07 August 2025

.sina New gTLD Application

07 August 2025

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New gTLD Application Submitted to ICANN by: Sina Corporation

String: Sina

Originally Posted: 13 June 2012

Application ID: 1-950-30912

Applicant Information

Full legal name

Sina Corporation

Address of the principal place of business

Floor 20, Ideal Intʹl Plaza, No.58, West Of North Forth Ring Rd., Haidian

Beijing 100080

Phone number

+86 10 58983036

Fax number

+86 10 82607527

If applicable, website or URL

http:⁄⁄www.sina.com.cn

Primary Contact

6(a). Name

Ms. Haiyan Gu

6(b). Title

Legal Dept. - Deputy Director

6(c). Address

6(d). Phone Number

+8618601357998

6(e). Fax Number

6(f). Email Address

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Secondary Contact

7(a). Name

Mr. DeJing Kong

7(b). Title

CEO

7(c). Address

7(d). Phone Number

+8613696969693

7(e). Fax Number

7(f). Email Address

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Proof of Legal Establishment

8(a). Legal form of the Applicant

Corporation

8(b). State the specific national or other jursidiction that defines the type of entity identified in 8(a).

Cayman Islands

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.

NASDAQ;SINA

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

Lip-Bu Tan Director

Pehong Chen Director

Songyi Zhang Director

Ter-Fung Tsao Director

Yan Wang Director

Yichen Zhang Director

11(b). Name(s) and position(s) of all officers and partners

CHARLES GUOWEI CHAO CEO

Gaofei Wang Vice President & General Manager of Sina Mobile

Herman Cheng-Chun Yu CFO

Hong Du COO

Shaobin Peng Vice President & General Manager of the Department of Product & Weibo

Tong Chen Executive Vice President

Yingtao Kang Vice President of HR

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.

Sina

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 Applicant, Sina Corporation, anticipates the introduction of this TLD without operational or rendering problems. The Applicant is confident the launch and operation of this TLD presents no known challenges. The rationale for this opinion includes:

- The string is not complex and is represented in standard ASCII characters and follows relevant technical, operational and policy standards;

- The string length is within lengths currently supported in the root and by ubiquitous Internet programs such as web browsers and mail applications;

- There are no new standards required for the introduction of this TLD;

- No onerous requirements are being made on registrars, registrants or Internet users, and;

- As described in our response to Technical & Opertaional section, the proposed registry infrastructure, supporting systems and staff are amply provisioned and prepared to meet the needs of this TLD.

(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 .SINA Generic Top-Level Domain (gTLD) represents SINA Corporation’s (SINA) continuous and proactive effort on international trademark protection in the Internet domain name system. SINA plans to make every possible attempt to ensure its brand recognition, reputation, and user experience at the Internet Top-Level. Based on further research and findings in domestic and international marketplace, there could be other areas and goals that SINA may identify prior to or upon launching the TLD registry.

SINA Corporation (NASDAQ ticker: SINA) is an online media company and Mobile Value Added Service (MVAS) provider in the Peopleʹs Republic of China and for the global Chinese communities. With a branded network of localized websites targeting Greater China and overseas Chinese, the Company provides services mainly through SINA.com (online news and content), Weibo.com (microblog) and SINA Mobile (MVAS). Through these businesses and properties and other business lines, SINA offers an array of services including region-focused online portals, MVAS, microblog, blog, video and music streaming, photo sharing, online games, email, search, classified listings, fee-based services, e-commerce and enterprise e-solutions. The Company generates the majority of its revenues from online advertising and MVAS offerings and, to a lesser extent, from fee-based services.

As of end of 2011, the aggregated number of daily unique visitors to SINA websites is around 70 millon people, with daily page views of exceeding 2 billion hits. SINA websites are able to reach in average of approximately 400 million Internet users per month. As of March 2012, www.sina.com.cn is one of the top 20 websites in the world, and one of the top 5 websites in China, according to Alexa.com .

