.maif New gTLD Application
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New gTLD Application Submitted to ICANN by: Mutuelle Assurance Instituteur France (MAIF)
String: maif
Originally Posted: 13 June 2012
Application ID: 1-1819-55314
Applicant Information
- Full legal name
Mutuelle Assurance Instituteur France (MAIF)
- Address of the principal place of business
200 avenue Salvador Allende, BP 303
NIORT cedex 79038
FR
- Phone number
+33 5 49 73 74 75
- Fax number
+33 5 49 73 80 83
- If applicable, website or URL
http:⁄⁄www.maif.fr
Primary Contact
6(a). Name
Beatrice Gueguiniat
6(b). Title
Internet Manager
6(c). Address
6(d). Phone Number
+33 549738209
6(e). Fax Number
+33 549738083
6(f). Email Address
Secondary Contact
7(a). Name
Fabien Adam
7(b). Title
Responsable du pole Gestion du canal
7(c). Address
7(d). Phone Number
+33 549738889
7(e). Fax Number
+33 549738083
7(f). Email Address
Proof of Legal Establishment
8(a). Legal form of the Applicant
Société d’Assurance Mutuelle (« Mutual Insurance Company »)
8(b). State the specific national or other jursidiction that defines the type of entity identified in 8(a).
France
8(c). Attach evidence of the applicant's establishment.
Attachments are not displayed on this form.
9(a). If applying company is publicly traded, provide the exchange and symbol.
9(b). If the applying entity is a subsidiary, provide the parent company.
9(c). If the applying entity is a joint venture, list all joint venture partners.
Applicant Background
11(a). Name(s) and position(s) of all directors
Alain BORJON-GUILLERMINET Administrator
Alain PENNEL Administrator
Ali KASMI Administrator
Angèle CANTIÉ Employees elected Administrator
Annick COUAILLIER Administrator
Arnaud COURDESSES Administrator
Bertrand GAGET Administrator
Betty FREDJ Administrator
César ALBERTINI Administrator
Christian CORTES Administrator
Christian PONSOLLE General Management Acting administrator
Dominique JEUFFRAULT Employees elected Administrator
Dominique MAHÉ General Management Acting administrator
Dominique THYS Vice President
James MEUNIER Vice President
Jean-Philippe MARIETTE Administrator
Madelaine PERSON Employees elected Administrator
Marie-Anne BEN MAÏZ Administrator
Martine ROUX Administrator
Olivier LORTHIOS Administrator
Pascal DEMURGER Director
Pierre GUILLOT Vice President
Roger BELOT CEO
Thierry MONMINOUX Administrator
Yves PELLICIER General Management Acting administrator
11(b). Name(s) and position(s) of all officers and partners
Christian CHABOUD Acting director
Éric BERTHOUX Acting director
Jean-Pierre MALLET Acting director
Thierry COURET Acting director
11(c). Name(s) and position(s) of all shareholders holding at least 15% of shares
11(d). For an applying entity that does not have directors, officers, partners, or shareholders: Name(s) and position(s) of all individuals having legal or executive responsibility
Applied-for gTLD string
- Provide the applied-for gTLD string. If an IDN, provide the U-label.
maif
14(a). If an IDN, provide the A-label (beginning with "xn--").
14(b). If an IDN, provide the meaning or restatement of the string in English, that is, a description of the literal meaning of the string in the opinion of the applicant.
14(c). If an IDN, provide the language of the label (in English).
14(c). If an IDN, provide the language of the label (as referenced by ISO-639-1).
14(d). If an IDN, provide the script of the label (in English).
14(d). If an IDN, provide the script of the label (as referenced by ISO 15924).
14(e). If an IDN, list all code points contained in the U-label according to Unicode form.
15(a). If an IDN, Attach IDN Tables for the proposed registry.
Attachments are not displayed on this form.
15(b). Describe the process used for development of the IDN tables submitted, including consultations and sources used.
15(c). List any variant strings to the applied-for gTLD string according to the relevant IDN tables.
- Describe the applicant's efforts to ensure that there are no known operational or rendering problems concerning the applied-for gTLD string. If such issues are known, describe steps that will be taken to mitigate these issues in software and other applications.
