.weatherchannel New gTLD Application
Click to view Chinese translation articles.
-----------------------------------
New gTLD Application Submitted to ICANN by: The Weather Channel, LLC
Application Downloaded On: 09 Jan 2014
String: weatherchannel
Application ID: 1-2117-66735
Applicant Information
- Full legal name
The Weather Channel, LLC
- Address of the principal place of business
300 Interstate North Pkwy Atlanta, Georgia - 30339 US
- Phone number
7702260000
- Fax number
7702262921
- If applicable, website or URL
http://www.weather.com
Primary Contact
6(a). Name
Michael Finnerty
6(b). Title
Vice President, Web Products
6(c). Address
6(d). Phone Number
7702262226
6(e). Fax Number
6(f). Email Address
Secondary Contact
7(a). Name
Michael Finnerty
7(b). Title
Vice President, Web Products
7(c). Address
7(d). Phone Number
7702262226
7(e). Fax Number
7(f). Email Address
Proof of Legal Establishment
8(a). Legal form of the Applicant
Limited Liability Company
8(b). State the specific national or other jurisdiction that defines the type of entity identified in 8(a).
State of Georgia, US
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
Name
Position
Andy Miller Director
Blair Hendrix Director
David Kenny Director
Edward Swindler Director
Gail McGovern Director
Greg Blank Director
Ian Loring Chairman of the Board
Jill Greenthal Director
Peter Wallace Director
Sandy Grushow Director
Sharon Scott Director
Steve Pagliuca Director
Vivian Schiller Director
11(b). Name(s) and position(s) of all officers and partners
Name
Position
Andrea Darweesh EVP, Human Resources
Bryson Koehler EVP, Chief Information Officer
Cameron Clayton President Product
Chris Walters Chief Operating Officer
Curt Hecht Chief Global Revenue Officer
David Clark President, Television
David Kenny President and CEO
Gary Saidman SVP, Deputy Gen Counsel, Assistant Secretary
George Callard EVP, Legal
Jennifer Dangar President Distribution & Bus Dev
Katherine Angell SVP, Tax
Mark Gildersleeve President, Professional
Patrick Vogt President, International
Peter Kuipers Chief Financial Officer
Scot Safon EVP& Chief Marketing Officer
Shirley Powell EVP Corporate Communications
William Higgs JR SVP & Chief Accounting Officer
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.
weatherchannel
14A. If applying for an IDN, provide the A-label (beginning with "xn--").
14B. 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.
14C1. If an IDN, provide the language of the label (in English).
14C2. If an IDN, provide the language of the label (as referenced by ISO-639-1).
14D1. If an IDN, provide the script of the label (in English).
14D2. If an IDN, provide the script of the label (as referenced by ISO 15924).
14E. If an IDN, list all code points contained in the U-label according to Unicode form.
15A. If an IDN, upload IDN tables for the proposed registry. An IDN table must include:
the applied-for gTLD string relevant to the tables,
the script or language designator (as defined in BCP 47),
table version number,
effective date (DD Month YYYY), and
contact name, email address, and phone number.
Submission of IDN tables in a standards-based format is encouraged.
15B. Describe the process used for development of the IDN tables submitted, including consultations and sources used.
15C. List any variants 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 Weather Channel, LLC foresees no known rendering issues in connection with the proposed .weatherchannel string. This answer is based upon consultation with TWCʹs preferred backend provider, Neustar, which has successfully launched a number of new gTLDs over the last decade. In reaching this determination, the following data points were analyzed:
- ICANNʹs Security Stability Advisory Committee (SSAC) entitled Alternative TLD Name Systems and Roots: Conflict, Control and Consequences (SAC009);
- IAB - RFC3696 Application Techniques for Checking and Transformation of Names
- Known software issues which Neustar has encountered during the last decade launching new gTLDs;
- Character type and length;
- ICANN supplemental notes to Question 16; and
- ICANNʹs presentation during its Costa Rica regional meeting on TLD Universal Acceptance.
- OPTIONAL.
Provide a representation of the label according to the International Phonetic Alphabet (http://www.langsci.ucl.ac.uk/ipa/).
