Generic Top-Level Domain (gTLD) Registry Agreements

gTLD Registry Agreements establish the rights, duties, liabilities, and obligations ICANN requires of registry operators to run gTLDs.

.asia Registry Agreement | Appendix S

.asia Registry Agreement | Appendix S

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Appendix S

(6 December 2006)


Contents

Part 1. Sponsored TLD Charter

Part 2. Delegated Authority

Part 3. Description of Sponsored TLD Community

Part 4. Start-Up Plan

Part 5. Selection of Registrars

Part 6. Public Whois

Part 7 Additional Provisions

Part 1. Sponsored TLD Charter

The DotAsia registry will serve the Pan-Asia and Asia Pacific community. The DotAsia Organisation will adopt the boundaries defined by ICANN (http://www.icann.org/montreal/geo-regions-topic.htm) for the Asia / Australia / Pacific (AP) region as a basis for its scope of eligibility. This provides for a clear definition of eligibility based on the geographic locations represented within the region.

The vision of the DotAsia Organisation is to create a globally visible domain that embodies the successful, cooperative atmosphere established within the Pan-Asia and Asia Pacific Internet community to accelerate the overall growth of the region.

The mission of the DotAsia Organisation is:

- To sponsor, establish and operate a regional Internet namespace with global recognition and regional significance, dedicated to the needs of the Pan-Asia and Asia Pacific Internet community.

- To reinvest surpluses in socio-technological advancement initiatives relevant to the Pan-Asia and Asia Pacific Internet community; and

- To operate a viable not-for-profit initiative that is a technically advanced, world-class TLD registry for the Pan-Asia and Asia Pacific community.

The DotAsia Organisation views "Asia" as a term that appropriately embodies the diverse and vibrant Pan-Asia and Asia Pacific community, and a TLD namestring that is representative, short, recognisable and conceptually viable. The DotAsia Organisation believes that "Asia" as a term used for a TLD has broad significance, clear and lasting value, and creates a new and differentiated space that enhances the diversity of the Internet namespace.

Part 2. Delegated Authority

Subject to Registry Operator’s compliance with this Registry Operator TLD Registry Agreement, including all attachments and appendices thereto (the "Agreement") and any Temporary Specifications or Policies or Consensus Policies as defined in the Agreement, and provided the scope of the Charter is not exceeded: Registry Operator shall have delegated authority to develop policy for the TLD in the following areas:

Product Management

1. Establishment of domain naming conventions to be used in the Registry Operator TLD.

2. Functional and performance specifications for Registry Services.

3. Consistent with any condition under which a Registry Service has been approved, management responsibility for all Registry Services and products, including but not limited to:

a. Variations, modifications, or extensions of Registry Services that do not represent material changes to a previously approved Registry Service.

b. Changes to policies and restrictions associated with or necessitated by approved Registry Services (e.g. changes to style guides) as outlined in Clauses 6, 7 and 8 below

c. Pricing.

d. Promotions and promotional products, packaging or pricing.

e. Branding, naming, or other marketing activity.

f. Modification of deployment timelines, rollout plans, and implementation details for approved Registry Services.

g. Withdrawal and suspension of all but basic Registry Services (second level registrations); provided, however, that obligations with registrants existing at the time of the withdrawal or suspension are honored.

h. Provisions for publication of registry and registrar data.

4. Reservation of names to be offered for registration other than on a first-come, first-served basis and creation of the policies and procedures under which such names may be registered.

5. Identification and reservation of names that are not available for second level registrations and as to which third level names will be offered for registration to end users

Restrictions on Registration and Policies for Use of Domain Names

6. Reservation of names to be withheld from reservation in the TLD (in addition to those names reserved by ICANN and set forth in a schedule by ICANN).

7. Policies regarding eligibility to register a domain name in the TLD, which need not be uniform for all names within the TLD.

8. Restrictions and policies on how registered names may be used, which need not be uniform for all names within the TLD, and which may vary, for example, by type, name, or registrant category.

9. Procedures and schedule for the start-up (provided they are consistent with Part IV of this Appendix S) or any subsequent sunrise policies and procedures of the TLD.