The .maif string and A-Label were developed in line with and checked against the eligibility, stability and policy criteria as stated in the ICANN Applicant Guidebook - version 2012-01-11. The results of those checks are as follows:
- The string has less than 63 characters;
- The string in ASCII is composed of three or more visually distinct characters;
- The ASCII label consists entirely of letters;
- The string is not a reserved name as shown in section 2.2.1.2.1 - Reserved Names of the ICANN Applicant Guidebook - version 2012-01-11; and
- .maif is not identical or similar to any of the top 10 invalid TLD’s responsible for the majority of DNS pollution, as referenced in the Security and Stability Advisory
Committee (SSAC)’s report on this topic at http:⁄⁄www.icann.org⁄en⁄committees⁄security⁄sac045.pdf. It is likely that the .maif has not already been queried with meaningful frequency at the root. Therefore, it is unlikely that .maif will inherit significant invalid query traffic.
Due to the positive results of these checks, Mutuelle Assurance des Instituteurs de France does not believe that the .maif gTLD will be subject to any operational or rendering problems.
- (OPTIONAL) Provide a representation of the label according to the International Phonetic Alphabet (http://www.langsci.ucl.ac.uk/ipa/).
Mission/Purpose
18(a). Describe the mission/purpose of your proposed gTLD.
THE MISSION AND PURPOSE OF THE NEW RESTRICTED .MAIF gTLD IS TO BENEFIT INTERNET USERS BY ENSURING INCREASED TRUST AND CONSUMER CONFIDENCE THROUGH THE ELIMINATION OF USER CONFUSION AND ASSURANCE OF BRAND AUTHENTICITY.
The new .maif gTLD will operate as a restricted registry, in which Mutuelle Assurance des Instituteurs de France (MAIF) can create and control domain spaces that promote its brand identity and authenticity. In this regard, the .maif gTLD will be used by MAIF as an authoritative internet space to provide information and resources in relation to its insurance products and services to consumers in a way that promotes confidence, brand reputation, convenience and utility. Second and third level domains can then be utilised in order to differentiate MAIF from its competitors, promote its values and to provide topic⁄interest-specific information, with internet users assured of brand authenticity.
MAIF is a French mutual society insurance founded by and for its members in 1980, with a number of subsidiaries including Filia-MAIF (for customers who share the values of MAIF but whose professions do not allow them to join MAIF as a member), Parnasse-MAIF (life insurance) and Atlantis Seguros (the Spanish subsidiary of MAIF). MAIF has its headquarters in Niort, France, with over 6,000 employees. MAIF is a leading insurance provider in France with strong reputation in car insurance, daily life and home insurance products. The non-life insurance sector of MAIF had over 2 million members (as at 31 December 2010) with over EUR 2,361 million in contributions. For the year ending on 31 December 2010, the life insurance activity of MAIF grew over 20% in 2010 with MAIF administering over EUR 12,446 million in assets. MAIF is one of the largest car and home insurers in France (based upon the number of insured cars and properties) and is the 2nd biggest life insurer.
MAIF aims to provide quality customer service and has been awarded several prizes including the first prize for client relations in the insurance sector for the 8th time consecutively since 2003. This prize is awarded on the basis of a client satisfaction survey organized each year by Taylor Nelson Sofrès and Bearingpoint. MAIF was also ranked at the top of the list of most appreciated companies by its customers in 2007, a classification drawn up by the Net Management Journal and has been ranked at the top of the Relationship Score since 2004, classification drawn up by the ‘Association des Agences Conseil en Communication’. MAIF is committed to its role as a proactive insurance company and in this regard, consumer trust and continuous innovation are paramount considerations in all its activities.
Since the inception of the current domain name system, business activities conducted on the internet are constantly changing and evolving with increased complexity. The volume of commercial transactions over the internet is constantly growing and bringing benefits of simplicity and lowered transaction costs to businesses and consumers. However, at the same time, criminal activities over the internet including data breach, hacking and phishing activities have also become more sophisticated resulting in loss of consumer confidence beyond mere monetary harm. The .maif gTLD will facilitate greater trust and assurance from internet users connecting with MAIF online, whilst still allowing convenient and efficient interaction.
