA policy and practice, will rotate among the different regions of the globe to promote accessibility to all members of the “.travel” constituency, wherever in the world they may reside. As noted in C6 above, IATA also intends to set-up an IATA-Registrar Forum to provide additional input to policy making.

C8. Initial Directors and Staff. The identity and qualifications of the initial directors and staff.

The current senior management of IATA is identified, including copies of their resumes, in Attachment C3.A. The Vice President who currently is responsible for, among other things, IATA’s e-commerce initiatives and the IATA website, and whom it is envisaged would be responsible for the “.travel” TLD is Louise Roy, whose resume is included in Attachment C3.A. Before joining IATA, Ms. Roy served as President & CEO of Telemedia Communications, Inc., and prior to that was President & Director General of the Montreal Urban Community Transit Commission, and a Vice President at Air France. IATA’s Senior Director Information Technology Services, Karin Gebert, would also play a key role in management of the “.travel” TLD. Ms. Gebert’s career with IATA has spanned 17 years, and has included a number of promotions to progressively greater levels of responsibility. Her resume is included in Attachment C8.A.

C9. Selection of Directors, Officers, Members, Staff, etc. Eligibility, method of selection, term of service, compensation, liability, conflicts of interest, resignation, removal, vacancies.

IATA is committed to hiring and promoting on the basis of merit. It is firmly committed to non-discrimination in its hiring policies, and views its diverse, multi-national and multi-cultural workforce from over 75 nations as one of the organization’s major strengths. Openings for IATA staff positions are posted on the IATA website, and made known via internal e-mail to existing IATA staff members. In some cases, vacancies are advertised in newspapers and other media, and the services of employment agencies may be utilized to assist in recruitment efforts. Most IATA staff positions are permanent appointments, supplemented by fixed-term contract appointments depending on the nature of the specific job requirements and anticipated duration. Compensation and employee benefits are designed to be competitive, taking into account local market conditions, to enable IATA to recruit and retain the most highly qualified candidates for each position. IATA is committed to gender parity in its compensation policies. IATA has in place customary Directors & Officers liability insurance coverage, as well as “Errors and Omissions” liability insurance coverage. Accordingly, IATA staff, directors, and officers, do not face any personal liability with respect to acts, errors, or omissions committed in good faith in the course of conducting their duties for IATA. All IATA employees must sign the Business Standards and Ethics Guidelines, a copy of which appears as Attachment C9.A, which obliges them to confirm they are free of all conflicts of interest. IATA directors, officers, and employees are free to resign their employment with IATA by giving the period of notice specified in their employment agreements, which is generally set in accordance with prevailing local conditions in the country where they are based. In the infrequent event of termination of a director, officer or employee by IATA, all contractual provisions and local legal requirements in regard to notice, severance packages, etc. are observed.

C10. Policy‑Making Procedure. Provide a detailed description of the process for formulating policies for the TLD, including a detailed description of the requirements for adoption of different types of policy.

In the first instance, IATA proposes to have detailed discussions with ICANN on the formulation of policies for the TLD. As indicated in this application, we intend to be as open as possible and consistent with the policies of ICANN for DNS. Being a restricted TLD, we will establish certain selection criteria to ensure only qualified applicants will be allowed to register in the TLD. By doing so, as more fully explained in Section E of this application, an innovative and significant value-added service that will be attractive to users of the internet will be provided, and thus, “.travel” will become an attractive alternative and a viable competitor to the “.com” TLD for the largest segment of e-commerce today, the travel industry. As indicated in C4 above, we intend to establish an Advisory Committee to enable representatives of all segments of the .“travel” TLD constituency to provide input directly to IATA. Furthermore, as outlined in C6, IATA intends to establish an IATA-Registrar Forum to provide additional input to policy development in respect of the TLD.

All policy proposals in respect of the domain name will be presented to IATA’s Board of Governors for approval in exactly the same way as other policy discussions of the organization are processed.

C11. Meetings and Communication. Frequency of meetings, location of meetings, provisions for telephone meetings, other methods of communication, generation of minutes for meetings.