Operational Policy and Performance Management

10. Except as specifically set forth in the Agreement, matters related to operation of the registry and the TLD, including, without limitation:

a. Performance of eligibility and name-selection services (ENS), either directly by the Registry Operator or by one or more organizations or individuals to which it delegates the responsibility for performing such services;

b. Operational capability decisions, including location, staffing, organisation structure, capital expenditure, suppliers and, consistent with ICANN approved policies related to selection and management of ICANN-Accredited Registrars, distribution and promotional channels;

c. Other operations-related processes and procedures, including but not be limited to:

i. Internal operations of the Registry Operator;

ii. Registry/Registrar relations and channel management, including the terms and conditions contained in the registry/registrar agreement;

iii. Terms and conditions required to be included in the end-user registration agreement;

iv. Management, support, and interactions with the Members;

v. Mechanisms for resolution of disputes between owners of rights in names (such as trademarks) and registrants;

vi. Mechanisms for enforcement of registration restrictions and policies; and vii. Provisions for publication of registry and registrar data.

Organizational and Other

11. Organizational governance policies and operations management will be formulated and maintained by the DotAsia Organisation. These would include but not limited to:

- Membership Policies

- Election Policies

- Governance Structure Policies

- Surplus Proceeds Allocation Policies

- Selection of technical services providers and establishment of the terms of agreement between the technical services provider and the Registry Operator.

12. Any other policies or practices not inconsistent with the Agreement, ICANN Temporary Specifications and Policies, or Consensus Policy.

Part 3. Description of Sponsored TLD Community

Subject to Registry Operator’s compliance with this Registry Operator TLD Registry Agreement, including all attachments and appendices thereto (the "Agreement") and any Temporary Specifications or Policies or Consensus Policies as defined in the Agreement, and provided the scope of the Charter is not exceeded:

The Registry Operator TLD community will be defined as all self-identified participants that have a stake in the Charter of the TLD as described in Part 1 of this Appendix S

1. Registry Operator anticipates the following to be the major beneficiaries and stakeholders in the community:

a. Legal entities within the Sponsor Community, including natural person, proprietorship, partnership or corporations

b. Governments, public sector entities and statutory bodies within the Sponsor Community

c. Entities that have established, seeking or have nexus relationship and presence within the Sponsor Community

2. Registry Operator may modify and/or expand the description of the TLD Community, consistent with the Agreement and the scope for eligibility for inclusion within the TLD Community as set forth in Part 1, Sponsored TLD Charter, to reflect evolution of the Pan Asia and Asia Pacific region.

Part 4. Start-Up Plan

Subject to Registry Operator’s compliance with this Sponsored TLD Registry Agreement, including all attachments and appendices thereto (the "Agreement") and any Temporary Specifications or Policies or Consensus Policies as defined in the Agreement, and provided the scope of the Charter is not exceeded: Registry Operator will implement the following start-up plan:

#

Phase

Duration

0

Pre-Sunrise

~60 days

Solicitation of reserved domains list from ccTLDs and governments (through GAC representatives)

1

Sunrise I

~60 days

Corresponding governments and/or relevant entities may "activate" (i.e. register) domains from the reserved domains list obtained during Pre-Sunrise on a First-Come-First-Served basis

2

Sunrise II

~30 days

Public bodies, holders/licensees of trademarks, holders of other prior right protected rights may apply for domains based on their relevant names

3

Quiet Period

~30 days

4

Landrush

~15 days

Anyone that meets the charter eligibility requirements may apply for any domain name

5

Auction

~15 days

For domains that received more than one valid application during Sunrise II and Landrush, closed auctions will be held for all competing applicants

6

Go Live

n/a

Live First-Come-First-Served registrations commence

The start-up plan provides for the introduction of the .ASIA TLD in an orderly, transparent, and logical way, for the purpose of ensuring competition, fairness and reliability for ICANN-Accredited Registrars, registrants, and the TLD Community (as defined in Part 3 of this Appendix S). It is intended to create a stable and effective registration process for the benefit of the Internet community in general, and effected stakeholders in particular. The plan consists of a multiphase process that will be executed by the Registry Operator.

