07 August 2025

.WTC New gTLD Application

07 August 2025

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New gTLD Application Submitted to ICANN by: World Trade Centers Association, Inc.

String: WTC

Originally Posted: 13 June 2012

Application ID: 1-1275-26828

Applicant Information

Full legal name

World Trade Centers Association, Inc.

Address of the principal place of business

120 Broadway

Suite 3350

New York NY 10271

Phone number

+1 212 432 2648

Fax number

+1 212 488 0064

If applicable, website or URL

http:⁄⁄www.wtca.org

Primary Contact

6(a). Name

Michael Rodenbaugh

6(b). Title

Founder--Rodenbaugh Law

6(c). Address

6(d). Phone Number

+14157388087

6(e). Fax Number

+14157388087

6(f). Email Address

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

Secondary Contact

7(a). Name

Scott Anthony Richie

7(b). Title

General Counsel

7(c). Address

7(d). Phone Number

+01 212 432 2648

7(e). Fax Number

+01 212 488 0064

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).

Delaware

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

Annie Suk Ching Wu Director

Antonio Trueba Bustamante Board Vice Chairman -Secretary

Charlotte Gallogly Director

Chih-Kang Wang Director

Gilberto Bousquet Bomeny Director

Guillermo Antonio Ronderos Torres Director

Haluk Kanca Director

Jerome Toulemonde Director

John Adeyemi Adeleke Director

John Edward Drew Board Vice Chairman - Treasurer

Kamel Ghazi Abdel Rahman Abu Nahl Chairman

Lawrence Lynn Boudreaux III Director

Lew Wallace Cramer Director

Liao Xiaoqi Director

Martin Douglas Salloum Director

Mehran Eftekhar Director

Michael Bennet Meyer Director

Ousama Gabi George Ghannoum Director

Philippe Louis Doubre Director

Pierre-Antoine Gailly Director

Rolf Draak DIrector

Vijay Govardhandas Kalantri DIrector

Vladimir Yurievich Salamatov Director

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

Eric Randolph Dahl Chief Executive Officer

Isabella Angelica Heule Executive Vice President

Niurka Coteron Blankiet Director of Corporate Services ⁄ Comptroller

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.

WTC

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.
A number of operational and rendering issues may arise with the delegation, and subsequent operation and use of a new TLD. Some of these issues may be experienced just by the users of one or two particular TLDs, due to the nature or composition of the string itself; whereas other issues (such as software support) may be experienced across all new TLDs.

Evaluation of the potential operational and rendering issues for this TLD was delegated to ARI. ARI is experienced with:

– The operational issues of operating TLDs.

– TLDs that offer registrations at the third level (eg .com.au, .net.au) and below.

– The rendering and operational issues surrounding the introduction of IDNs.

ARI has executed a suite of tests to evaluate any issues arising from the use of the TLD string. ARI configured a test environment that consisted of DNS software, web server software, and an email server configured for sample domains in this TLD. Where possible, ARI attempted to test many equivalent applications, however the number of and different versions of applications means that testing was limited to the most common environments.

The tests executed by ARI indicate that this TLD is subject to the same issues already experienced by TLDs in the root, which are neither new nor unique. A summary of the common issues is provided below:

– Some applications make assumptions about known valid TLDs and fail to recognize new TLDs.

– Some Non-IDN aware applications require the user to provide input in A-labels.

– Some IDN aware applications present the user with the domain name using A-labels instead of U-labels.

– Some IDN aware applications fail to render IRIs in a manner consistent with user expectations.

To mitigate these issues, ARI will work with us to ensure that maintainers of applications are made aware of the delegation and operation of this TLD. When relevant, we will refer the maintainers to the verification code produced by ICANN in the area for Universal Acceptance of All Top Level Domains such that operational issues can be mitigated for other TLDs.

ARI and us will work with maintainers of applications to provide subject matter knowledge where required, and provide directions to the tools provided by third parties such as the International Components for Unicode project and other groups, that can assist the application maintainer in adding the required support. User education may be required enabling users to configure their applications for correct functioning of this TLD. An informational section on the TLD website will be considered to address questions raised by the Internet community.

The steps ARI will take to mitigate these issues are more than adequate. Thus, we do not believe this TLD raises stability concerns and there is no reason that it should be denied on an operational and rendering issues bases.