MAIF’s mission and purpose of the proposed new gTLD share ICANN’s initiatives to promote public interest. MAIF is committed to contribute towards achieving such initiatives in line with ICANN’s Affirmation of Commitments, which includes:
- consumer trust: the .maif gTLD registry will be operated in a centralised manner with a restrictive registration policy. Registration of domain names will only be available to MAIF, at this stage, which will provide added consumer trust that .maif domain names are trustworthy. As .maif domain names are subject to registration standards, policies and procedures under MAIF’s control, this eliminates the possibility of malicious conduct within the .maif domain space;
- competition: the proposed new gTLD is not intended to instigate competition and consumer choice at the level of registration of domain names among prospective registrants. Instead it is anticipated to contribute to ICANN’s initiatives to promote public interest through its operation focused on promoting consumer trust and high customer satisfaction. Increased trust in the .maif gTLD will drive existing and new top level domain (TLD) registry operators to make improvements in mechanisms to improve consumer trust of their TLDs; and
- consumer choice: the proposed new gTLD will enable user-driven improvements and innovations assisting MAIF’s marketing efforts through its ability to create new second and third level domain names on demand to provide more direct communication to different target groups and to provide more product-specific, group-specific or marketing-specific content. These names will provide the consumers with more choices for interacting with MAIF. As MAIF has effective control over the registration and use of domain names under .maif domain space, this will also contribute towards general service innovations on the internet.
Given the restricted nature of the .maif gTLD, the projected number of registration is likely to be limited. It is anticipated that around 50 domain names will be registered in the first year. However, over the next few years, the number of registrations is likely to increase to about 400 domain names as MAIF develops and implements new services and marketing campaigns.
MAIF intends to create relevant domain names for use including target groups, product, services or geographic names in the second or third level domain names. In accordance with registration policy and the proposed measures for protection of geographic names as outlined in response to Question 22, MAIF may use geographic names to localise its websites in the countries in which it operates. The use of geographic names is intended to:
- connect internet users with relevant information as applicable to the territory; and
- comply with required rules and regulations in the national territory.
MAIF will also utilise Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs) at the second level, initially in French. The use of IDNs will allow internet users to engage with .maif in their native language, creating a more positive user experience and encouraging diversity.
MAIF is a very well-recognised brand in France and the rest of Europe with its trademarks registered in France and the European Community for the following categories: 35 (advertising, business management), 36 (insurance, financial affairs, banking affairs, monetary affairs), 38 (telecommunications) and 44 (medical services).
Further, MAIF has an extensive portfolio of existing domain names, with 472 gTLDs and 448 country-code TLDs (ccTLDs). 29 of MAIF’s registered domain names match the “MAIF” trademark and the applied-for string, in the following spaces:
- gTLDs: maif.eu, maif.info, maif.jobs, maif.biz
- ccTLDs: maif.com.es, maif.be, maif.us
Recently, MAIF was successful in securing sunrise application for the following domain spaces based on existing trademark registration: maif.eu, maif.xxx.
MAIF believes that the .maif gTLD is unlikely to cause confusion with either a generic term or any existing TLDs. MAIF trademarks are a leading brand with significant reputation in France and Europe. MAIF has used the term “MAIF” in conjunction with its insurance businesses for over 30 years and is one of the biggest French insurance groups. As such, the MAIF brand is well known for its insurance activities (life and non-life insurances) and is well established and a trusted names in the industry.
18(b). How do you expect that your proposed gTLD will benefit registrants, Internet users, and others?
18(B)I. WHAT IS THE GOAL OF YOUR PROPOSED gTLD IN TERMS OF AREAS OF SPECIALTY, SERVICE LEVELS OR REPUTATION?
The key goals of the proposed new .maif gTLD are in line with ICANN’s Affirmation of Commitments: to promote consumer trust, competition and consumer choice. MAIF also seeks to foster its online reputation and provide an authoritative internet space through which MAIF is able to communicate with its customers directly and effectively. The ability to create domain names on demand related to specific marketing, specialty service and product development supports these goals. Strengthened security measures, service levels and more effective functionality will provide a trusted and positive user experience.
18(B)II. WHAT DO YOU ANTICIPATE YOUR PROPOSED gTLD WILL ADD TO THE CURRENT SPACE, IN TERMS OF COMPETITION, DIFFERENTIATION, OR INNOVATION?
It is anticipated that the proposed .maif gTLD will make positive contributions to the wider internet community by providing:
DIFFERENTIATION (INCREASED TRUST):
The .maif gTLD will simplify how internet users interact with MAIF by providing a distinctive domain space for MAIF services and products such as assuranceauto.maif or credit.maif. Internet users will be able to directly navigate to the .maif gTLD site, saving time and resources searching for an official site and product information. The current domain name system has shown that it is vulnerable to malicious abuses due to registration of domain names which seek to exploit consumer confusion. MAIF can address some of these vulnerabilities by maintaining complete control over the domain names registered under the .maif domain space. Together with consumer trust, brand awareness and reputation, internet users will be able to rely on the authoritativeness of the domain names under .maif domain space, which will differentiate interaction between internet users and MAIF.