Part 5. Selection of Registrars

Subject to Registry Operator’s compliance with this Registry Operator TLD Registry Agreement, including all attachments and appendices thereto (the "Agreement") and any Temporary Specifications or Policies or Consensus Policies as defined in the Agreement, and provided the scope of the Charter is not exceeded:

The Registry has not established a minimum or maximum number of Registrars that will be selected for the TLD. The Registry will accept applications from any Registrar and will enter into agreements with Registrars only after review of applications in the form it specifies and makes public from time to time.

The Registry will select from among Registrars considering, among other factors, the following characteristics in the group of authorized Registrars:

1. Recognition of the specific aspects of the Sponsored Community to be supported by the TLD and a willingness to participate in that spirit;

2. Thorough understanding of the principles and goals underlying TLD policies, including without limitation the domain name management policy;

3. Demonstrated ability to provide Eligibility and Name-Selection Services (ENS Services) and demonstrated familiarity with the needs of the TLD Community in the language and region(s) served by the registrar, and established modes for reflecting these needs in the ENS Services processes;

4. Dedicated willingness and ability to propagate and enforce TLD policies in an observant and diligent manner and in accordance with policies and procedures prescribed by Registry Operator;

5. Broad geographic distribution and language diversity of registrars;

6. Established collaborative contact with the legal entities, governments, statutory bodies, and other interested stakeholders of the TLD commnity (as defined in Part 3 above) in the language and geographical region or sector served by the registrar;

7. Dedicated willingness and ability to act together with the Sponsored Community in the processing of registration requests.

8. Established business relationships with substantial numbers (proportionate to the size of the registrar) of stakeholders in the region(s) served by the registrar;

9. Demonstrated willingness and ability to publicize and market the TLD, to follow all TLD marketing guidelines, and to develop and use TLD marketing materials as appropriate, as reflected by a minimum committed marketing budget of an amount proportionate to the size of the registrar;

10. Demonstration that sufficient staff resources are available and able to interface with automated and manual elements of the TLD registry process and a willingness to implement modifications and revisions reasonably deemed by the Registry Operator to be required based on the characteristics and functions of the TLD;

11. The existence of proven systems designed to avoid submission of unqualified or incomplete applications that will burden the ENS system or make it impossible for Registry Operator to fulfill its commitments to ICANN;

12. The existence of proven systems to avoid transfer disputes among registrars;

13. Demonstrated willingness to share relevant marketing information with the Registry Operator, including, consistent with applicable law, information about current registrants with whom the registrar has relationships who are eligible for registration;

14. Willingness to provide reduced fee or free services to Providers and Representatives from developing countries who meet minimum criteria reasonably established by Registry Operator for special assistance; and

15. Willingness and ability to post and refresh a minimum deposit against which fees will be drawn.

Registry will evaluate and, in its reasonable discretion, render a decision with respect to the

selection of each applicant to serve as a Registrar based on, all of the above criteria and will

periodically review and, as appropriate, revise its selection of Registrars based on such criteria.

Part 6. Public Whois

Subject to Registry Operator’s compliance with this Registry Operator TLD Registry Agreement, including all attachments and appendices thereto (the "Agreement") and any Temporary Specifications or Policies or Consensus Policies as defined in the Agreement, and provided the scope of the Charter is not exceeded: Registry Operator will implement the following public WHOIS specification:

SPECIFICATION

Subject to any future policy regarding WHOIS data adopted by ICANN, domain name registrants will be required to provide correct contact information and, as permitted by applicable law, consent to selected information being made public for legitimate purposes.

A participating registrar, at the registrar’s expense, will be required to provide those wishing to query the WHOIS database (other than for marketing purposes or other purposes contrary to sTLD policy) with access to complete and up-to-date data for each registered domain name record (subject to applicable privacy policies) including, but not limited to the following:

  • Domain name and the TLD in which the domain name is registered;
  • Status of the domain name, e.g., "on hold" or "pending delete";
  • Registrant's name and postal address;
  • Administrative/technical contacts' name, postal address, e-mail address, telephone number and (if any) facsimile number;
  • Original registration date, expiration date and date on which the database was last updated;
  • Internet Protocol addresses and corresponding names of primary and secondary
  • Name servers for the domain name; and
  • Registrar's identification information.