As indicated previously, IATA will establish an IATA-Registrar Forum and an Advisory Committee, each of which will meet twice per year. In accordance with longstanding IATA policy, the location of the meetings will rotate through the different parts of the world, to provide equal opportunity for attendance to all members of the global constituency served by the “.travel” TLD. To the extent useful, IATA envisages that these bodies will make use of teleconference, video-conference, and other such technologies, to enable members who may not be in a position to travel to attend a meeting in person, to nevertheless provide input. IATA will encourage the use of its website and e-mail to facilitate communications from stakeholders. Minutes of meetings will be generated by secretariat staff assigned to support these activities, and will be posted on the website, as will notices and agendas for upcoming meetings.

C12. Fiscal Information. Initial budget, expenses, existing capital, sources of revenue, accounting, audit, annual report and annual statement.

Attachment C12.A, contains the most recent audited financial statements of IATA, including fiscal information, expenses, existing capital, sources of revenue, accounting procedures, audit report, annual report and annual statement. IATA is not required to, and has never before, made public its financial statements. Consistent with its commitment to openness and transparency, and in the interest of enabling all who may be interested in commenting on this application to have a complete basis upon which to do so, IATA is not requesting confidential treatment of this information. As the financial statements show, IATA has an annual budget in excess of US$ 240 million. While IATA is a not-for-profit entity, it is accustomed to managing activities with sizeable financial implications, and unquestionably has the capabilities and resources to successfully launch and operate the “.travel” TLD. A pro forma initial budget for the “.travel” sponsored TLD activity is set forth in Attachment C12.B. The IATA Annual Report is contained in Exhibit 12.A.

C13. Liability. Liability of the organization, directors, officers, and staff.

All liabilities of IATA, its directors, officers, and staff pertinent for purposes of financial reporting and disclosure under generally accepted accounting principles are fully disclosed in IATA’s audited financial statements contained in Attachment C12.A. IATA does not require reporting of, nor maintain any records of, whether individual directors, officers and staff may have personal liabilities, such as mortgages, etc., which we trust would not be relevant to this application. IATA maintains third party liability insurance coverage in an amount exceeding US$ 50 million, errors & omissions coverage in the amount of US$ 10 million, as well as fidelity and directors & officers liability coverage.

C14. Amendment of Articles of Incorporation or Bylaws. Procedures for making amendments to the articles of incorporation, bylaws, and other organizational documents.

The Special Act of Parliament of Canada establishing IATA may only be amended by further Act of the Parliament of Canada. The Articles of Association of IATA may be amended by majority vote at an IATA Annual General Meeting.

C15. Reconsideration and Review. Any policy for allowing reconsideration and review of organization policy or implementation decisions.

Any party dissatisfied with any policy or decision of IATA may seek review of that decision by the IATA Board of Governors, and if dissatisfied with the disposition of the matter rendered by the Board of Governors, by the IATA Annual General Meeting.

II. PROPOSED EXTENT OF POLICY‑FORMULATION AUTHORITY

[This section is intended to address the extent of the policy authority to be delegated, NOT the specific policies proposed. Specific policies should be described in the Description of Proposed TLD Policies part of the application.]

C16. List and describe in detail the areas over which a delegation of policy‑formulation authority is sought. For each area in which policy authority is sought, please address:

As set forth in section E of this application, IATA seeks authority to manage the ".travel" restricted TLD. This will include authority to:

(a) Enter into a contract with a registry operator;

(b) Enter into contracts with registrars;

(c) Enter into contracts with members and registrants;

(d) Establish and implement criteria for travel industry registrants’ initial and continued membership in the ".travel" TLD;

(e) Establish and implement criteria for initial registration and continued use of domain names in the ".travel" TLD;

(f) Establish and implement naming conventions;

(g) Resolve membership disputes; and

(h) Resolve only those domain name disputes that are submitted to IATA by the parties' mutual consent.

C16.1. Scope of authority sought;

(a) Enter into a contract with a registry operator:

IATA seeks full authority to negotiate a contract with a registry operator, to be limited, however, by the DNS and other technical requirements.

(b) Enter into contracts with registrars:

IATA seeks full authority to negotiate contracts with registrars, to be limited, however, by the DNS and other technical requirements.

(c) Enter into contracts with members and registrants:

IATA seeks full authority to negotiate contracts with members and registrants, to be limited, however, by ICANN policies.

(d) Establish and implement criteria for travel industry members' initial and continued membership in the ".travel" TLD:

IATA seeks authority to establish and implement TLD membership criteria as more fully described in Sections E16 through E19.

