.latrobe New gTLD Application
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New gTLD Application Submitted to ICANN by: La Trobe University
String: latrobe
Originally Posted: 13 June 2012
Application ID: 1-2074-51517
Applicant Information
- Full legal name
La Trobe University
- Address of the principal place of business
La Trobe University
Bundoora Victoria 3086
AU
- Phone number
+61 3 9479 1111
- Fax number
+61 3 9478 5814
- If applicable, website or URL
http:⁄⁄www.latrobe.edu.au
Primary Contact
6(a). Name
Mr. david Alexander hird
6(b). Title
Head Security Standards and Compliance
6(c). Address
6(d). Phone Number
+61 3 9479 1111
6(e). Fax Number
+ 61 3 9479 1991
6(f). Email Address
Secondary Contact
7(a). Name
Mr. Gerard Damian Doyle
7(b). Title
Director & CIO
7(c). Address
7(d). Phone Number
+61 3 9479 1111
7(e). Fax Number
+61 3 9479 1991
7(f). Email Address
Proof of Legal Establishment
8(a). Legal form of the Applicant
Non-Profit Educational Institution
8(b). State the specific national or other jursidiction that defines the type of entity identified in 8(a).
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.
9(b). If the applying entity is a subsidiary, provide the parent company.
N⁄A
9(c). If the applying entity is a joint venture, list all joint venture partners.
N⁄A
Applicant Background
11(a). Name(s) and position(s) of all directors
11(b). Name(s) and position(s) of all officers and partners
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
Adrian McMillan Elected Undergraduate Student
Adrienne Elizabeth Clarke Chancellor
Andrew Douglas Mackenzie Eddy Governor in Council Appointee
Ann Margaret Kuypers Elected Non Professorial Academic Staff Member
Anthony Joseph De Domenico Governor in Council Appointee
Graeme John McMahon Council Appointee
Jamila Gordon Council Appointee
Jeffrey Harold Rosewarne Ministerial Appointee
Jennifer June Williams Governor in Council Appointee
Joane Jonathan Elected Postgraduate Student
John Alexander McKenzie Deputy Chancellor
John Kinley Dewar Vice-Chancellor
Jonelle Edith Green Elected Professorial Academic Staff Member
Marilyn Anne Anderson Elected Professorial Academic Staff Member
Richard Allen Guy Governor in Council Appointee
Simon Francis Crowe Chair Academic Board
William John Kelty Council Appointee
Applied-for gTLD string
- Provide the applied-for gTLD string. If an IDN, provide the U-label.
latrobe
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.
The .latrobe 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
- .latrobe 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 .latrobe has not already been queried with meaningful frequency at the root. Therefore, it is unlikely that .latrobe will inherit significant invalid query traffic.
Due to the positive results of these checks, La Trobe University does not believe that the .latrobe 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/).
Mission/Purpose
18(a). Describe the mission/purpose of your proposed gTLD.
The mission and purpose of the new restricted .latrobe 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 .latrobe gTLD will operate as a restricted registry, in which La Trobe University (La Trobe) can create and control domain spaces that promote its identity and authenticity as an educational institution. In this regard, .latrobe will be used by La Trobe to provide information, services and resources to users in a way that promotes trust, convenience and utility. The .latrobe gTLD will provide an authoritative internet space for La Trobe, and its affiliates. Second and third level domains can then be utilised for marketing, promotional and other market engagement purposes, with internet users interested in accessing La Trobe’s information, services and resources, assured of brand authenticity.
Established in 1967 under the La Trobe University Act 1964 (Victoria, Australia), La Trobe is one of Australia’s pioneering universities. La Trobe was named after Charles Joseph La Trobe, who was the first Superintendent of the Port Phillip District and the first Lieutenant-Governor of the new colony of Victoria in Australia. La Trobe has grown to become a multi-campus university in Victoria, Australia in locations such as Albury-Wodonga, Bendigo, Mildura, Melbourne City and Shepparton to accommodate over 30,000 students including approximately 7,600 international students from over 90 countries. Today, La Trobe is renowned for its academic excellence and research achievements. Since 2003, La Trobe has consistently been ranked by the Academic Ranking of World Universities, Times Higher Education World University Rankings and QS World University Rankings among the top 500 universities in the world. La Trobe is dedicated to serving the global community through internationalisation, innovative teaching and learning methods, and research. In this regard, user trust and continuous innovation are paramount considerations in all of La Trobe’s activities.
