.DNP New gTLD Application
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New gTLD Application Submitted to ICANN by: Dai Nippon Printing Co., Ltd.
String: DNP
Originally Posted: 13 June 2012
Application ID: 1-948-69611
Applicant Information
- Full legal name
Dai Nippon Printing Co., Ltd.
- Address of the principal place of business
1-1-1, Ichigaya-Kagacho, Shinjuku-ku
Tokyo 162-8001
JP
- Phone number
+81352258230
- Fax number
+81352258083
- If applicable, website or URL
http:⁄⁄www.dnp.co.jp⁄eng⁄
Primary Contact
6(a). Name
Mr. Shuichi Mamada
6(b). Title
Assistant General Manager
6(c). Address
6(d). Phone Number
+81352258230
6(e). Fax Number
6(f). Email Address
Secondary Contact
7(a). Name
Mr. Hiroya Tsukahara
7(b). Title
Representative Director and CEO
7(c). Address
7(d). Phone Number
+81354561601
7(e). Fax Number
+81 3 3780 2611
7(f). Email Address
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).
The formation, organization, operation and management of companies are governed by the provisions of the “Companies Act” as set forth by the Ministry of Justice of Japan.
(Reference : http:⁄⁄law.e-gov.go.jp⁄htmldata⁄H17⁄H17HO086.html)
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.
Tokyo_Stock_Exchange;7912
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
Kazumasa Hiroki Managing Director
Kenji Noguchi Standing Statutory Auditor
Koichi Takanami Executive Vice President
Kuniaki Nomura Outside Statutory Auditor
Kunikazu Akishige Managing Director
Makoto Matsuura Outside Statutory Auditor
Masahiko Wada Senior Managing Director
Masaki Tsukada Managing Director
Masayoshi Yamada Executive Vice President
Minoru Yoneda Standing Statutory Auditor
Mitsuhiko Hakii Senior Managing Director
Motoharu Kitajima Managing Director
Osamu Tsuchida Senior Managing Director
Sakae Hikita Managing Director
Satoshi Saruwatari Executive Vice President
Shin-ichi Ikeda Outside Standing Auditor
Tadao Tsukada Outside Director
Takao Shimizu Managing Director
Teruomi Yoshino Senior Managing Director
Tetsuji Morino Managing Director
Yoshiaki Nagano Managing Director
Yoshiki Nozaka Managing Director
Yoshinari Kitajima Executive Vice President
Yoshitoshi Kitajima President
Yujiro Kuroda Senior Managing Director
11(b). Name(s) and position(s) of all officers and partners
Kazumasa Hiroki Managing Director
Kenji Noguchi Standing Statutory Auditor
Koichi Takanami Executive Vice President
Kuniaki Nomura Outside Statutory Auditor
Kunikazu Akishige Managing Director
Makoto Matsuura Outside Statutory Auditor
Masahiko Wada Senior Managing Director
Masaki Tsukada Managing Director
Masayoshi Yamada Executive Vice President
Minoru Yoneda Standing Statutory Auditor
Mitsuhiko Hakii Senior Managing Director
Motoharu Kitajima Managing Director
Osamu Tsuchida Senior Managing Director
Sakae Hikita Managing Director
Satoshi Saruwatari Executive Vice President
Shin-ichi Ikeda Outside Standing Auditor
Tadao Tsukada Outside Director
Takao Shimizu Managing Director
Teruomi Yoshino Senior Managing Director
Tetsuji Morino Managing Director
Yoshiaki Nagano Managing Director
Yoshiki Nozaka Managing Director
Yoshinari Kitajima Executive Vice President
Yoshitoshi Kitajima President
Yujiro Kuroda Senior Managing Director
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.
DNP
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.
GMO Registry (backend registry) has conducted technical analysis on the applied-for string, and concluded that there are no known potential operational or rendering issues associated with the string.
The following sections discuss the potential operational or rendering problems that can arise, and how the applicant mitigates them.
- Compliance and Interoperability
The applied-for string conforms to all relevant RFCs, as well as the string requirements set forth in Section 2.2.1.3.2 of the Applicant Guidebook.
