.cbn New gTLD Application
Click to view Chinese translation articles.
-----------------------------------
New gTLD Application Submitted to ICANN by: The Christian Broadcasting Network, Inc.
String: cbn
Originally Posted: 13 June 2012
Application ID: 1-1980-27252
Applicant Information
- Full legal name
The Christian Broadcasting Network, Inc.
- Address of the principal place of business
977 Centerville Turnpike
Virginia Beach VA 23463
US
- Phone number
+01 757 226 3687
- Fax number
+01 757 226 6230
- If applicable, website or URL
http:⁄⁄www.cbn.com
Primary Contact
6(a). Name
Mr. John Raymond Doussard
6(b). Title
Senior Project Manager
6(c). Address
6(d). Phone Number
+01 757 226 3687
6(e). Fax Number
+01 757 226 6230
6(f). Email Address
Secondary Contact
7(a). Name
Mr. Michael Stonecypher
7(b). Title
Vice President, Digital Media
7(c). Address
7(d). Phone Number
+01 757 226 3555
7(e). Fax Number
7(f). Email Address
Proof of Legal Establishment
8(a). Legal form of the Applicant
non-profit corporation
8(b). State the specific national or other jursidiction that defines the type of entity identified in 8(a).
The Christian Broadcasting Network, Inc. is a 501 (c)(3) organization under the Internal Revenue Code commonly known as a charitable organization.
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
- E. Robertson Secretary & Board member
Benny Lee Yount Board member
Charles Frederick Fay Board member
David Allen Pentecost Board member
Gordon Perry Robertson Vice Chairman⁄CEO
Marion Gordon Robertson Founder & Chairman of the Board
Michael Dale Little President⁄COO
Thomas Marion Saltsgiver Board member
William Lipton McConkey Board member
11(b). Name(s) and position(s) of all officers and partners
- E. Robertson Secretary & Board member
Barbara Ann Johnson Assistant Secretary
Barbara Wilson Ritter VP Human Resources
David Keith Griffith VP Information Technology
Edith Leanne Wasserberg VP Development Integration
Gerald Michael Carter CFO
Gordon Perry Robertson Vice Chairman⁄CEO
Jay Leonard Comiskey VP Support Operations
John Scott Turver VP Marketing
Marvin Benjamin Edwards VP International
Mary Jean Moore Allsbrook Assistant Secretary
Michael Anthony Stonecypher VP Digital Media
Michael Dale Little President⁄COO
Randy Jan Morell VP General Counsel
Stephen Joel Palser VP Chaplaincy & Tele Ministry
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.
cbn
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.
CBN foresees no known rendering issues in connection with the proposed .cbn string which it is seeking to apply for as a gTLD. In reaching this determination, the following data points were analyzed:
- IAB - RFC3696 ʺApplication Techniques for Checking and Transformation of Namesʺ
- Character type and length
- ICANN supplemental notes to Question 16
- ICANNís presentation during its Costa Rica regional meeting on TLD Universal Acceptance
In addition, CBN has consulted with registry service providers and technical consultants with expertise in such matters and found no concerns that are unique to the implementation of the .cbn gTLD string.
- (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.
Who we are:
The Christian Broadcasting Network, Inc. (CBN) is a faith-based media content producer⁄distributor and humanitarian aid and relief organization. CBN is a multifaceted nonprofit organization that provides programming by cable, broadcast and satellite to approximately 200 countries, with a 24-hour telephone prayer line. CBN operates internationally with a presence in 21 African countries, eight Asian countries and four offices in Europe. Chief among CBNʹs broadcasting components is The 700 Club, a daily television program featuring Pat Robertson, Terry Meeuswen, Gordon Robertson, Kristi Watts and news anchor Lee Webb. On the air continuously since 1966, The 700 Club is one of the longest-running programs in broadcast history. CBN programs have aired in approximately 108 languages in 218 different countries and territories, from Mandarin to Spanish and from Turkish to Welsh. CBN International also distributes videos and literature and provides follow-up through international ministries around the world. In 1995, CBN launched CBN WorldReach with a mission of providing Christian programming to targeted international audiences. For instance, Middle East Television (METV), was a television station in Southern Lebanon, broadcasts news, sports, family entertainment, and religious programming by satellite to a potential audience of 200 million people in 15 nations including Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Egypt and Cyprus.