COMPETITION:
The differentiation of .maif gTLD as a trusted site for MAIF will drive existing and new TLD registry operators to make improvements in mechanisms to improve consumer trust of their TLDs. Internet users will be encouraged to interact with domain names under .maif domain space. As a result, .maif will have a flow on effect to enable increased competition. Therefore, the benefits of the proposed .maif will be distributed not only to its direct customers, but to the internet community at large forcing improved services and competitive pricing in the market place.
INNOVATION:
With the expansion of the internet community to all corners of the world, the existing TLD structure presents limitations, not only in the availability of domain names for registrants, but also to businesses and organisations establishing a coherent online brand presence to meet their evolving business needs. It is often difficult to register a domain name in existing domain space due to unavailability of the desired name. Even when the desired domain name is available, it may come with a high price tag associated with a purchase of such desired name from a third party. MAIF has the ability to create second or third level domain names including the use of possible geographic names and IDNs on demand which are relevant to its customer base, services and products. MAIF will be able to combine its use of the domain space with innovative user focused, product-specific, group-specific and marketing-specific content and services to address the currently unmet needs in the existing domain name system providing greater consumer choice.
18(B)III. WHAT GOALS DOES YOUR PROPOSED gTLD HAVE IN TERMS OF USER EXPERIENCE?
The proposed .maif will provide a positive user experience, which meets the changing and growing needs of the global internet community. MAIF will maintain control in the registration and use of domain names and will ensure that the new gTLD will only be used for purposes authorised by MAIF. Therefore, .maif gTLD will:
- provide an easy and intuitive reference and access point for internet users such as homeinsurance.maif or lifeinsurance.maif;
- represent authenticity and brand reputation thus promoting user confidence;
- direct internet users to relevant product and interest-specific information in a timely manner by creating domain names on demand;
- use IDNs to enable customers to interact directly in their native language;
- possibly use geographic names to localise its websites to connect with internet users in the relevant regions and to comply with local laws;
- enhance security and minimise security risks by implementing necessary technical and policy measures;
- strengthen brand reputation, brand awareness and user confidence by eliminating user confusion; and
- prevent potential abuses in the registration process reducing overall costs to businesses and users.
.maif should address the concerns that the current domain name system is open to potential malicious abuse and user confusion in the registration processes. Although the current system allows an eligible party to lodge a claim through existing Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) or other dispute resolution processes, the .maif gTLD will reduce potential abuses in the registration processes and overall costs to internet users. User confidence in the domain name system will be strengthened, which will ultimately contribute towards promoting ICANN’s core values in benefiting the public interest.
18(B)IV. PROVIDE A COMPLETE DESCRIPTION OF THE APPLICANTʹS INTENDED REGISTRATION POLICIES IN SUPPORT OF THE GOALS LISTED ABOVE
The proposed registration policy is attached in response to Question 28.
Only MAIF will be eligible to register domain names in .maif. The domain name registration processes will address the requirements mandated by ICANN, including rights abuse prevention measures.
18(B)V. WILL YOUR PROPOSED gTLD IMPOSE ANY MEASURES FOR PROTECTING THE PRIVACY OR CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION OF REGISTRANTS OR USERS? IF SO, PLEASE DESCRIBE ANY SUCH MEASURES.
MAIF is committed to protection of privacy and confidential information in accordance with its objective of increasing consumer trust and providing a safe and legitimate internet space for internet users. Privacy and confidential information will be protected in accordance with all applicable laws and regulations relating to internet security, privacy and user’s confidential information, including the Data Protection Act 78-17 1978 (France) and the Directive 95⁄46⁄EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 October 1995 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data.
MAIF also has implemented its own privacy policy to demonstrate its commitment to the protection of user privacy and confidential information. Privacy is of fundamental concern to most of MAIF’s customers, as the interaction between MAIF and its customers involves the exchange of personal and sensitive information. As such MAIF has a strong interest in ensuring a high level of privacy protection for its customers.
MAIF’s privacy policy governs the collection, use, disclosure and access to personal information. MAIF will only use the personal information held for the following purposes:
- to provide its services, respond to customer requests;
- to provide information on products and services as agreed by the customer;
- to comply with legal requirements including concerns of fraud and⁄or money laundering.