- Mixing Scripts
If a domain name label contains characters from different scripts, it has a higher likelihood of encountering rendering issues. If the mixing of scripts occurs within the top-level label, any rendering issue would affect all domain names registered under it. If occurring within second level labels, its ill-effects are confined to the domain names with such labels.
All characters in the applied-for gTLD string are taken from a single script. In addition, the applicantʹs IDN policies are deliberately conservative and compliant with the ICANN Guidelines for the Implementation of IDN Version 3.0. Specifically, the applicant does not allow mixed-script labels to be registered at the second level, except for languages with established orthographies and conventions that require the commingled use of multiple scripts, e.g. Japanese.
- Interaction Between Labels
Even with the above issue appropriately restricted, it is possible that a domain name composed of labels with different properties such as script and directionality may introduce unintended rendering behavior.
The applicant adopts a conservative strategy when offering IDN registrations. In particular, it ensures that any IDN language tables used for offering IDN second level registrations involve only scripts and characters that would not pose a risk when combined with the top level label.
- Immature Scripts
Scripts or characters added in Unicode versions newer than 3.2 (on which IDNA2003 was based) may encounter interoperability issues due to the lack of software support.
The applicant does not currently plan to offer registration of labels containing such scripts or characters.
- Other Issues
To further contain the risks of operation or rendering problems, the applicant currently does not offer registration of labels containing combining characters or characters that require IDNA contextual rules handling. It may reconsider this decision in cases where a language has a clear need for such characters.
The applicant understands that the following may be construed as operational or rendering issues, but considers them out of the scope of this question. Nevertheless, it will take reasonable steps to protect registrants and Internet users by working with vendors and relevant language communities to mitigate such issues.
- missing fonts causing string to fail to render correctly; and
- universal acceptance of the TLD;
- (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.
Dai Nippon Printing Co., Ltd. (the Applicant) was founded in 1876 as a printing company called Shueisha. The companyʹs aspiration was to contribute to societal development by conducting business that would help to modernize Japan. This was truly the ʺmanagement conceptʺ underlying the founding of the company. This goal of contributing to society has been carried over into the ʺDNP Group Vision for the 21st Centuryʺ and serves as the foundation for DNPʹs various activities, notably the .DNP new gTLD.
.DNP is a domain for Dai Nippon Printing Co., Ltd. and its stakeholders. The primary purpose of .DNP is to consolidate Dai Nippon Printing-related domain names registered under various TLDs into an official extension, the .DNP TLD. In addition, Dai Nippon Printing aims to achieve the following goals with the .DNP TLD:
- Alleviating user confusion and improving convenience for Internet users
Dai Nippon Printing has registered many domain names under various gTLDs and ccTLDs not only for actual use but also as a trademark protection measure. Despite these efforts, there exist many domain name registrations and websites that infringe the Applicant’s trademarks. As a result, Internet users often have difficulty differentiating bona fide websites from fraudulent ones. Positioning .DNP as the official domain for the service, and unifying the brand’s web presence under .DNP, would provide easy access and interaction, and it is believed that this would reduce confusion and improve user experience.
- Marketing ⁄ Branding
Since .DNP is a brand new TLD that directly represents a brand name, it is expected to be a highly effective marketing and branding tool. The Applicant believes that .DNP will not only reinforce the service brand on the Internet, but also attract people to visit the website because .DNP domain names make it easier for Internet users to access to the information related to the service brand.
- Simplifying domain name management
The third purpose for applying for .DNP is to simplify the management of domain names registered. As stated earlier, the company has many domain names under various TLDs, posing a challenge in dealing with different registration and operation rules, log-in systems, etc. .DNP would make it possible to manage domain names under its own rules and systems umbrella and would replace various domain names with .DNP domain names. As a consequence, it will be safer and easier for the .DNP stakeholders to manage their domain names.
18(b). How do you expect that your proposed gTLD will benefit registrants, Internet users, and others?
- What is the goal of your proposed gTLD in terms of areas of specialty, service levels, or reputation?
Specialty
.DNP is a TLD for Dai Nippon Printing and its stakeholders. .DNP is different from other common TLDs in that second level domain name registrations will not be open to the public. .DNP is a ʺbrand TLDʺ, which is a new type of TLD that is expected to have increased marketing and branding power. Registrants of .DNP domain names will be pioneers in benefitting from the value of a ʺbrand TLDʺ. Also, all information sent or published from .DNP will be official and that means the information is dependable. .DNP directly expresses the name of the brand, making it easy to remember and associate with products and services of Dai Nippon Printing and its stakeholders. Dai Nippon Printing hopes that the .DNP character string will be easy-to-understand, easy-to-remember and that people recognize it as trustworthy.
