.ril New gTLD Application
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New gTLD Application Submitted to ICANN by: Reliance Industries Limited
Application Downloaded On: 09 Mar 2015
String: ril
Application ID: 1-1308-43524
Applicant Information
- Full legal name
Reliance Industries Limited
- Address of the principal place of business
3rd Floor, Maker Chambers IV
222 Nariman Point Mumbai, Maharashtra - 400021 IN
- Phone number
+91 22 2278 5000
- Fax number
+91 22 2278 5110
- If applicable, website or URL
http://www.ril.com
Primary Contact
6(a). Name
Pawan Kumar
6(b). Title
Vice President
6(c). Address
6(d). Phone Number
+91 9004971583
6(e). Fax Number
+91 22 2278 5110
6(f). Email Address
Secondary Contact
7(a). Name
Gaurav Agrawal
7(b). Title
Vice President
7(c). Address
7(d). Phone Number
+91 84529337479
7(e). Fax Number
+91 22 2278 5110
7(f). Email Address
Proof of Legal Establishment
8(a). Legal form of the Applicant
Company Limited by shares
8(b). State the specific national or other jurisdiction that defines the type of entity identified in 8(a).
Indian Companies Act, 1956 www.mca.gov.in/Ministry/pdf/Companies_Act_1956_13jun2011.pdf
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.
National_Stock_Exchange_of_India / RELIANCE EQ
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
ASHOK MISRA DIRECTOR
DHARAM VIR KAPUR DIRECTOR
DIPAK CHAND JAIN DIRECTOR
HITAL RASIKLAL MESWANI EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
MADHUSUDANA SIVAPRASAD PANDA EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
MAHESH PRASAD MODI DIRECTOR
MANSINGH LAXMIDAS BHAKTA DIRECTOR
MUKESH DHIRUBHAI AMBANI CHAIRMAN & MANAGING DIRECTOR
NIKHIL RASIKLAL MESWANI EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
PAWAN KUMAR KAPIL EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
RAGHUNATH ANANT MASHELKAR DIRECTOR
RAMNIKLAL HIRACHAND AMBANI DIRECTOR
YOGENDRA PREMKRISHNA TRIVEDI DIRECTOR
11(b). Name(s) and position(s) of all officers and partners
Name
Position
KANDASAMY SETHURAMAN GROUP COMPANY SECRETARY AND CHIEF COMPLIANCE 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.
ril
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.
Reliance Industries Limited anticipates the introduction of this TLD without operational or rendering problems. Based on a decade of experience launching and operating new TLDs, Afilias, the back-end provider of registry services for this TLD, 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;
- The existing secure, stable and reliable Afilias SRS, DNS, WHOIS and 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/).
18A. Describe the mission/purpose of your proposed gTLD.
The Reliance Group, founded by Sh. Dhirubhai H. Ambani (1932-2002), is the largest private sector enterprise in India. The groupʹs annual revenues are in excess of US$ 58 billion (2010-2011). The flagship company, Reliance Industries Limited, is a Fortune Global 500 company ranked 134, by net revenues, and 119, by net profit, as per Fortune Global 500 list, 2011. The company has interests across multiple sectors including Exploration & Production, Refining and Marketing, Petrochemicals, Organized Retail, Telecom and Financial Services.
Popularly known as Reliance or RIL, the company’s mission is to improve the life of Indians by providing opportunities and products that are cost effective and accessible.
Reliance is forever looking for new ways to protect its brand and make it easier and simpler for people to reach it, and know more about its offerings and the company, be it on the web or by other means of offline communication.
As part of the same efforts, RIL would like to acquire the gTLD .RIL and use it actively as part of our corporate branding strategy, to make it easier for people to reach us on the Internet. All corporate web sites, including those of different businesses and departments will be housed under the “.RIL” gTLD.
Reliance Industries Limited has been an active participant in the development of the Internet in India. It has been credited multiple times with furthering the reach of the Internet in the Indian subcontinent. RIL was amongst the first companies in India to establish a companywide e-mail system in 1996 which extended to over 500 employees and since then has rapidly been accepted and now covers over 22,000 employees. We were also the first company to offer affordable and accessible mobile technology in India. By using the power of CDMA mobile technology, we enabled every mobile hand-set to act as a model and enabled Indians to connect to the Internet anywhere, anytime.