SINA Corporation, a Cayman Islands corporation, was founded in March 1999 through the merger of Beijing SINA Information Technology Co. Ltd. and California-based SINANET.com. In April 2000, the Company completed its initial public offering and was listed on the NASDAQ market. With more than 4,000 employees now, SINA is headquartered in Shanghai, China and the principle place of operations is located in Beijing, China. SINA has offices throughout mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and the U.S. Its latest corporation and financial information can be found at http:⁄⁄corp.sina.com.cn⁄eng⁄sina_index_eng.htm

SINA has been often referred as one of the most well-known websites and listed as one of the top 100 brands in China, according to various sources. The following selected trademarks ⁄ word marks has been part of the SINA’s intangible asset and under its management.

sina 2021218 9 China 2002⁄12⁄7 2012⁄12⁄6

sina 3156861 18 China 2003⁄12⁄21 2013⁄12⁄20

sina 3156863 16 China 2004⁄2⁄14 2014⁄2⁄13

sina 3156860 25 China 2004⁄2⁄21 2014⁄2⁄20

sina 1451972 36 China 2000⁄9⁄28 2020⁄9⁄27

sina 1459961 38 China 2000⁄10⁄14 2020⁄10⁄13

sina 1459660 42 China 2000⁄10⁄14 2020⁄10⁄13

sina 1463676 35 China 2000⁄10⁄21 2020⁄10⁄20

sina 1463343 39 China 2000⁄10⁄21 2020⁄10⁄20

sina 1463556 40 China 2000⁄10⁄21 2020⁄10⁄20

sina 1467473 37 China 2010⁄10⁄28 2020⁄10⁄27

sina 1475406 41 China 2010⁄11⁄14 2020⁄11⁄13

sina 1577925 7 China 2001⁄5⁄28 2021⁄5⁄27

sina 1581955 8 China 2001⁄6⁄7 2021⁄6⁄6

sina 1581608 6 China 2001⁄6⁄7 2021⁄6⁄6

sina 1585624 10 China 2001⁄6⁄14 2021⁄6⁄13

sina 1586091 11 China 2001⁄6⁄14 2021⁄6⁄13

sina 1626532 9 China 2001⁄8⁄28 2021⁄8⁄27

In addition to this ASCII application for the .SINA string, the applicant will also be filling two other gTLD strings, namely “.WEIBO” (USPTO serial #: 85320366 ; # 85264899 ) as well as its the simplified Chinese equivalent, “.微博 (or .xn--9krt00a in punycode)”. .SINA, .WEIBO, and “.微博 (or .xn--9krt00a in punycode)” represent the ultimate brand value and core business competency of SINA. All three applications submitted by SINA are considered to be critically important to SINA’s existing and future businesses.

Initially, .SINA can be only registered (e.g. example.SINA) by SINA itself, therefore SINA is the only eligible registrant. SINA plans to adopt this approach and expects to maintain it for 3 years from the launch of the “.SINA” registry service. Such approach will be regularly evaluated and adjusted if appropriate and necessary. Depending a various internal and external factors, including market demand and user expectation, SINA may consider a phased roll-out approach for a broader commercial marketplace but will do so after the conclusion of the initial 3-year period. This defensive and conservative approach shall meet the purpose of trademark protection, minimize potential technological, marketing and operational risks, and allow ample time for SINA’s management to evaluate best possible and long-term strategy of utilizing .SINA TLD prominently.

SINA is also analyzing the definition of “eligible registrants” and the potential use case options on the type of domain name that is permitted for registration and by whom. To the best of SINA’s knowledge as a registry operator, the eligible registrants may include the following:

-- a subsidiary or branch company

-- an official or frequently-used name of the department or business unit

-- a channel, service, product, event, or campaign

-- a member of Board, Staff, affiliated person, partner or collaborator

-- Other entity, sub-group, or personnel to be further defined

The eligible registrant is authorized to be a user or administrator of a .SINA second level domain. Subject to operational requirement and other business factors, the eligible registrant should be able to register one or multiple .SINA domain names. Specific roles and responsibilities of a registrant will be defined prior to the launch of the .SINA TLD. SINA will ensure that its registrants are provided with clear guidance on registration policy, and the registry services are offered in a safe and trusted environment.