(e) Establish and implement criteria for initial registration and continued use of domain names in the ".travel" TLD:

IATA seeks authority to establish and implement TLD registration criteria as described in Section E17.

(f) Establish and implement naming conventions:

IATA seeks authority to establish and implement global and geographic-specific naming conventions within the ".travel" TLD as described in Section E3.

(g) Resolve membership disputes:

IATA seeks authority to resolve membership disputes as described in Sections E18 and E20.

(h) Resolve only those domain name disputes that are submitted to IATA by the parties' mutual consent.

IATA seeks authority to resolve only those domain name disputes that are submitted to IATA by members' and/or third parties' mutual consent as described in Section E21. Otherwise, members and/or third parties must submit to domain name dispute resolution under ICANN's UDRP.

C16.2. Reasons/justifications for seeking authority;

As fully explained in section E, the essence of this proposal is to launch a new TLD which will offer the internet community the advantage of quality control based on objective and transparent criteria relevant to the conduct of e-commerce. Registrants which are unwilling or unable to comply with the criteria set for the “.travel” TLD will continue to be free to register and operate websites in unrestricted TLDs such as .com. Registrants that wish to offer their customers the value-added features inherent in qualification for the “.travel” restricted TLD will register here. In order to offer the internet community this new and expanded level of choice, it is key that the sponsor of this restricted TLD be delegated authority to implement these policies.

C16.3. Method of guaranteeing that your organization will administer the policy in the interest of the Internet at large; and

IATA proposes that while it seeks the authority to develop objective and transparent criteria for registration in this TLD, it will work closely with users, registrars, and other stakeholders in this process through the .travel Advisory Board and the IATA-Registrars Forum, previously described in section C4. Input from these groups will also be used in the continual review and updating of the criteria for granting the “.travel” TLD in the future. Moreover, IATA intends to add the criteria for registration in the “.travel” TLD to the list of activities of its Board of Governors, which in turn is accountable to the IATA Annual General Meeting composed of the CEOs of 275 airlines from 143 different countries. In so doing, IATA will ensure that viewpoints from all parts of the globe are duly taken into account in the development and administration of these policies.

C16.4. Whether variation from existing ICANN policies is intended at the opening of the new TLD.

No further variations from existing ICANN policies is intended at the opening of the new TLD.

III. CONTRACT TERMS WITH REGISTRY OPERATOR

[Sponsoring organizations are responsible for securing an initial registry operator for the proposed TLD and ensuring that the registry operator completes the Registry Operator's Proposal. Sponsoring organizations should also enter detailed contracts for the provision of registry operation services. These contracts should address all of the required functions as outlined in the Registry Operator's Proposal.]

C17. Identification of Registry Operator. Please list the full legal name, principal address, telephone and fax numbers, and e‑mail address of the registry operator:

JVTEAM, LLC, 112 Vermont Avenue NW, Suite 550, Washington DC, 0005, USA:

Tel: +1 202 533 2600

Fax: +1 202 533 2975

Email: ken.hansen@neustar.com

C18. Contract with Registry Operator. Please attach one of the following:

C18.1. a copy of your contract with the selected registry operator for provision of registry services;

C18.2. proposed terms for a contract (i.e. at least a detailed term sheet) with a registry operator for provision of registry services, proof of commitment from the registry operator for provision of services under those proposed terms, and a notation of the estimated date of entry into the contract; or

C18.3. a statement that the sponsoring organization will also serve as the registry operator for the proposed TLD. (In this case, the sponsoring organization must prepare and submit the Registry Operator's Proposal in addition to the Sponsoring Organization's Proposal.)

The signed, binding Term Sheet covering the contractual arrangement between IATA and JVTEAM, LLC is attached as Attachment C18.A. The estimated date of entry into the contract based on this binding Term Sheet is December 1, 2000, subject to finalization of any outstanding issues with ICANN.

IATA has engaged in a thorough examination of the options for registry operator services, and engaged in extensive and serious discussions with a number of potential partners. The outcome of this process was the selection of JVTEAM. This decision was based on a number of factors including JVTEAM’s financial strength, specific expertise in the operation and management of a significant country code TLD, and expertise as the North American Numbering Plan Administrator (NANPA) and Local Number Portability Administrator (LNPA), all of which assure the necessary financial and managerial resources will be available to bring this “.travel” TLD to fruition once it is authorized by ICANN.