Currently, RIL owns the web site “www.ril.com” and over 1100 domain names which we use, to protect our brand name in the web arena. We also have a strong legal team whose primary objective is to track our IP infringements and ensure that proper course of action is taken to prevent the same.
By acquiring “.RIL” gTLD, RIL plans to move its entire corporate web site and that of other businesses under the “.RIL” gTLD. This will offer multiple benefits to the company, the Internet community and the visitors, such as:
- Reduced navigational errors by directly reaching the intended Reliance Industries Limited web site
- Enhanced security and peace of mind which comes with the assurance that all web sites under RIL are offered and managed by one of India’s most reputed organizations
- Improved visibility of the “Reliance Industries Limited’ brand to the consumer in a cluttered second level domain arena
- Better and clear structuring of information relating to different subsidiaries of RIL by allocating a suitable second level domain name
- Clearly differentiating us and our web presence from other companies which use Reliance as part of their brand identity
- Efficient brand and domain name protection
- Intuitive Internet navigation (www.petroleum.ril, www.digital.ril, www.fresh.ril etc.)
- Active prevention against cybersquatting⁄ phishing related activities
- Reduced Search Engine Marketing⁄ Optimization cost
- Indicate first mover advantage to the community
- Own and be an active participant in the development of the Internet in India and the world
- Increase brand value by aligning a valuable asset such as this gTLD with the brand
RIL will also have a direct control over the second level domain names and will be able to use the ones that are most appropriate for the web sites and the businesses they represent.
The ability to choose a preferred second level domain has direct impact on the marketing strategy and the customer experience. The marketing strategy is largely dependent on brand recall and driving customers to the preferred destination, which in this case is the particular web site. By having a URL that is relevant and is truly representative of the information and the products on the web site, there is a higher chance of the customer being satisfied with the web experience and returning again. With social media being one of the biggest marketing tools, a positive customer experience goes a long way in establishing loyal following and attracting new customers.
The decision to apply for “.RIL” gTLD was made by our Chairman and senior members of the company with inputs from all the departments across the different businesses. With buy-in from across the business, and the potential of the opportunity it comes as no surprise that all the departments have plans to utilize the “.RIL” gTLD for their businesses and departments.
We anticipate that as the gTLD becomes popular within the organization and the value of the same is clearly proven, the requests for second level domains will increase.
It is estimated that in the first year we will issue and use up to 200 second level domains for our different businesses and departments such as www.retail.ril, www.petroleum.ril, www.polymers.ril and so on. This number will increase to 400 second-level domains in the second year and in the third-year around 600 second-level domains will be live. By the fourth-year around 700 domains will be live and in the fifth-year around 800 second-level domains will be active under “.RIL”.
In the first-year, priority will be provided to the existing domain addresses which exist in RIL. All RIL web sites, including those of corporate and other RIL businesses will be brought under the new “.RIL” gTLD. In the subsequent years, other existing domains and new domains of RIL and its subsidiaries will also be brought under the new “.RIL” gTLD.
In an effort to bring high speed broadband Internet access to millions of Indians at affordable costs RIL has acquired a pan India 4G license by investing $ 2.8 billion USD in the government’s license auction process. The services will be launched on a pan India basis and bring Internet access to millions of Indians and to most of them, for the first time. With more than 110 million Internet users, and a projected year-on-year growth of 30%, India is expected to supersede USA as the second largest Internet user base in the world by 2018. This phenomenal growth is difficult to achieve by using traditional means of communication such as copper wire⁄fibre because of India’s large geographical topology. Thus wireless technology such as 4G⁄LTE is best solution and RIL is best poised to lead India on this journey and emerge as a digital power house.
With the huge potential in India that is ripe for the new age of technology and is looking for new ways to compete with the developed markets on every platform, this broadband Internet access will make it easier and accessible for everyone to do transactions, find information, enjoy entertainment and live a digital life.
RIL wants to be front and centre when this new wave of early adopters hits the market and be the preferred destination for all their digital needs. The new gTLD program will go a long way in helping RIL achieve its mission and provide users with an exceptional customer experience across all its offerings.
18B. How do you expect that your proposed gTLD will benefit registrants, Internet users, and others?
India has the second largest mobile user base in the world, next only to China. It also has the third largest Internet user base, after China & USA. But, currently India has only 10.2% Internet penetration. These two distinguished realities imply the fact there is tremendous opportunity that is well open for the future Internet market in India.
Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) wants to use this opportunity of owning “.RIL” gTLD to establish itself as a company which is at the forefront of Internet revolutions in the world and is aiming to bring the same to India. “.RIL” gTLD will primarily be used for corporate communication and to offer the visitors one-stop-shop, to learn about Reliance, its different businesses and offerings in the B2B and B2C arena.
RIL owns hundreds of brands, of which many are truly iconic Indian brands such as “Reliance”, “Vimal”, and “Reliance Retail”. Other brands are leaders in their category such as “Sudz”, “Mopz” and so on. We also partner with many international brands and bring them to India such as “Marks & Spencer”, “Vision Express”, “Hamleys” and the likes. All these brands are currently under different TLDs such as “.com”, “.in’, “.co.in”, “.net” and so on. RIL aims to consolidate these brands under one gTLD and offer consumers a superior, consistence and unique experience across all the business, departments, offerings and products.
There will be multiple benefits of the same:
The customers will be able to easily find the product⁄service and brand they are looking for, since all will exist under the common gTLD. The consistent look & feel, and a unique and superior web experience will provide impetuousness to the customer to spend more time on the web site and to visit again, thus improving the state of the Internet in India.
RIL will be able to protect its brands from domain squatters, phishing attacks and other forms of Internet malware by having a complete control over the second level domains. This will further help customers find the correct domain and the right web site they are looking for. With the trusted brand name of Reliance acting as gTLD for the web sites will instil confidence in the customer to consume information and conduct transactions without fear of any foul play.
With all the brands, products and services under the same gTLD, RIL will be successfully able to track consumer’s actions and behaviour across the multiple second-level domains and provide services and products which offer more value to the consumer that interact with our various brands.
As mentioned above, RIL owns hundreds of brands and it is not always possible to acquire the suitable domain name due to rampant cybersquatting and the domain ownership in developed markets which had the first mover advantage. By owning its own gTLD, RIL will be able to consolidate all its brands, products, services, under a common umbrella and replicate its offline brand strategy and architecture in the online and digital world as well. This will help streamline marketing communication to our audiences and customers since the information and structure will be similar in offline and online world. Customers will also find it easier to access information and conduct business, be it on a pamphlet in a store or on a web page online, since the brand structure and marketing communication will be similar in nature.
With similar brand architecture in the online world as the offline world, it will be easier for RIL to run marketing activities and promotions via our retail stores and other join venture branded stores. These activities will be used to drive traffic to our web sites under “.RIL” gTLD. This will generate interest in the new and improved web sites and will also educate people about the new gTLD system. By integrating our social media strategies with the new gTLD system we will be able to rapidly spread the word about the new gTLD and drive more traffic to our web sites which in turn will increase our brand reach.
RIL owns one India’s largest organized retail chains under the brand name ‘Reliance Retail’, which offers its customers multiple products and services under different retail formats for all their shopping needs. RIL also has brand partnerships with many international brands that offer provide their services in India in partnership with RIL. Since each format and brand attracts a large number of customers, each will be given a second-level domain under the new “RIL” gTLD such as ‘www.fresh.RIL’,’ www.super.ril’, ’www.digital.ril’. This structure will help the customer to easily locate the right format that she is searching for and make the necessary purchase. Plus the confidence of the RIL brand name as the gTLD will serve as the guarantee of quality and service. A customer shopping across multiple formats will be easily tracked and will receive benefits in terms of discounts, coupons and exclusive offers. The customer will also benefit from the superior service and consistent experience across all the different format websites and offerings under the same gTLD. RIL will benefit from better cross-sells and increasing customer retention.
India has one of the highest mobile penetrations in the world. More people in India have a mobile phone than 24⁄7 running water. With huge demand comes plethora of suppliers and India has over 15 separate telecom providers, some of whom are active on a pan India basis and some are regional players. As RIL enters in the telecom⁄digital space with its pan India 4G network, the gTLD will provide it with much needed differentiation in the market. RIL will be able to offer its multitude of 4G services under a single umbrella of “.RIL” gTLD which is much more recognizable and has a higher recall than a “.com” or “.net” gTLD.