(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 .WTC TLD is intended to benefit Internet users by enabling The Company to communicate more easily and effectively with all Internet users, and particularly with The Company’s licensed Members who operate World Trade Center facilities around the world (“Affiliates”), their employees and the businesses who use the Affiliates’ World Trade Center facilities and services. The TLD will become a supporting branding, technology and services platform for The Company’s mission and its Affiliates’ businesses.

The Company is a long established and well known multinational corporation, with more than 40 years of history. It was incorporated in 1969 and officially established in 1970. Its headquarters are located in New York, NY, U.S.A. The Company is currently comprised of more than 325 licensed Affiliates, carrying out business in over 90 countries, and has a total workforce of 18 headquarters staff and more than an estimated 500 Affiliate employees.

The Company is now a leading trade association in the promotion of international trade. The Company’s revenues from license fees and annual membership dues for the fiscal year 2011 were US$6,926,485, with investments (cash and unrestricted holdings) in excess of US$10.5 million.

The Company has established a long term, sustainable vision for the development of its business, which includes promoting and protecting its “WORLD TRADE CENTER” brand and enabling its world-wide Affiliate World Trade Centers to share best-practices for operating state-of-the-art office facilities and exhibition centers and for providing training, market information, programs and resources to facilitate international trade among the businesses serviced by the Affiliates. The Company’s strong Internet presence, along with technologies such as the world wide web and email, are central to this development. The Company envisions that the .WTC TLD and the domain names registered under it will be a great opportunity to interact online with current and potential Affiliates and their business customers.

“WORLD TRADE CENTER” and “WTC” are the principal trademark registrations held by The Company, and are the key components of the international corporate brand name of The Company. The name “WORLD TRADE CENTER” was first used in 1961, and is now the registered trademark of The Company in more than 75 jurisdictions. The “WTC” brand was first created in 1968, and has been used since then to represent The Company and its products and services. The Company has registered its “WTC” corporate brand as a trademark in 23 jurisdictions worldwide, with registrations pending in another 13 jurisdictions. For consumers, this brand name is very closely associated with The Company and its products and services.

The .WTC Registry will provide an Internet space, under control of The Company, to allow the distribution and exchange of information among The Company and its Affiliates by means of, but not limited to, websites, social networks, email and other technologies that will reside within the .WTC domain name space.

The Company intends initially to reserve all names within the TLD to itself, and to primarily register and use any of those domain names for promotional and navigational purposes relating to The Company’s and its Affiliates’ online presence and⁄or provision of goods and services.

Affiliates’ licenses will limit the use of the domain name to purposes specified by The Company. Such terms would be enforced via monitoring and quick action to mitigate any negative effects of any such abuse, if any. Licenses of the domain names could be revoked by The Company at any time in the event The Company determines there has been a breach of any license.

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

The .WTC TLD is intended to benefit Internet users by enabling The Company to communicate more easily and effectively with all Internet users, and particularly with The Company’s many Affiliates, employees and the Affiliates’ businesses. Internet users will benefit from a more distinctive and trustworthy Internet experience in dealing with The Company and its Affiliates. The Company expects to benefit from the TLD by increased and more effective brand recognition in its marketing and communications, and by having an ample supply of relevant and available domain names to use in its business. It is anticipated that these available domains will replace the various TLD and sub-domain names currently employed by many of The Company’s Affiliates or held by unlicensed third parties, which has resulted in a multiplicity of inconsistent domains that confuse Internet users who wish to communicate and do business with authorized licensed World Trade Centers around the world. In addition, by allowing The Company to establish the naming- and use-protocols for the .WTC TLD’s domains licensed to The Company’s Affiliates, the TLD will permit The Company to have greater control over its online brand and services, including but not limited to robust trust and security features. In turn, those benefits are certain to result in a better Internet user experience, particularly for those Internet users interested in The Company and its Affiliates’ products and services.

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

The TLD ultimately is intended to function as The Company’s online branding and services platform. A key component of The Company’s network of Affiliates is the concept that Affiliates provide reciprocal services for the vetted business customers of other authorized Affiliates. Having authorized domains within the .WTC TLD assigned to each Affiliate and its respective business customers will provide assurance to Affiliates that their reciprocal services are being sought by, and provided to, only those vetted customers of other authorized Affiliates. The TLD is intended to function with leading-edge technologies and business practices, ensuring a trustworthy and positive user experience. The goal is to use the .WTC TLD as the home for The Company’s and its Affiliates’ online infrastructure, services and marketing, including a planned business-to-business platform that will facilitate trading transactions between authorized Affiliates and their business customers and encourage Internet users to interact online with The Company and its Affiliates.