18A. Describe the mission/purpose of your proposed gTLD.
The Weather Channel, LLC (TWC) is applying for .weatherchannel. The TLD will be used to market the TWC brand, products, and services and facilitate internal company communication.
TWC is a wholly owned subsidiary of TWCC Holding Corporation (TWCCHC). Together with other subsidiaries of TWCCHC, TWC is part of The Weather Channel Companies (TWCC). TWCC, through its subsidiaries, owns The Weather Channel television network, The Weather Channel digital properties and other weather-related businesses including WSI Corporation (WSI). The Weather Channel television network reaches over 100 million US households, and TWCCʹs web properties (including weather.com) are used by 60 million unique users each month. TWC has 40 million mobile users monthly through its tablet and mobile telephone applications and mobile websites, with TWCC mobile applications being one of the most used on smart phones and tablets. WSI provides weather data and services to top companies in the local television⁄media, energy, and aviation industries. TWC was initially launched in 1982 to program and deliver a cable television network and today, TWCC is a leading global brand and a recognized world leader in weather forecasting capabilities with global coverage including UK, France, Spain, Italy, Germany, India, Brazil and other Latin American countries. In this regard, continuous innovations and improvements in weather forecasting technologies and reliable online presence are the main consideration in TWCʹs activities. TWCC has approximately 1,100 employees and is headquartered in Atlanta, US with offices in global locations including New York, Chicago, Boston, San Francisco, Detroit, Dallas and London.
Core to TWCʹs mission is the use of technology to deliver accurate, relevant, and timely weather related content to its customers. TWC invests significantly in digital media technology and the .weatherchannel TLD will be an enhancement to this priority and used to advance TWCʹs brand and strengthen existing relationships with its users.
.weatherchannel will be used primarily to market new TWC products and services to its user base. Examples may include the marketing of new television shows (e.g. CoastGuardAlaska.weatherchannel), digital product launches, promotions, etc. A secondary use for the .weatherchannel gTLD will be for internal communication, perhaps including a company intranet site or other employee-related portal.
Though the .weatherchannel TLD will be used and promoted, it will be deployed in a closed⁄restricted manner. Specifically, the TLD will not be open to registrants other than TWC for second-level registrations. Accordingly, in the first year the TLD is unlikely to have more than 10-20 second-level names in the registry. Decisions on second-level registrations will be made only by The Weather Channel as will future decisions on when and how to put second-level names to use.
The .weatherchannel TLD will help fulfill ICANNʹs mandate in the Affirmation of Commitments to promote competition, consumer trust, and choice in Internet navigation and use. Specifically, TWC believes the .weatherchannel TLD will:
* Promote competition amongst media companies by showcasing an innovative new way to market and promote consumer media products and brands
* Enhance consumer trust by providing TWCʹs user base a secure and trusted vehicle for communicating with the TWC brand
* Increase consumer choice by expanding the options that consumers have for interacting with their favorite brands
TWCC is a well-recognized global brand with registered and pending trademarks (through TWC) consisting solely of WEATHER CHANNEL or THE WEATHER CHANNEL in 77 countries and territories for (but not limited to) the following classes: 9 (instruments, pre-recorded audio and video recording), 16 (print), 35 (advertising), 38 (telecommunications), 41 (education), 42 (online publications; meteorological services), 45 (personal and social services).
TWC has an extensive domain name portfolio including existing domain names with an exact match to WEATHER CHANNEL or THE WEATHER CHANNEL trademark and the applied-for string in various domain spaces, including com, biz, co, co.uk, com.mx, eu, info, jobs, mobi, tv, and us.
TWC believes that the .weatherchannel gTLD is unlikely to cause confusion with either a generic term or any existing TLDs. TWCC is a leading global brand and a recognized leader in weather forecasting capabilities. TWC is the owner of several trademarks worldwide containing or consisting solely of the term WEATHER CHANNEL or THE WEATHER CHANNEL and has a strong worldwide reputation. TWC has used the mark THE WEATHER CHANNEL in conjunction with its core business since its establishment and reaches close to 100 million TV viewers, 60 million web users and 40 million mobile users monthly.