18(b). How do you expect that your proposed gTLD will benefit registrants, Internet users, and others?

SINA believes that the proposed .SINA gTLD has the potential to offer two clear benefits to Internet users and consumers:

-- .SINA can provide the unique and clear identifier in the gTLD space for the convenience of existing and future SINA users

-- .SINA can help elevate SINA’s overall brand value in the online marketplace and offer a higher level of user trust and confidence to SINA as well as to the Internet in general

Currently SINA operates a number of websites, and controls a number of relevant gTLD and ccTLD where the trademark “SINA” is at the 2nd or 3rd level. While SINA continues to operate or control these domain names, It is our belief that in a long-run, an “unified” .SINA gTLD shall provide an online single source identifying services, channels, and functions for its Chinese-speaking customers around the globe.

What is the goal of your proposed gTLD in terms of areas of specialty, service levels, or reputation?

As Internet and mobile technologies evolve, SINA continues to evaluate opportunities to distribute its products and services to its users in China and in the rest of the world. While SINA’s intention of filing this application is to proactively protect this ownership of the “SINA” trademark at the gTLD name space, and to provide a trusted and intuitive namespace for businesses and consumers that use SINA’s broad range of services, it is also important to recognize that SINA continues to aim to become the media platform of choice for Internet users to research and retrieve information, share opinions and build social network and for businesses to market and promote their products and services. The .SINA gTLD is planned to serve as a cornerstone of these goals.

What do you anticipate your proposed gTLD will add to the current space, in terms of competition, differentiation, or innovation?

As a brand gTLD, the default factor and motivation of SINA is to provide an intuitive and safe Internet ⁄ mobile information and social network services marketplace to its users and business customers. The success of the .SINA TLD will not be measured and determined by the total number of domain name registered. Instead, it will be measured by the level of consumer recognition and confidence that is placed in .SINA gTLD. Using this benchmark, SINA strives to build consumer recognition and confidence to the level of that can be found in the existing numerous ccTLDs where user validation & authentication and local presence requirement are needed.

As noted above, SINA is a leading online service provider that is completely relying upon emerging Internet technologies and domain name system to deliver services to its consumers both domestically and abroad. A .SINA gTLD shall elevate its existing market leadership to another level. However, any broader adoption of this competitive advantage will only be undertaken after SINA has confidence that the concerns of various government and law enforcement regarding ICANN’s new gTLD process are properly addressed to its satisfaction.

What goals does your proposed gTLD have in terms of user experience?

SINA believes that the .SINA gTLD will provide an enhanced experience for the hundreds of millions of consumers both domestically and internationally that use its online services. This will also provide increased confidence and predictability for new customers and partners as SINA continues to expand into other markets around the world as a leading online media and Internet services platform.

In addition to providing consumers with shorter, memorable, and intuitive domain names to help customer navigate the website, SINA envisions best in class safeguards to minimize any potential phishing, pharming, or spam that have plagued the customers of other internet portals or content providers.

SINA has proven track of record on collaboration with major record label companies (EMI, Warner Music, Sony Music, etc.) as well as worldwide movie studios for online streaming services. SINA strives for the protection of copyrights and the operation of .SINA TLD will continue to ensure that the users can enjoy high quality entertainment without worrying about potential copyright infringement on the Internet.

Due to fact that every domain name will initially be registered to SINA or a subsidiary or an affiliate, SINA will make sure that accurate and current domain name information is collected from the registrant readily available in connection with each .SINA domain name. If other individuals and or companies are eventually permitted to register domain names in the .SINA gTLD, SINA will re-evaluate its policies at that time to ensure that its policies are in compliance with adequate policies ⁄ best practices at that time.

