.woodside New gTLD Application
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New gTLD Application Submitted to ICANN by: Woodside Petroleum Limited
Application Downloaded On: 28 May 2015
String: woodside
Application ID: 1-1948-75990
Applicant Information
- Full legal name
Woodside Petroleum Limited
- Address of the principal place of business
Woodside Plaza
240 St Georges Terrace Perth, Western Australia - 6000 AU
- Phone number
+61 8 9348 4000
- Fax number
+61 8 9214 2777
- If applicable, website or URL
http://www.woodside.com.au
Primary Contact
6(a). Name
Justin Richards
6(b). Title
Systems Engineer
6(c). Address
6(d). Phone Number
+61 8 9348 4778
6(e). Fax Number
N/A
6(f). Email Address
Secondary Contact
7(a). Name
Sirichai Thanissorn
7(b). Title
Technical Specialist
7(c). Address
7(d). Phone Number
+61 8 9348 5547
7(e). Fax Number
7(f). Email Address
Proof of Legal Establishment
8(a). Legal form of the Applicant
Corporation – a company incorporated under the laws of the Commonwealth of Australia
8(b). State the specific national or other jurisdiction that defines the type of entity identified in 8(a).
Commonwealth of Australia
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.
Australian_Securities_Exchange / WPL
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
Andrew Jamieson Director
Christopher Michael Haynes Director
David Ian McEvoy Director
Frank Charles Cooper Non-executive director
Melinda Ann Cilento Director
Michael Alfred Chaney Director
Peter John Coleman Director
Robert James Cole Director
Sarah Elizabeth Ryan Non-executive director
11(b). Name(s) and position(s) of all officers and partners
Name
Position
Greg Roder Executive Vice President, Corporate Strategy and Planning
Lawrie Tremaine Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Michael Utsler Chief Operations Officer
Peter John Coleman Chief Executive Officer
Phil Loader Executive Vice President, Global Exploration
Reinhardt Matisons Senior Vice President Commercial and President Marketing
Robert Edwardes Executive Vice President, Development
Robert James Cole Executive Vice President, Corporate and Commercial
Shaun Gregory Senior Vice President, Sustainability and Technology
Warren Martin Baillie Secretary
11(c). Name(s) and position(s) of all shareholders holding at least 15% of shares
Name
Position
HSBC Custody Nominees (Australia) Limited Shareholder
Shell Energy Holdings Australia Limited Shareholder
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.
woodside
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 .woodside 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
- .woodside 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 .woodside has not already been queried with meaningful frequency at the root. Therefore, it is unlikely that .woodside will inherit significant invalid query traffic.
Due to the positive results of these checks, Woodside Petroleum Limited does not believe that the .woodside 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/).
18A. Describe the mission/purpose of your proposed gTLD.
THE MISSION AND PURPOSE OF THE NEW RESTRICTED .WOODSIDE gTLD IS TO BENEFIT INTERNET USERS BY ENSURING INCREASED TRUST AND CONFIDENCE THROUGH THE ELIMINATION OF USER CONFUSION AND ASSURANCE OF BRAND AUTHENTICITY.
The new .woodside gTLD will operate as a restricted registry, in which Woodside Petroleum Limited (Woodside) can create and control domain spaces that promote its company’s identity and authenticity. In this regard, the .woodside gTLD will be used by Woodside to provide information, services and resources to consumers in a way that promotes trust, convenience and utility. The .woodside gTLD will provide an authoritative internet space for Woodside, its affiliates and partners that are associated with the brand. Second and third level domains can then be utilised for different parts of its business, relevant to its areas of operation, projects or geographic locations, with internet users assured of brand authenticity.
Woodside is an independent Australian oil and gas company playing a key role in supplying energy to the Asia-Pacific region. Woodside is one of the world’s leading producers of liquefied natural gas (LNG), helping to meet the demands for cleaner energy from Japan, China, Korea and other countries in the Asia-Pacific region. In 2011, Woodside delivered sales revenue of $4.8 billion and an operating profit of $1.5 billion. Woodside has offices in Australia, the US, Korea and China and has 3,856 employees worldwide. Woodside’s mission is to create and deliver outstanding, sustained growth in shareholder wealth with a vision to be a world-class LNG leader. 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 continually 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 .woodside gTLD will facilitate greater trust and assurance from internet users connecting with Woodside online, whilst still allowing convenient and efficient interaction.
Woodside’s mission and purpose of the proposed new gTLD share ICANN’s initiatives to promote public interest. Woodside is committed to contribute towards achieving such initiatives in line with ICANN’s Affirmation of Commitments, which includes:
- consumer trust: the .woodside gTLD registry will be operated in a centralised manner with a restrictive registration policy. Registration of domain names will only be available to Woodside and its affiliate entities, which will provide added consumer trust that .woodside domain names are trustworthy. As .woodside domain names are subject to registration standards, policies and procedures under Woodside’s control, this eliminates the possibility of malicious conduct within the .woodside 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. Increased trust in the .woodside 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 Woodside’s marketing efforts through its ability to create new second and third level domain names on demand. These names will provide the consumers with more choices for interacting with Woodside. As Woodside has effective control over the registration and use of domain names under .woodside domain space, this will also contribute towards general service innovations on the internet.
Given the restricted nature of the .woodside gTLD, the projected number of registration is likely to be limited. It is anticipated that a more limited number of domain names (35) will be registered in the first year. However, over the next few years, the number of registrations is likely to increase to about 80 domain names as Woodside develops and implements new services and marketing campaigns.