As the .maif gTLD will only be available to MAIF, initially, the amount of personal data that will be collected for the purposes of operating the gTLD and made publicly available in the WHOIS database will be very limited. MAIF will provide a publicly available and searchable WHOIS look up facility, where information about the domain name status, registrant information including administrative and technical contact details can be found in accordance with Specification 4 of the Registry Agreement. In order to prevent misuse of the WHOIS look up facility, MAIF will utilise measures including a requirement where any person submitting a WHOIS database query is required to read and agree to the terms and conditions in accordance with the registration policy. This will include the terms of use that the WHOIS database is provided for information purposes only and that the user agrees not to use the information for any other purposes such as allowing or enabling the transmission of unsolicited commercial advertising or other communication.
MAIF will deploy Domain Name System Security Extensions (DNSSEC) which is intended to benefit both MAIF and its users interacting with MAIF online. DNSSEC provides additional security by validating information in the transmission, therefore it is intended to benefit those who publish information in the domain name system (DNS) and the users who retrieve information from the new .maif gTLD. MAIF already implements measures to protect privacy or confidential information of its users against misuse, loss, alteration and unauthorised access. Such measures include the use of Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), data encryption, personal login and confidential passwords.
MAIF will continue to apply all security measures currently implemented and will comply with all other policies and practices required by ICANN in the Registry Agreement and any relevant Consensus Policy for protecting the privacy and confidential information of registrants and users in the new .maif domain space.
18(B)VI. DESCRIBE WHETHER AND IN WHAT WAYS OUTREACH AND COMMUNICATIONS WILL HELP TO ACHIEVE YOUR PROJECTED BENEFITS.
The proposed new .maif gTLD will be publicised by a media plan to promote recognition of the new gTLD within the internet community, including MAIF’s customers, to be a trusted site and as a sign of authenticity.
MAIF intends to promote the .maif gTLD to its customers and internet users by referring customers and internet users to product-specific and target group specific second level domain names within the .maif gTLD.
During the initial stage of the operation of the proposed new gTLD, it is anticipated that internet users will be re-directed to current websites. However, over time, it is foreseen that communication to the internet community of the existence of the proposed new gTLD and encouragement to utilise the trusted site will contribute towards minimising malicious abuses and protecting internet users.
18(c). What operating rules will you adopt to eliminate or minimize social costs?
As a restricted gTLD, registration will only be open to internal users at this stage and no third parties will be able to register domain names under .maif domain space. Therefore, it is not anticipated that third party trademark owners will incur costs in relation to the .maif gTLD. MAIF will utilise the services of the proposed Trademark Clearinghouse to ensure that domain names registered and the use of those domain names, do not infringe any registered third party intellectual property rights.
It is estimated that time and money spent by consumers who have been targeted by malicious abuse in utilising services on the internet will reduce over time as a result of the new, trusted .maif gTLD.
18(C)I. HOW WILL MULTIPLE APPLICATIONS FOR A PARTICULAR DOMAIN NAME BE RESOLVED, FOR EXAMPLE, BY AUCTION OR ON A FIRST-COME⁄FIRST-SERVE BASIS?
The initial use of the proposed new gTLD will be restricted to internal business use and MAIF intends to be the registrant under the .maif gTLD. Therefore conflicts between multiple applications are not anticipated to occur.
18(C)II. EXPLAIN ANY COST BENEFITS FOR REGISTRANTS YOU INTEND TO IMPLEMENT (E.G., ADVANTAGEOUS PRICING, INTRODUCTORY DISCOUNTS, BULK REGISTRATION DISCOUNTS).
This gTLD will be used for internal purposes only, at this stage, so pricing incentives are not applicable or relevant.
18(C)III. NOTE THAT THE REGISTRY AGREEMENT REQUIRES THAT REGISTRARS BE OFFERED THE OPTION TO OBTAIN INITIAL DOMAIN NAME REGISTRATIONS FOR PERIODS OF ONE TO TEN YEARS AT THE DISCRETION OF THE REGISTRAR, BUT NO GREATER THAN TEN YEARS. ADDITIONALLY, THE REGISTRY AGREEMENT REQUIRES ADVANCE WRITTEN NOTICE OF PRICE INCREASES. DO YOU INTEND TO MAKE CONTRACTUAL COMMITMENTS TO REGISTRANTS REGARDING THE MAGNITUDE OF PRICE ESCALATION? IF SO, PLEASE DESCRIBE YOUR PLAN.
This gTLD will be used for internal purposes only, at this stage, so pricing incentives or pricing increases are not applicable or relevant as no additional fees are to be charged.