Provide a complete description of the applicant’s intended registration policies in support of the goals listed above.

As documented in Section 18(a), during the Initial Period of operation, SINA is intending to restrict registration and use of domain names with the gTLD to limited number of eligible registrant. Because of this condition precedent, any registration and use requirements are more appropriately vested in these corporate⁄subsidiary agreements and not in a domain name registration agreement.

Aside from these concerns, SINA will incorporate all required ICANN consensus policies and other legal⁄policy requirements imposed on new gTLD applicants into the terms and conditions of the domain name registration agreement. Based on ICANN Registry Agreement, SINA sets and enforces .Sina registration policies. General Registry Policies will be developed and made available prior to launch of TLD. Such policy decisions, based on ICANN Registry Agreement and relevant industry best practices, include but are not limited to:

-- Registration eligibility requirements

-- Which registrars may become accredited and sell domains

-- Wholesale prices offered to registrars

-- Reserved names

-- Phased allocation (Sunrise, Landrush, etc.) of the domain space at the second and third levels

-- Dispute policies

-- Technical policies, including SRS security and access.

This .SINA General Registry Policies pertain techno-operational policies in the following areas:

Domain Registrations (Domain Objects) and the .SINA Zone File
Domain Contacts (Contact Objects) and WHOIS Service
Dispute Resolution Policies
Obligations of Registered Name Holders

The General Registry Policies provides the framework for the general operations of the .SINA Registry. Other policies, such as the .SINA Eligibility, Reserved Name Policies, Sunrise Policies and other relevant policies are described separately in other documents published at the .SINA TLD registry Websites. Pricing and technical specifications are published for Accredited Registrars only and provided separately.

The .SINA TLD registry is committed to maintaining the integrity of the data within the .SINA Registry and to implement policies that deter infringements. The .SINA TLD Registry adopts the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) for facilitating the resolution of disputes over the registration and use of a second-level domain name registered under the .SINA Registry. All domain name registrations must submit to the mandatory proceedings commenced under UDRP, which is available for review at http:⁄⁄www.icann.org⁄dndr⁄udrp⁄policy.htm. Complaints under the UDRP should be submitted to an approved dispute-resolution service provider listed at http:⁄⁄www.icann.org⁄dndr⁄udrp⁄approved-providers.htm.

Beyond the UDRP, all domain registrations must also submit to proceedings commenced under formally adopted dispute policies as set forth by SINA from time to time and published on the .SINA TLD registry Website(s). Such dispute policies will take effect at the time they are announced on the .SINA TLD registry Website(s), with or without prior notice to registrars or registrants.

Such dispute policies may include for example, but not limited to, expedited processes for suspension of a domain name by claims sought by intellectual property right holders (URS), Internet engineering and security experts or other competent claimants in the purpose of upholding the stability, security and integrity of the .SINA Registry. Dispute policies may also include for example challenge processes adopted by the .SINA Registry for special programs when occurred.

Moreover, based upon SINA’s commitment and established track record in providing a safe eco-system for businesses and individuals, SINA intends to provide best in class safeguards that will evolve over time.

Will your proposed gTLD impose any measures for protecting the privacy or confidential information of registrants or users? If so, please describe any such measuresSINA will conform with section 1.8.6 of ICANN Registry Agreement:

Registry Operator will: 1) implement appropriate measures to avoid abuse of this feature (e.g., permitting access only to legitimate authorized users); and 2) ensure the feature is in compliance with any applicable privacy laws or policies.