Woodside intends to create relevant domain names for use including project names, specific operations 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, Woodside will use geographic names to localise its websites in geographic regions in which it has offices, areas of business, operations and projects. 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.
Woodside does not intend to utilise Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs) at the second level initially. However, as the use of the .woodside gTLD evolves, it is anticipated that Woodside will utilise IDNs within the .woodside domain space to allow internet users to engage with .woodside in their native language, creating a more positive user experience and encouraging diversity.
Woodside is a well-recognised global brand with its trademarks registered in 10 countries and territories in which it operates in the categories relevant to the exploration and production of oil and gas, sale of condensate, LNG and similar products.
Further, Woodside has existing domain names which are an exact match to the ‘Woodside’ trademark and applied for string in the .co and .com.au domain spaces. Woodside also have existing domain names containing the ‘Woodside’ trademark and applied for string in the .biz, .com, .net and .xxx gTLDs.
Recently, Woodside was successful in securing sunrise application for the .xxx domain space based on existing trademark registration.
18B. 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 .woodside gTLD are in line with ICANN’s Affirmation of Commitments: to promote consumer trust, competition and consumer choice. Woodside also seeks to foster its online reputation and provide an authoritative internet space through which Woodside is able to communicate with its customers directly and effectively. The new .woodside gTLD will ensure increased global visibility with the potential to attract new investors, customers and employees. 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 .woodside gTLD will make positive contributions to the wider internet community by providing:
DIFFERENTIATION (INCREASED TRUST):
The .woodside gTLD will simplify how internet users interact with Woodside by providing a distinctive domain space; allowing Woodside to position itself as a global player in oil and gas and to create a clear online identity worldwide. Internet users will be able to directly navigate to the .woodside gTLD site, saving time and resources searching for an official site. 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. Woodside can address some of these vulnerabilities by maintaining complete control over the domain names registered under the .woodside domain space. Together with consumer trust, internet users will be able to rely on the authoritativeness of the domain names under .woodside domain space, which will differentiate interaction between internet users and Woodside.
COMPETITION:
The differentiation of .woodside gTLD as a trusted site for Woodside 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 .woodside domain space. As a result, .woodside will have a flow on effect to enable increased competition. Therefore, the benefits of the proposed .woodside 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 global online brand presence to meet their evolving business needs. It is often difficult to register a domain name in the existing domain space due to unavailability of the desired name. This problem is amplified for organisations such as Woodside who work across many different jurisdictions and geographical markets. 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. Woodside has the ability to create second or third level domain names on demand which are relevant to its customer base, projects and operations. Woodside will be able to combine its use of the domain space with innovative user focused marketing 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 .woodside will provide a positive user experience, which meets the changing and growing needs of the global internet community. Woodside 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 Woodside. Therefore, .woodside gTLD will:
- provide an easy and intuitive reference and access point for internet users;
- represent authenticity thus promoting user confidence;
- direct internet users to relevant information in a timely manner by creating domain names on demand;
- 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 and user confidence by eliminating user confusion; and
- prevent potential abuses in the registration process reducing overall costs to businesses and users.
.woodside 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 .woodside 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 affiliate entities of Woodside will be eligible to register domain names in .woodside at this stage. 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.
Woodside 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. Woodside complies with all relevant legislations relevant to its areas of business. This includes acting in accordance with the Australian National Privacy Principles, as set out in the Privacy Act 1988 (Aus).
Woodside also has implemented its own privacy policy to demonstrate its commitment to the protection of user privacy and confidential information. Woodside generally online uses personal information for the purposes for which it was disclosed, unless where such disclosure is necessary to prevent a serious threat to health or safety, or it is required or authorised by law or to enforce the law. Woodside has a strong interest in ensuring a high level of privacy protection for its customers.
As the .woodside gTLD will only be available to affiliate entities of Woodside, 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. Woodside 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, Woodside 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.
Woodside will deploy Domain Name System Security Extensions (DNSSEC) which is intended to benefit both Woodside and its users interacting with Woodside 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 .woodside gTLD. Woodside intends to use SSL to secure any web applications that may use the .woodside gTLD and may also use SSL to encrypt other sections of the corporate website in the future. Woodside already implements measures to protect privacy or confidential information of its users against misuse, loss, alteration and unauthorised access.
Woodside 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 .woodside domain space.
18(B)VI. DESCRIBE WHETHER AND IN WHAT WAYS OUTREACH AND COMMUNICATIONS WILL HELP TO ACHIEVE YOUR PROJECTED BENEFITS.
The proposed new gTLD will be publicised by a media plan to promote recognition of the new gTLD within the internet community to be a trusted site and as a sign of authenticity.
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.
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?
As a restricted gTLD, registration will only be open to internal users (affiliate entities) and no third parties will be able to register domain names under .woodside domain space. Therefore, it is not anticipated that third party trademark owners will incur costs in relation to the .woodside gTLD. The affiliate entities wishing to register domain names must ensure that all the policy requirements for registration are satisfied. Woodside 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.
No unaffiliated third party will be permitted to register domain names. 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 .woodside 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 use of the proposed new gTLD will be restricted to internal business use and Woodside and affiliate entities are intended to be the registrants under the .woodside 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, 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, so pricing incentives or pricing increases are not applicable or relevant as no additional fees are to be charged.