In order to assist complainants under the UDRP to determine whether a pattern of "bad faith" has been demonstrated by a particular registrant, the information set forth above will be available on a publicly accessible database, subject to applicable privacy policies, which will be searchable by domain name, registrant's name, registrant's postal address, contacts' names, Registrars Contact IDs and Internet Protocol address without arbitrary limit. In order to provide an effective WHOIS database, Boolean search capabilities may be offered.

Registrars will be required to participate in the operation of a cross-registry WHOIS database, which will provide searching capabilities and access to all information concerning domain name registrations regardless of which TLD the domain name is registered in or which registrar processed the domain name application.

Registry Operator will require the registrars to adhere to a compliance review policy. As part of that policy, each registrar will be required to designate a contact point to which evidence of false or fraudulent contact data may be reported. Registrars will institute procedures for investigating claims that registrations may contain false information, and for registrations found to contain false information, requiring their speedy and efficient correction, or otherwise cancellation. Interested third parties may invoke these procedures. Registry Operator will provide RFC954-conformant WHOIS service. This Appendix is subject to change by agreement of Registry Operator and ICANN during the design process as well as during the IETF standards process. However, the following provides the target architecture and initial functionality. In addition, Registry Operator agrees to implement changes to this Appendix specified by ICANN to conform to IETF provreg working group's protocol specification no later than 135 days after the IETF specification is adopted as a Proposed Standard [RFC 2026, section 4.1.1].

RFC954-Conformant WHOIS

The standard WHOIS service is intended as a lookup service for registries, registrars, registrants, as well as for other individuals and businesses that wish to query details of domain names or nameservers stored in the registry. The standard WHOIS service will provide a central location for all authoritative .asia TLD data. The registry provides a front-end web interface to allow convenient user access to the WHOIS service.

The RFC954-conformant WHOIS service will be engineered to handle moderate transaction load and be integral to the standard suite of Registry Services. The WHOIS service will return a single response per domain name or nameserver query. The RFC954-conformant WHOIS service will conform to the requirements of Appendix 6 and 7.

The RFC954-conformant service provided by the registry will have the following features:

  • Standard protocol accessible over port 43.
  • Batch-style or near real time updates.
  • Additional fields capability.
  • WHOIS Service Data Elements

WHOIS Service Data Elements

The RFC954-conformant service will include the following data elements:

  • The name of the domain name registered;
  • The IP addresses of the primary nameserver and secondary nameserver(s) of the name registered, if applicable, i.e. nameserver has a .asia name;
  • The corresponding names of those nameservers;
  • The identity of the Registry Operator registrar;
  • The original creation date and term of the registration;
  • The name, postal address, e-mail address, voice telephone number, and (where available) fax number of the domain name registrant;
  • The name, postal address, e-mail address, voice telephone number, and (where available) fax number of the technical contact for the name registered;
  • The name, postal address, e-mail address, voice telephone number, and (where available) fax number of the administrative contact for the name registered; and
  • The Maintainer URL (email or website). The maintainer is a person that has been designated by the Registrar for the registration of the domain (for example a reseller, could also depend on the registrant)

Minimum Data Update Frequency

Registry Operator shall make reasonable efforts to update the data continuously as requests are processed, in a matter of seconds or minutes. The typical update cycle will be 30 seconds but may be different depending on performance considerations. Registry Operator shall ensure that records in the WHOIS server are updated no later than 24 hours after the completion of the registration or modification transaction with the registrar.

Additional Fields Capability

If necessary, Registry Operator may introduce after a 6 to 12 month period of operational stability some additional fields to the list of WHOIS fields. Those fields will be preceded and identified by appropriate tags. Additional fields will not contain any information that could be used to facilitate ENUM applications.