Service Levels
In terms of service levels, Dai Nippon Printing (the Applicant) aims to operate the .DNP TLD in a secure and stable manner, adopting industry best practices where applicable. The Applicant’s operational goals are to have DNS load dispersion that is resistant to DDoS attacks, industry-leading level of Whois information change and DNS record change reflection time, substantial registrar support, and abuse window operation 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
The Applicant will also implement proven security measures at every level of the .DNP business and technical operation to provide maximum protection for its stakeholders. This includes stringent security policies and procedures, as well as comprehensive abuse handling mechanisms to mitigate security threats to the TLD. In addition, the Applicant will strive to provide an outstanding level of technical and operational support to the registrars.
Reputation
Aims for the reputation of .DNP are
- for .DNP to become well recognized as Dai Nippon Printing’s official TLD, and
- for the .DNP name space to become one which Internet users can access with confidence.
- What do you anticipate your proposed gTLD will add to the current space, in terms of competition, differentiation, or innovation?
The Applicant believes that company⁄brand name TLDs such as .DNP will promote competition, differentiation, and innovation for domain name registrants, Internet users, and business.
.DNP is a new type of TLD in that the top-level string, not the second level, represents the brand name. It has several important elements of a good Internet address: direct, simple, easy-to-understand, and memorable. These elements are also important for marketing and branding activities, therefore Dai Nippon Printing expects that the TLD will play a stronger part than ever in marketing activities.
The existence of this kind of differentiated TLD will encourage domain name registrants to consider the top-level as well as the second level when choosing an appropriate identity on the Internet. Also, registries and registrars will be encouraged to differentiate in terms of services, operations, systems, pricing, support, etc., promoting positive competition, differentiation, and innovation.
In addition, .DNP is different from other existing TLDs because it will be only available to Dai Nippon Printing and its stakeholders. With its restrictive rules and comprehensive abuse handling processes, the Applicant expects minimal abusive domain name registrations in the .DNP name space. This means that information provided by .DNP will be reliable and Internet users will be able to enjoy the name space with confidence. .DNP will deliver unprecedented trust to Internet users, which the Applicant believes will spur further positive competition and innovation in the industry.
- What goals does your proposed gTLD have in terms of user experience?
In terms of user experience, .DNP aims to provide a name space recognized by Internet users in general as one that:
- provides access to Dai Nippon Printing related information safely and effectively,
- facilitates discovery of new things about Dai Nippon Printing, and
- is meaningful and trustworthy.
- Provide a complete description of the Applicant’s intended registration policies in support of the goals listed above.
In order to achieve the goals stated above, the plans for .DNP domain name registration policies are as follows. All .DNP TLD registrars and registrants must agree to abide by the policies. Failure to comply with the policies may result in denial, cancelation or transfer of any registration or transaction, or domain name being placed on lock, hold or similar status.
Registration Eligibility
Domain name registrations for .DNP will be limited to the following organizations:
- Dai Nippon Printing Co., Ltd.
- Companies listed on the asset securities reports of Dai Nippon Printing Co., Ltd.
- Unconsolidated subsidiaries of Dai Nippon Printing Co., Ltd.
- Affiliate companies of Dai Nippon Printing Co., Ltd.
Important Note: No individual-basis registrations will be allowed. In other words, the board members, employees, and contract staff of the companies listed above are not permitted to be registrants of .DNP domain names.
Verification of Registration Eligibility
Registration and management of .DNP domain names will be via the .DNP dedicated account provided by a .DNP accredited registrar. Access to the .DNP dedicated account will be limited to the registrants and their authorized administrative contacts, subject to verification of registration eligibility. The verification will be conducted by the Applicant, and organizations that wish to apply for a .DNP dedicated account will be required to provide proof of registration eligibility to the applicant via a .DNP accredited registrar. All .DNP domain name registration phases are subject to the verification. Proposed valid forms of documentary proof include, but are not limited to,
- company seal (registered or unregistered)
- signature of management staff
The Applicant will conduct verification on a per-registrant basis only. Once verified, the registrant or its authorized administrative contact will have access to the .DNP dedicated account, through which it may apply for multiple .DNP domain names without further verification, under the condition that the registrant and administrative contact information of an applied-for domain name are identical to that which the applicant has verified. If there are any material changes to the verified information, the registrant or administrative contact must notify the change.