The Company anticipates having an ample supply of relevant domain names available for its use, which will assist in marketing all of The Company’s products, delivering products and services, and developing new services.

The Company anticipates that Affiliates could license use of domains within the TLD from The Company. However, such licenses could only be made via contract which limits the use of the domain names to purposes specified by The Company. Such terms would be enforced via monitoring, and violations could lead to termination of the license

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

The TLD will provide an alternative for The Company and its stakeholders to the current TLDs. The branded nature of the TLD will serve as a differentiation force, as a distinctive name space that simplifies users’ choice to interact with The Company and⁄or its Affiliates. For example, many users more likely will be able to directly navigate to intuitive domains and subdomains, saving time and resources from first accessing a search engine.

As many industry insiders predict there will be many new “.BRAND” TLDs, it is expected that consumers will learn to distinguish them from the existing TLDs and from new generic, geographical or cultural TLDs. Today, these brands are used and distinguished in the online marketplace and in the bricks and mortar world. Consumers will continue to distinguish them even as these brands will now be represented at the top level of the DNS. The very use by The Company of domains within the TLD ultimately should impact competition by lessening the amount of domain registrations that The Company registers and maintains with existing registration providers. This effect, multiplied by many companies who choose to own and operate their own TLDs, should result in increased competition among the existing registration providers. They will need to compete more fiercely for the remaining business interest in their existing TLDs, and with many new organizations offering use and⁄or registration of new TLD domain names. The logical effect should be lower pricing and better service for all Internet users.

The .WTC TLD will allow The Company to innovate and create many uses for domain names which today are too complicated, or are unforeseen. Today, it is often difficult to find a relevant and easily available domain name from existing registration providers. Even if one is found, often pricing is prohibitive because the domain name is only available on the secondary market. All new domains must be purchased from third parties and then managed as corporate assets. These expenses and complications can be dramatically reduced over time. Furthermore, an ample supply of immediately available, inexpensive domain names relevant to The Company is likely to pay dividends in ways we do not currently foresee.

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

The TLD ultimately is intended to function as The Company’s online branding and services platform. It is intended to function with leading-edge technologies and business practices, ensuring a trustworthy and positive user experience. The goal is to use The Company’s online infrastructure, services and marketing to encourage Internet users to interact online with The Company and its Affiliates.

More specifically, The Company intends for users to perceive the TLD as a trustworthy indicator of the source of The Company’s online information and services, and the authorized Affiliates and their business customers who communicate via the TLD’s domains. The Company intends to use advanced technical and policy measures to ensure the security of online transactions and communications, and to ensure that domain names in the TLD are only used for purposes authorized by The Company. The Company intends to provide a safe and legitimate Internet space, enhancing user experience by mitigating security-associated risks.

The TLD will reinforce the ideals of The Company. Therefore, domains within the TLD will only be used for purposes authorized by The Company. Policies to define and address any potential abuse of any domain name within the TLD will be established and enforced, to constantly reinforce the .WTC experience and the reputation of the space. These policies are described in further detail below in further response to this Question 18, and in response to Questions 26, 28 and 29.

In addition, the TLD will provide an easily navigable and predictable domain name space. For example, geographicnames.WTC for locations of The Company’s localized websites, function.WTC for websites related to that company function, product.WTC for websites related to that product. All of this will lessen users’ confusion when interacting online with The Company and its Affiliates.

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

The Company intends to be the sole registrant of domain names within the TLD. This will ensure that such domain names only are used for purposes authorized by The Company. Only relatively few, specifically designated employees of The Company will have authority to authorize the use of any such domain names by The Company’s Affiliates and their business customers, whose access and use will be subject to protocols set by The Company.

To the extent that The Company authorizes Affiliates to use any such domain names, a written license will ensure that The Company maintains control over all use of the domain name(s). That license will include specific guidelines and restrictions relating to use of the domain name(s), including but not limited to specific prohibitions against:

- Illegal or fraudulent actions;

- Spam

- Phishing

- Pharming

- Willful distribution of malware: (Computer viruses, worms, keyloggers, and trojan horses etc)

- Botnet command and control

- Distribution of child pornography;

- Illegal Access to Other Computers or Networks

- Defamation of The Company, its businesses, employees, etc.