Due to the deluge of web sites and brands that are present in the Indian and the world market, superior and delightful customer experience is becoming an essential part of any brand’s offering that wants to stand out of the crowd. By combining all our business and their offerings under the common gTLD “.RIL”gTLD, the consumer will not need to step-out of “.RIL” gTLD for accessing any product or service offered by RIL. This will give us the opportunity to provide a consistent, clear and comprehensive customer experience across all the web sites under “.RIL”. This will be in-line with our efforts to set a new standard in online consumer experience across the globe.
Registry Policies
RIL’s registry policies are designed to follow the highest of standards and meet the criteria for global
operations.
As described above, “.RIL” gTLD will be used for RIL group of companies and will only be available to the registrants of RIL (including the Sunrise period).
In general, domains will be offered for periods of one to ten years, but no greater than ten years. Registrations made in the Sunrise period may have an established minimum number of required years.
The roll-out of our TLD is anticipated to feature the following phases:
Reservation of reserved names and premium names, which will be distributed through special mechanisms as is detailed in the policies for reserved names section below.
Sunrise period – This is the required period for trademark owners to secure their domains before availability to the general public. This phase will feature applications for domain strings, verification of trademarks via Trademark Clearinghouse and a trademark verification agent, auctions between qualified parties who wish to secure the same string, and a Trademark Claims Service.
General Availability period – In this period real-time registrations are made on a first-come first-served basis. Trademark Claims Service will be in use for the first 60 days of the general availability period. The registration of domain names in the “.RIL” gTLD will follow standard practices, procedures and policies, which including;
- Domain registration polices (for example, grace periods, transfer policies, etc.) are defined in response question 27 of the application for gTLD.
- Abuse prevention tools and policies, for example, measures to promote WHOIS accuracy and efforts to reduce Phishing and Pharming, are discussed in detail in our response 28 of the application for gTLD
- Rights protection mechanisms and dispute resolution mechanism policies (for example, UDRP, URS) are detailed in 29 of the application for gTLD
Other detailed policies for this domain include policies for reserved names
Reserved names
There are two categories of reserved names for this TLD: registry reserved names and premium names.
Registry reserved names
For registry reserved names we will reserve the following classes of domain names, which will not be made generally available to registrants either during the Sunrise period or any subsequent period:
- All of the reserved names required in Specification 5 of the new gTLD Registry Agreement
- The geographic names required in Specification 5 of the new gTLD Registry Agreement
- The registry operator’s own name and variations thereof, and registry operations names (such as registry.tld, and www.tld), for internal use
- Names related to ICANN and Internet standards bodies (iana.tld, ietf.tld, w3c.tld, etc.), for delegation of those names to the relevant organizations upon their request
- The list of reserved names will be published publicly before the Sunrise period begins, so that registrars and potential registrants will know which names have been set aside
Premium names
As mentioned above in purpose .RIL will be used for Reliance and its subsidiaries⁄departments. Although the policy for premium names is defined, the same will not be applicable due to the defined TLD purpose.
The registry will also designate a set of premium domain names, set aside for distribution via special mechanisms. The list of premium names will be published publicly before the Sunrise period begins, so that registrars and potential registrants will know that these names are not available. Premium names may be distributed via mechanisms such as requests for proposals, contests, direct sales, and auctions.
For the auctioning of premium names, we intend to contract with an established auction provider that has successfully conducted domain auctions. This will ensure that there is a tested, trustworthy technical platform for the auctions, auditable records, and reliable collection mechanisms. With our chosen auction provider, we will create and post policies and procedures that ensure clear, fair, and ethical auctions. As an example of such a policy, all employees of the registry operator and its contractors will be strictly prohibited from bidding in auctions for domains in the TLD. The auction rules will cover all possible scenarios, such as how domains will be awarded if the winning bidder does not make payment.
Privacy and confidential information protection
As per the New gTLD Registry Agreement, we will make domain contact data (and other fields) freely and publicly available via a Web-based WHOIS server. This default set of fields includes the mandatory publication of registrant data. Our Registry-Registrar Agreement will require that registrants consent to this publication.
We shall notify each of our registrars regarding the purposes for which data, about any identified or identifiable natural person (“Personal Data”) submitted to the Registry Operator by such registrar, is collected and used, and the intended recipients (or categories of recipients) of such Personal Data (the data in question is essentially the registrant and contact data required to be published in the WHOIS). We will require each registrar to obtain the consent of each registrant in the TLD for the collection and use of such Personal Data. The policies will be posted publicly on our TLD web site. As the registry operator, we shall not use or authorize the use of Personal Data in any way that is incompatible with the notice provided to registrars.