Accuracy of Registration Information and Restriction of Whois Proxy
The Applicant believes that it is important to maintain and publish correct Whois data; registrants will be required to provide and maintain accurate, complete, and current Whois data. In addition, no Whois protection service of any kind will be allowed.
Draft Abusive Use Policy
The Applicant defines abuse as any activity that may harm the stability and security of the DNS and Internet, including, but not limited to:
- Illegal or fraudulent activities;
- Phishing;
- Pharming;
- Using or distributing malicious software (malware);
- Sending unsolicited bulk messages (spam);
- Posting, trading, or exchanging information that harms minors; and
- Posting information that is offensive to public order or morals.
The Applicant reserves the right to deny, cancel or transfer any registration or transaction, or place any domain name on lock, hold or similar status, at its sole discretion, to enforce the policy.
In addition, the applicant intends to set up an abuse support window (abuse report form and abuse support window) for .DNP operating 24 hours a day, 365 days a year to be able to provide prompt responses to abuse activities.
In case an abuse use is reported, GMO (registry backend provider) will promptly take appropriate measures in accordance with the suspension flow provided separately (Please refer to Question 28).
Uniform Rapid Suspension (URS) System
The applicant is committed to adopting and abiding by the URS System for trademark owners who seek a rapid system to take down domain names which infringe on their rights.
Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP)
UDRP is applicable to all .DNP domain name registrations.
- 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.
.DNP will comply with the applicable laws of Japan, as well as applicable ICANN consensus policies. As part of its responsibility as the registry operator of the .DNP TLD, the applicant will exercise due care to protect all information it receives from registrants or users through registrars, and will not disclose such information to any third party, with the exception of public Whois data.
The .DNP registration policies only allow registrations by companies and not individuals. As such, the applicant will publish on Whois all information required by ICANN as it regards all required information to be public. The applicant believes that it is important to maintain Whois data accuracy, and no Whois protection service of any kind will be allowed.
Describe whether and in what ways outreach and communications will help to achieve your projected benefits.
.DNP is intended exclusively for Dai Nippon Printing and its stakeholders. Therefore, Dai Nippon Printing will direct its outreach and communications efforts towards raising awareness of the .DNP identity among Internet users. By consolidating the company-related domain names under the .DNP umbrella, Dai Nippon Printing hopes to gain mindshare among users, thereby contributing to the projected benefits stated above.
18(c). What operating rules will you adopt to eliminate or minimize social costs?
- How will multiple applications for a particular domain name be resolved, for example, by auction or on a first-come⁄first-serve basis?
Multiple applications for a particular domain name for all registration phases will be resolved on a first-come⁄first-served basis.
- Explain any cost benefits for registrants you intend to implement (e.g., advantageous pricing, introductory discounts, bulk registration discounts).
.DNP will not be available to the general public, so the Applicant is not planning to offer cost benefits for registrants at this point. The company promises equal treatment for all .DNP registrars.
- Note that the Registry Agreement requires that registrars be offered the option to obtain initial domain name registrations for periods of one to ten years at the discretion of the registrar, but no greater than ten years. Additionally, the Registry Agreement requires advance written notice of price increases. Do you intend to make contractual commitments to registrants regarding the magnitude of price escalation? If so, please describe your plans.
The registration period for .DNP domain names is as follows:
General Registration
- Minimum of 1 year and maximum of 10 years (but no greater than 10 years)
All Phases other than General Registration Phase
- Minimum of 2 years and maximum of 10 years (but no greater than 10 years)
Due to the nature of the domain, which is to be used by Dai Nippon Printing and its affiliates without a fee, there won’t be any price increases. Notwithstanding, the Applicant will provide an advance written notice of price increases as required by the Registry Agreement, and does not intend to make contractual commitments to registrants regarding the magnitude of price escalation.