Use of any and all licensed TLD domains will be monitored, and compliance with the contractual restrictions and guidelines will be enforced. Violations of any restrictions, guidelines or other contractual conditions may result in termination of the registration and⁄or accompanying license. Indeed, such licenses to .WTC domain registrations will be revocable by The Company at any time, for any reason. Further policies will be implemented to prevent abuse of any TLD domain names, to monitor for such abuse and quickly mitigate any negative effects, and to set observable goals by which these policy implementations can be measured. Such policies are further described in the responses to Questions 28 and 29.

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.

The Company intends for users to perceive the TLD as a trustworthy indicator of the source of The Company’s online information and services. User trust is enhanced when users are confident that they are in fact interacting with the website and service they are intending to interact with, and that their private or confidential information is securely protected. The Company intends to use advanced technical and policy measures to reasonably ensure the security of online transactions and communications, and to reasonably ensure that domain names in the TLD are only used for purposes authorized by The Company. The Company intends to provide a safe and legitimate Internet space, enhancing user experience by mitigating security-associated risks.

The Company intends to deploy DNSSEC and to comply with all of the other policies and practices required by ICANN in the Registry Agreement and⁄or via any Consensus Policy. And of course, The Company complies with all applicable laws and regulations relating to Internet security and the privacy of users’ confidential information. Furthermore, The Company already employs commercially reasonable practices with respect to the security of online transactions and users’ private or confidential information.

Further policies to protect information from abuse are stated in the responses to Questions 28 and 29.

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

The Company intends ultimately to use the TLD in many of its marketing initiatives, and in relation to many of its core operations and services. Use of the TLD in this way will effectively outreach and communicate to the intended audience the availability of the TLD, not only for the specific purpose at hand but also for more general or intuitive purposes. For example, a user who first sees an advertisement for product.WTC may later directly navigate to search.WTC to search for other products of The Company. Besides The Company’s own specific efforts to communicate the newTLD to its intended audience, The Company expects that audience and relevant media to further communicate the TLD as they communicate about The Company.

In sum, outreach and communication are important in order to achieve the projected benefits of the TLD, but also will be inherent in The Company’s use of the TLD, and further will be enhanced by the viral nature of communications about The Company. As it seems there will be many other .WTC TLDs presented to Internet users, it is expected that the outreach, communications and media relating to each of them, individually, will lead to collective benefit insofar as many Internet users will quickly grasp the concept behind these TLDs, and will expect many companies to operate them in generally consistent ways.

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

In general, The Company intends for users to perceive the TLD as a trustworthy and intuitive indicator of the source of The Company’s online information and services. The Company intends to use advanced technical and policy measures to ensure the security and reliability of online transactions and communications taking place on domains within the TLD, and to ensure that domain names in the TLD are only used for purposes authorized by The Company. The Company intends to provide a safe and trustworthy Internet space, enhancing user experience by mitigating security-associated risks.

The TLD will reinforce the ideals of The Company. Therefore, domains within the TLD will only be used for purposes authorized by The Company. Policies to define and prevent abuse of TLD domain names will be established and enforced, to constantly ensure the integrity of users’ .WTC experience and the reputation of the TLD. These policies are described in further detail in answer to Questions 28 and 29.

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

The Company does not expect there to be multiple applications for a particular domain name. The Company will be the sole registrant of all domain names in the TLD, and will decide the most appropriate use for each domain, in the interests of Internet users who wish to interact or communicate with The Company and its Affiliates. The Company will maintain control over the registration and use of all domain names in the TLD, such that use of all domains in the TLD will inure to the benefit of Internet users who wish to interact or communicate with The Company and its Affiliates.

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

Do you intend to make contractual commitments to registrants regarding the magnitude of price escalation?

The Company will be the sole registrant of all domains in the TLD, in the interests of Internet users who wish to interact or communicate with The Company and its Affiliates. There will be cost benefits to those users, via easier navigation and more trustworthy interaction with The Company and its Affiliates. They should intuitively come to know and use .WTC domain names to directly navigate to their intended destination. Search engines may be needed less, lowering consumers’ time to get where they wish to go. Once they get there, they will have enhanced confidence that they are dealing directly with The Company or its Affiliates.

To the extent The Company licenses use of the domain names to Affiliates, it is likely that the domain name license will be a small part of a much larger relationship, and thus ‘price’ of the domain registration would be insignificant. Price is further insignificant since the domains could have no value if registered or used in any manner unauthorized by The Company.