Last year alone, CBN partners provided:
- More than 80 million pounds of food and relief to Americaʹs poor
- Medical treatment to more than 783,000 people around the world
- Wells and cisterns for more than 470,000 thirsty people
- Help and supplies to victims of 45 disasters here in America and worldwide
- Broadcasts of the Gospel in 136 countries and 42 languages
- Food, shelter, educational opportunities, medical help, job training, and Christian discipleship to children at risk in 35 countries through Orphan’s Promise
- Prayer—The CBN Prayer Center talked with 3.5 million callers
Our Current Online Presence:
CBN manages a portfolio of 781 domains in various TLDs today. CBN.com, our current online destination, offers multiple resources to help people grow in their walk with God, including: streaming video teaching from Pat and Gordon Robertson; in-depth discipleship courses; Online Bible; CBN Radio; Bible teachings; my.CBN.com, a social network; and free downloads of videos, widgets, and articles. Our portfolio of domains faces the same challenges every brand does with a .com TLD: (1) protecting intellectual property, and (2) providing a single authoritative and trustworthy destination for our users.
The Mission of .cbn for CBN:
The mission of our .cbn gTLD application is to serve as the direct representation of CBN in the Internet namespace. By reducing the confusion of .com and various domain names under other TLDs, we believe that we will create the authoritative destination for all things online related to our brand, CBN. This also will enable new business models for CBN and likely reduce our costs to reach our audiences around the world.
For internet users and our partners, the .cbn gTLD will provide clarity and increased trust between our not-for-profit charitable organization and the audiences we serve globally online. For instance, the .cbn gTLD should also result in more effective and accurate online campaigns, which we believe will enhance use of the internet and further improve customer satisfaction online. By reducing the costs of reaching our audiences globally and providing more short and simple domains for localized content, CBN anticipates a major benefit should be a cost reduction (reduced marketing costs) such that a higher percentage of our contributions can directly be used to fund relief efforts and services for the poor globally.
18(b). How do you expect that your proposed gTLD will benefit registrants, Internet users, and others?
Goals for .cbn TLD – The goals of the .cbn gTLD are many. For CBN, as a major brand in the global community of Christians, the .cbn TLD goals are:
- Single destination for all authoritative CBN content and services
- Reduce our portfolio of domains with other TLDs – consolidate and simplify the representation of our brand online
- Improve search results for our CBN content, resulting in a better experience for the internet user and at the same time, lower search costs for CBN
- Expand the service CBN offers to its community of partners resulting in great partner satisfaction and higher levels of participation in fund raising activities
- Use .cbn domains in marketing and promotional campaigns in all media
- Reduce costs for marketing online with simpler more easily remembered and understood domains that improve CBN’s position on search result pages
CBN strongly believes the goals for our .cbn TLD strongly align with our organizational goals and mission.
Innovation and Contribution of .cbn – The .cbn gTLD will be a hub for CBN innovation, CBN expects to benefit in several ways:
- Provide innovative business models for services to our partners and⁄or for our partners
- Co-brand services more easily to raise funds or offer more competitive value for our services
- Improve the search relevance and, in turn, reduce marketing costs
- Increase the speed with which CBN distributes breaking news stories
- Provide more short simple and easy to remember web site addresses to reach more internet users for CBN appeals to support emergency relief operations
A key value proposition for CBN is the availability of short memorable URLs. Having availability of simple short domain names is a distant memory for the .com TLD. CBN believes there is a large benefit here: (1) simplicity and relevance for our campaigns, (2) ability to place short URLs in print and other advertising, and (3) ability of users to remember URLS to directly type into browsers on mobile, tablet, laptop or desktop computers, and (4) more reach for CBN audiences globally.
User Experience for .cbn TLD – The registry envisioned by CBN will enhance the user experience dramatically with the shorter web site addresses and the clarity of web site names.
Registration Policies for .cbn TLD are simple:
(1) CBN will be the sole registrant of all .cbn domains
(2) There will be one ICANN Accredited Registrar for .cbn domains
Privacy and Confidentiality for .cbn Registrations – CBN will be the sole registrant and CBN does not anticipate any personal information being stored in WHOIS or transmitted using SRS component so there is no risk of personally identifiable information (PII) being captured, transferred, or transcribed in out operations. Moreover, CBN will only connect to the registrar services provider using an interface and will not have any machine to machine connectivity between the outsourced service providers and CBNs own operations, web sites, nor other services. Should CBN choose to allow others to develop web sites using second level domains for .cbn, CBN will carefully control this activity.
18(c). What operating rules will you adopt to eliminate or minimize social costs?
- How will multiple applications for a particular domain name be resolved, for example, by auction or on a first-come⁄first-serve basis?
As a brand, CBN will have complete control over the ability to register names and will be using all names to benefit⁄strengthen the brand. Any disputes about use and management of domains will be handled within CBN management.
- Explain any cost benefits for registrants you intend to implement (e.g., advantageous pricing, introductory discounts, bulk registration discounts).
All registrations will be controlled by CBN as the sole registrant. Because CBN will not be selling domains on the open market, CBN will not have any advantageous pricing, introductory discounts, bulks discounts, or other such promotions in the public market.
- 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.
As a brand, CBN will have one registrar and CBN will be the sole registrant so price increases and price escalation policies for individual domains are not necessary.