Privacy Capability

Registry Operator may introduce the optional ability to associate privacy labels to a record in the Registry Database. These fields would appear in an "additional information" section of the WHOIS data. The maximum number of custom fields allowed per record is yet to be determined. The privacy label capability allows certain data to be associated with an indication of any special disclosure or handling restrictions. This characteristic may be used e.g. to comply with potential regulatory or other telecom subscription related requirements, which mobile operators need to implement in their services.

Query Control - Object Type Control

The following keywords restrict a search to specific object type:

  • Domain: Search only by domain objects. The input string is searched in the Name field.
  • Contact: Search only contact objects. The input string is searched in the ID field.
  • Nameserver: Search only by nameserver objects. The input string is searched in the nameserver field or the IP address field.
  • Registrar: Search only registrar objects. The input string is searched in the Name field. By default, if no object type control is specified, then the Name field of the Domain object is searched.

WHOIS Output Fields

Domain Record:

A WHOIS query that results in domain information will return the following fields from the Domain object and the associated data from host and contact objects. This set of data is also referred to as the Domain Record.

Domain ID Domain Name
Domain Status
Registry Operating Registrar (IANA-assigned identifier)
Registrant, Administrative, Technical and Billing Contact Information including:


Contact ID
Contact Name
Contact Organization
Contact Address, City, State/Province, Geographic location
Contact Postal Code
Contact Phone, Fax, E-mail




Maintainer URL
Names of Nameservers associated with this domain
Created by Registrar (IANA-assigned identifier)
Last Updated by Registrar (IANA-assigned identifier)
Last Transferred Date
Additional fields (Registry Operator specified, will be defined later, if required)
Domain Registration Date
Domain Expiration Date
Domain Last Updated Date







Nameserver Record:
A WHOIS query that results in nameserver information will return the following. This set of information is referred to as the Nameserver Record.
Nameserver ID
Nameserver name
Currently Associated (true/false)
Nameserver status
IP addresses associated (if applicable)
Created by Registrar (IANA-assigned identifier)
Registry Operator Registrar (IANA-assigned identifier)
Last Updated by Registrar (IANA-assigned identifier)
Created Date
Last Updated Date
Last Transferred Date
Additional fields












Note: Any additional fields will be Registry Operator specified, to be defined later if required.

Contact Record:
A WHOIS query that results in contact information will return the following. This set of information is referred to as the Contact Record.
Contact ID
Contact Name
Contact Organization
Contact Address, City, State/Province, Geographic location + 3 street fields
Contact Postal Code
Contact Phone, Fax, E-mail
Contact Registration Date
Contact Last Updated Date
Currently Associated
Contact Status Additional fields (Registry Operator specified)
Registry Operator Registrar (IANA-assigned identifier)
Created by Registrar (IANA-assigned identifier)
Last Transferred Date













Registrar Record:
A WHOIS query that results in registrar information will return the following. This set of information is referred to as the Registrar Record.
Registrar ID (conforming to the IANA registrar-ids registry)
Registrar Name
Registrar Status
Registrar Address, City, State/Province, Geographic location
Registrar Postal Code
Registrar Phone, Fax, E-mail
Registrar Administrative Contacts
Registrar Technical Contacts
Registrar Billing Contacts









Sample WHOIS Output
This section provides sample output from the WHOIS server for each type of Registry Object: Domain, Contact, Nameserver, and Registrar. The output is structured as key/value pairs, which simplifies machine-readability. In the Input section, the quoted string represents the string actually passed to the server in the request packet.