SINA adopts a strict user privacy protection policy listed in its user service agreement (http:⁄⁄login.sina.com.cn⁄regagreement.html). SINA also recognizes that this is an evolving area of law in which there is no international standard, the measures for protecting the privacy and confidential information of registrants or users will be developed based on industry best practice such as Registrar Accreditation: Model Privacy Policy provided by ICANN (see http:⁄⁄www.icann.org⁄en⁄registrars⁄model-privacy-policy.htm)

SINA as a registry operator shall take reasonable steps to protect personal data from loss, misuse, unauthorized disclosure, alteration or destruction. SINA as a registry operator shall not use or authorize the use of personal data in a way that is incompatible with the notice provided to registrar(s) ⁄ registrant(s). Personal data shall refer to all data about any identified or identifiable natural person. SINA as a registry operator will not make commercial use of, or collect, traffic data regarding domain names or non-existent domain names for purposes such as the determination of the availability and health of the Internet, pinpointing specific points of failure, characterizing attacks and misconfigurations, identifying compromised networks and hosts, and promoting the sale of domain names.

Publicly available registrant information such as WHOIS service is intended only for query-based access. Specific WHOIS access policy is listed within the general registration policy.

Describe whether and in what ways outreach and communications will help to achieve your projected benefits.

As noted above, SINA’s driving factor in securing a .SINA gTLD in ICANN’s first round is primarily defensive in nature, and while SINA sees the potential for this gTLD to serve as a cornerstone for its future online strategic initiative, there are a number of unanswered questions concerning consumer recognition, security and stability, and broader industry adoption of new gTLDs within the marketplace that must be satisfactorily answered first. Once these concerns have been answered to SINA’s satisfaction, SINA is committed to making prominent use of the .SINA gTLDs in printed and online material as well as across its network of websites, affiliates, and partners. As of end of 2011, SINA spends over USD 135 Million on sales and marketing. SINA is expecting to allocate sufficient resources on marketing and branding of .SINA TLD when appropriate.

18(c). What operating rules will you adopt to eliminate or minimize social costs?

SINA believes the proposed operating rules to initially limit registration to SINA and its subsidiaries will provide a clear and simple online environment for consumers of SINA’s services. Therefore there is no need for other trademark and brand owners to defensive register in the gTLD except those potential partners become affiliated to SINA (i.e. a contractual obligated entity of SINA that uses SINA’s services) . This shall also provide consumers with a single trusted source for SINA with a substantially lower risk of fraud and⁄or scams for its customers. SINA also believes that the safeguards set forth in the Applicant Guidebook and the proposed business modeled outlined in Section 18(a) will minimize and potential negative social costs.

What other steps will you take to minimize negative consequences⁄costs imposed upon consumers?

SINA believes that the proposed operation of the .SINA gTLD as set forth in this application has no known negative consequences or cost implications on consumers. To the contrary, the proposed operation of this registry will likely lead to direct and quantifiable benefits to consumers. SINA believes that by following the core corporate goals as identified in Section 18(a) it will be able provide real value to consumer, and minimize any potential negative consequences⁄costs.

How will multiple applications for a particular domain name be resolved, for example, by auction or on a first-come⁄first-serve basis?

SINA does not envision multiple applicants for the same domain name, as domain names will initially only be allocated to SINA and its subsidiaries. If and when SINA decides to permit third party registrations within the gTLD, SINA will evaluate and decide upon a best in class allocation mechanism that can include and balance the interest of rights holders, registrants, registrars ⁄ resellers, as well as users in general.

Explain any cost benefits for registrants you intend to implement (e.g., advantageous pricing, introductory discounts, bulk registration discounts).

SINA does not envision any pricing, introductory discounts, bulk registration discounts because these marketing⁄commercial initiatives are inconsistent with the mission and purpose of the .SINA gTLD as mentioned previously. Moreover, it is the current best thinking of SINA that .SINA domain name registrations will be provided to the eligible registrants at no-cost initially.

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 plans.

SINA is committed to providing the domain name registration periods set forth in the registry agreement. However, as noted above the registration and use of the domain name is conditioned upon the registrant being a subsidiary or an affiliate of SINA, providing contractual commitments in a domain name registrant agreement regarding the magnitude of price escalations does not seem relevant or appropriate. Additionally, as noted above, the current best thinking of SINA that .SINA domain name registrations will be provided to SINA subsidiaries or affiliates initially at no-cost.