In addition to the benefits of this proposal for the worldwide travel industry and its customers, IATA views this as an opportunity to launch a credible competitor to VeriSign, which is obviously the dominant provider of registry services today. By creating an alliance between IATA’s proposed TLD based on value-added quality assurance of registrants which the internet consumers of today are demanding, and the financial and technical strengths of JVTEAM as the registry operator, ICANN is presented with a unique opportunity to afford the internet community not only the extensive array of advantages described in this particular proposal, but also the very significant benefit of introducing viable and desperately needed competition into the broader market for the provision of registry operator services.

As indicated above, IATA has been in contact in the course of this process with a number of other existing and prospective registry service providers which are expected to be involved in other proposals to ICANN in this round of applications. All of the registry operators with which IATA has been in contact have been keen to work with IATA. IATA’s first choice of registry operator is clearly JVTEAM, as indicated above. IATA anticipates that in consideration of the material set forth in section D of this application in particular, ICANN will agree JVTEAM has presented superior qualifications on all accounts to serve in this capacity. Nevertheless, in the event ICANN in its judgment were for any reason to direct IATA to partner with a different registry operator, IATA hereby confirms it would be prepared to do so, assuming mutually agreeable terms with the registry operator recommended by ICANN could be negotiated.

By signing this proposal, the undersigned attests, on behalf of the applicant(s), that the information contained in this application, and all supporting documents included with this application, are true and accurate to the best of applicant's knowledge.

_______________________________

Signature

________P. Jeanniot_ ________

Name (please print)

_____Director General_____________

Title

__________________

Name of Entity to Which Title Applies

__ ___October 2, 2000____________

Date

Updated August 15, 2000

Attachment C1.A

INTERNATIONAL AIR TRANSPORT ASSOCIATION - MEMBERSHIP

Attachment C1.A – INTERNATIONAL AIR TRANSPORT ASSOCIATION - MEMBERSHIP

275 Members (246 Active and 29 Associate) on 26 September 2000

ACTIVE MEMBERS

VX	ACES (Aerolíneas Centrales de Colombia S.A.)
ZY	ADA Air
JP	Adria Airways
EI	Aer Lingus Ltd.
E4	Aero Asia International (PVT) Ltd.
JR	Aero California
Z9	Aero Zambia Ltd.
SU	Aeroflot (Aeroflot Russian Airlines t.a.)
AR	Aerolíneas Argentinas S.A.
AM	AEROMEXICO (Aerovias de Mexico S.A. de C.V.)
QO	Aeromexpress
PL	AEROPERU (Empresa de Trans. Aéreo del Perú)
VV	Aerosvit Airlines
ZL	Affretair (PVT) Ltd.
RK	Air Afrique
AH	Air Algérie (Entr. Nat. d’Expl. de Svcs Aériens)
LM	Air ALM (ALM 1997 Airline Inc., d.b.a.)
UU	Air Austral
BT	Air Baltic Corp. SIA
AB	Air Berlin GmbH & Co.
JA	Air Bosna
KF	Air Botnia Oy Ab
BP	Air Botswana Corporation
SB	Air Caledonie International
AC	Air Canada
CA	Air China International Corp.
AG	Air Contractors (UK) Ltd.
UX	Air Europa Líneas Aéreas, S.A.
AF	Air France
GN	Air Gabon
JM	Air Jamaica Ltd.
9Y	Air Kazakstan
JS	Air Koryo
VD	Air Liberté S.A.
FU	Air Littoral
MD	Air Madagascar
QM	Air Malawi Ltd.
L6	Air Maldives Ltd.
KM	Air Malta p.l.c.
CW	Air Marshall Islands
MK	Air Mauritius
RM	Air Moldova International
SW	Air Namibia
NZ	Air New Zealand Ltd.
PX	Air Niugini (Air Niugini Pty Ltd. t.a.)
YW	Air Nostrum L.A.M.S.A.
FJ	Air Pacific Ltd.
HM	Air Seychelles Ltd.
TC	Air Tanzania Corporation
6U	Air Ukraine
NF	Air Vanuatu (Operations) Ltd.
UM	Air Zimbabwe Corporation
AI	Air-India
AS	Alaska Airlines Inc.
LV	Albanian Airlines MAK S.H.P.H.
AZ	Alitalia - Linee Aeree Italiane S.p.A.
Y2