TWC does not intend to utilize Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs) for .weatherchannel at the second level.
18B. How do you expect that your proposed gTLD will benefit registrants, Internet users, and others?
As previously noted, .weatherchannel will be used primarily to market new TWC products and services to its user base. Examples may include the marketing of new television shows (e.g. CoastGuardAlaska.weatherchannel), digital product launches, promotions, etc. A secondary use for the .weatherchannel gTLD will be for internal communication, perhaps including a company intranet site or other employee-related portal.
To accomplish the stated goal of the .weatherchannel TLD of brand⁄product marketing, TWC has the potential to utilize its reach across TV and digital platforms (160 million unduplicated users monthly) to publicize the existence of the .weatherchannel TLD. For marketing, TWC may utilize:
* Promotional videos on The Weather Channel TV network and on digital platforms;
* Banner advertising placements on the weather.com site and TWC mobile platforms;
* Mobile text message and promotional messages distributed to its mobile users; and
* Advertisements on third party services.
TWC faces intense competition for the attention of consumers. The company competes with broadcast and cable television networks, large online⁄mobile properties, and a long tail of online⁄mobile publishers. The .weatherchannel TLD will help strengthen TWCʹs brand in the minds of media users as the authoritative source for accurate and timely weather-related information.
The .weatherchannel TLD has the potential to increase innovation and differentiation in the media space by showcasing an innovative new way to market and promote consumer media products and brands. Consumers will be provided a more intuitive internet-based channel through which to communicate with media brands like TWC.
Registration policies will be formulated in compliance with ICANN mandates with TWC in complete control of the allocation of second-level names. TWC intends for second-level registrations to be used only for the companyʹs own initiatives and does not plan for registrar distribution to the public.
TWC does not initially intend to employ geographic names as a part of the .weatherchannel strategy. Should TWC elect to do so in the future, it will consult with and seek the approval of ICANN, as required.
As a media company, TWC is subject to regulation and is expected to rigorously protect customer and corporate data, and TWC will apply these same high standards to the operation of .weatherchannel. Though there will be no consumer registrations in .weatherchannel, the flow of data to and from customers via .weatherchannel will be aggressively protected.
TWC is accredited by TRUSTe for compliance with TRUSTeʹs requirements including transparency, accountability and choice regarding the collection and use of personal information from internet users.
TWC has also implemented a privacy policy to demonstrate its commitment to the protection of user privacy and confidential information. TWCʹs Privacy Statement includes provisions regarding collection, use, transfer and storage of personal data as well as protection of childrenʹs privacy.
As the .weatherchannel gTLD will be available only to TWC, initially, the amount of data that will be collected for the purposes of operating the gTLD and made publicly available in the Whois databasewhile compliant with Whois availability policieswill be very limited. TWC will comply with Specification 4 of the Registry Agreement by providing a publicly available and searchable Whois database. To prevent abuse of this tool, TWC will require database query users to read and agree to registration policy terms and conditions, including that the Whois database is provided for information purposes only and that the user agrees not to use the information for any other purpose, including enabling transmission of unsolicited commercial advertising or other communication.
Though TWC already employs measures to protect user privacy and confidential information, TWC will implement DNSSEC as a further benefit both TWC an its end users, with the intention to validate data transmissions between those who use the DNS to publish information and those who retrieve it from the new .weatherchannel gTLD.
TWC will continue to rigorously apply current security measures and will comply with future ICANN-required policies as required.
18C. What operating rules will you adopt to eliminate or minimize social costs (e.g., time or financial resource costs, as well as various types of consumer vulnerabilities)? What other steps will you take to minimize negative consequences/costs imposed upon consumers?
TWC does not plan for resolution procedures for competing applications at the second level, pricing structures, or third party registrant contractual commitments, as TWC will not open the second level to consumer registration.
Due to the fact that second level registrations will not be publicly available in .weatherchannel, trademark infringement at the second level is highly unlikely. Nevertheless, TWC will utilize the Trademark Clearinghouse to ensure non-infringement.