Our privacy and data use policies are as follows:
- As registry operator, we do not plan to sell bulk WHOIS data. We will not sell contact data in any way. We will not allow, enable, or otherwise support the transmission by e-mail, telephone, or facsimile of mass unsolicited, commercial advertising or solicitations
- DNS query data will never be sold in a way that is personally identifiable
- We may from time to time use the demographic data collected for statistical analysis, provided that this analysis does not disclose individual Personal Data and provided that such use is compatible with the notice provided to registrars regarding the purpose and procedures for such use
As the registry operator, we shall take significant steps to protect Personal Data collected from registrars from loss, misuse, unauthorized disclosure, alteration, or destruction. In our responses to Question 30 of the application for gTLD (“Security Policy”) and Question 38 of the application for gTLD (“Escrow”) we detail the security policies and procedures we will use to protect the registry system and the data contained therefrom from unauthorized access and loss.
Please see our response to Question 26 of the application for gTLD (“WHOIS”) regarding “searchable WHOIS” and rate-limiting. That section contains details about how we will limit the mining of WHOIS data by spammers and other parties who abuse access to the WHOIS.
In order to acquire and maintain accreditation for our TLD, we will require registrars to adhere to certain information technology policies designed to help protect registrant data. These will include standards for access to the registry system and password management protocols. Our response to Question 30 of the application for gTLD, “Security Policy” provides details of implementation.
We will allow the use of proxy and privacy services, which can protect the personal data of registrants from spammers and other parties that mine zone files and WHOIS data. We are aware that there are parties who may use privacy services to protect their free speech rights, or to avoid religious or political persecution.
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?
RIL has adopted the policies, as described in question 18b of the application for gTLD, to ensure fair and equitable access and cost structures to the Internet community, including:
- No new burdens placed on the Internet community to resolve name disputes
- Utilization of standard registration practices and policies (as detailed in responses to questions 27, 28, 29 of the application for gTLD).
- Protection of trademarks at launch and on-going operations (as detailed in the response to question 29 of the application for gTLD).
- Fair and reasonable wholesale prices.
- Fair and equitable treatment of registrars.
As per the ICANN Registry Agreement, we will use only ICANN-accredited registrars, and will provide non-discriminatory access to registry services to those registrars.
Pricing Policies and Commitments
Pricing for domain names at General Availability will be $0 per domain year. Applicant reserves the right to change this pricing for promotional purposes in a manner available to all accredited registrars. Registry Operator reserves the right to work with ICANN to initiate an increase in the wholesale price of domains if required. Registry Operator will provide reasonable notice to the registrars of any approved price increase.
Privacy Policy
In line with the recognized International practice and for the information of customers and others who visit our RIL and its group companies’ web sites, we believe it is necessary to post a privacy statement. We understand that our customers and web site visitors are concerned about the privacy of information. We have established policies and procedures concerning the collection, use and security of users’ information that will help protect their privacy. Our privacy policies are designed to help us serve our customers⁄visitors while maintaining strict privacy and security standards. Customer confidentiality and privacy are of utmost concern to RIL.
RIL respects the privacy rights and interests of each person and will observe the following principles when processing sensitive ⁄ personal data:
- i) Data will be processed fairly and lawfully
- ii) Data will be collected for specified and legitimate purposes and not processed further in ways incompatible with those purposes which have been duly explained, communicated to and consented to by each person concerned
iii) Data will be relevant to and not excessive for the purposes for which they are collected and used. For example, data may be rendered anonymous when feasible and appropriate, depending on the nature of the data and the risks associated with the intended uses.
- iv) Data will be kept only as long as it is necessary for the purposes for which it was collected and processed and in accordance with data storage requirements under various applicable local laws.
- v) Data will be processed in having full regard to each person’s lawful rights (as described in these Standards or as provided by appropriate law).
- vi) All appropriate technical, physical, and organizational measures will be taken to prevent unauthorized access, unlawful processing, and unauthorized or accidental loss, destruction, or damage to data.
vii) RIL does not release customer information except as directed by law or as per your mandate.
We use information to
- Comply with all applicable laws and regulations
- Help us design or improve our products and services for users benefit.
- Understand users’ needs so that we can provide quality products and superior services.
- To comply with laws, guidelines and regulations that govern the financial services in the country.
Privacy policy is subject to change periodically.