Domain Record:
Input: WHOIS "domain = domainname.asia "
Output: Domain ID: AAA-0001
Domain Name: DOMAINNAME.ASIA
Registry Operator Registrar: REG-01
Domain Status: ACTIVE
Registrant ID: PER-00001
Registrant Name: DAVID CHAN
Registrant Organization: DOMAIN, LTD
Registrant Address: 1 HIGH STREET
Registrant City: HONG KONG
Registrant State/Province: HONG KONG
Registrant Geographic location: HK
Registrant Postal Code: N/A
Registrant Phone Number: +852-9876-5432
Registrant Facsimile Number: +852-2345-6789
Registrant Email: DAVID@DOMAINNAME.ASIA
Admin ID: PER-00002
Admin Name: FRED SMITH
Admin Organization: BILLING, LTD
Admin Address: 1 HIGH STREET
Admin City: GUILDFORD
Admin State/Province: SURRE
Admin Geographic location: UK
Admin Postal Code: GU1
Admin Phone Number: +44-20-123-4567
Admin Facsimile Number: +44-20-123-4568
Admin Email: FSMITH@BILLING.ASIA
Tech ID: PER-00002 Tech Name: FRED SMITH
Tech Organization: BILLING, LTD
Tech Address: 1 HIGH STREET
Tech City: GUILDFORD
Tech State/Province: SURREY
Tech Geographic location: UK
Tech Postal Code: GU1
Tech Phone Number: +44-20-123-4567
Tech Facsimile Number: +44-20-123-4568
Tech Email: FSMITH@BILLING.ASIA
Billing ID: PER-00002
Billing Name: FRED SMITH
Billing Organization: BILLING, LTD
Billing Address: 1 HIGH STREET
Billing City: GUILDFORD
Billing State/Province: SURREY
Billing Geographic location: UK
Billing Postal Code: GU1
Billing Phone Number: +44-20-123-4567
Billing Facsimile Number: +44-20-123-4568
Billing Email: FSMITH@BILLING.ASIA
Name Server: NIC.ASIA.ORG
Name Server: WWW.ICOM.ORG
Maintainer: SPECIALCARE@RESELLER.COM
Created By: REG-02 Updated By: REG-01
Created On: 2002-01-02 Expires On: 2004-01-02
Updated On: 2002-03-02
Transferred On: 2002-03-02






















































Nameserver Record:
Input: WHOIS "nameserver nic.billing.asia or WHOIS "nameserver 130.242.24.6"

Output:

Nameserver ID: HST-1
Nameserver name: NIC.BILLING.ASIA
Currently Associated (true/false):T
Nameserver status: ACTIVE
IP addresses associated: 130.242.28.6
Registry Operator Registrar: REG-01
Created By: REG-02
Updated By: REG-01
Created On: 2002-01-02
Updated On: 2002-03-02
Transferred On: 2002-03-02
Additional fields (Registry Operator specified, will be defined later, if required)










Contact Record:
Input: WHOIS "contact = PER-00002"

Output:
Contact ID: PER-00002
Name: FRED SMITH
Organization: BILLING, LTD
Address: 1 HIGH STREET City: GUILDFORD
State: SURREY
Geographic location: UK
Postal Code: GU1
Phone Number: +44-20-123-4567
Facsimile Number +44-20-123-4568
E-mail: FSMITH@BILLING.ASIA
Status: Active
Registry Operator Registrar: REG-01
Created By: REG-01
Created On: 2002-01-02
Updated On: 2002-01-02
Transferred On: 0000-00-00















Registrar Record:
Input: WHOIS "registrar SAMPLE"

Output:
Registrar ID: REG-01
Registrar Name: SAMPLE
Registrar Status: ACTIVE
Registrar Address 1: 123 Some Street
Registrar Address 2:
Registrar City: Acity
Registrar State/Province: RE
Registrar Geographic location: CC
Registrar Postal Code: 12345
Registrar Phone: +11-11-1111-1111
Registrar Fax: +22-22-2222-2222
Registrar E-mail: jdoe@sample.tld
Admin Contact ID: PER-00003
Tech Contact ID: PER-00004
Billing Contact Name: PER-00005














Part 7 Additional Provisions

TLD Differentiation

ICANN and Registry Operator acknowledge that a criterion included in the application process in which the .asia TLD was selected, and in the previous TLD application expansion round, was that a new TLD be "clearly differentiated from existing TLDs." ICANN, when undertaking to effect the delegation of new TLDs, shall take into consideration Internet community input received, including any objections interested third parties may have under policy considerations or applicable law or otherwise, regarding the creation of new TLD strings.

.