The range of activities increasingly conducted over the internet result in greater levels of interaction between various parties in that forum. All parties, whether end users or those providing services and information over the internet, benefit from an increased ease of interaction, a broader range of choices and ultimately lower transaction costs. At the same time, however, recent developments in this area in the current domain name system has resulted in increased incidences of criminal activities over the internet, including data breach, identity theft, hacking and phishing. These types of criminal activities can result in financial and non-financial loss, as well as reputational damage to organisations; and individuals, and ultimately results in a loss of user confidence and trust in the internet. The .latrobe gTLD will facilitate greater trust and assurance amongst internet users wanting to access La Trobe’s services and resources online and to connect and transact with La Trobe in that environment, without impacting the convenience and efficiency of the online interaction relative to the current system.
La Trobe’s mission and purpose for the proposed new gTLD shares ICANN’s initiatives to promote public interest. La Trobe is committed to contributing towards the achievement of initiatives which are consistent with ICANN’s Affirmation of Commitments. These include:
- user trust: the .latrobe gTLD registry will be operated in a centralised manner with a restrictive registration policy. Registration of domain names will only be available to La Trobe and parties related to La Trobe (including potentially its student body). This will promote user trust that .latrobe domain names are trustworthy. The registration standards, policies and procedures which La Trobe intends to impose upon registrations will eliminate the likelihood of malicious conduct within the .latrobe domain space;
- competition: .latrobe is not intended to instigate competition and user 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 user trust. Increased trust in the .latrobe gTLD will drive existing and new top level domain (TLD) registry operators to make improvements in mechanisms to improve user trust of their TLDs; and
- user choice: .latrobe will enable user-driven improvements and innovations assisting La Trobe’s marketing efforts and educational reach goals, through its ability to create new second and third level domain names on demand. These names will provide the users with more choices for interacting with La Trobe. As La Trobe has effective control over the registration and use of domain names under the .latrobe domain space, this will also contribute towards general service innovations on the internet.
Given the restricted nature of the .latrobe gTLD, the projected number of registrations is likely to be limited. It is anticipated that a limited number of 50 domain names will be registered in the first year. However, over the following years, the number of registrations is likely to increase to about 500 domain names as La Trobe develops and implements not only new services, additional resources and increased scope for marketing campaigns but also increases the scope of services it can provide to its student body by making available registrations for domain names in a related and trusted space. This includes the ability to create related domain names in the second or third level.
As the .latrobe gTLD expands and evolves, La Trobe will continue to comply with all operational, technical and policy requirements, as well as maintaining user trust and the stability of the internet. La Trobe will keep ICANN reasonably informed of any material developments relating to the .latrobe gTLD including compliance with the continued operations instrument obligations as set out in Specification 8 of the Registry Agreement.
At this stage, La Trobe does not intend to use geographic names and⁄or Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs) at the second level. However, as the use of .latrobe evolves, La Trobe may utilise these names supporting the mission and purpose of the .latrobe gTLD. The use of geographic names will be in accordance with the registration policy and the proposed measures for protection of geographic names as outlined in response to Question 22.
La Trobe is an internationally-acclaimed university brand. La Trobe has registered the “La Trobe University” trademark in about 8 countries and territories such as Australia, China, India and Saudi Arabia for the following categories including: Classes 9 (Computer Software); 16 (Printed matter); 41 (Education and training services) and 42 (Research services). La Trobe has pending applications for the “La Trobe University” trademark in Vietnam for Classes 16 and 41.
Further, La Trobe has 3 existing domain names with an exact match to the applied-for .latrobe string including those in the latrobe.edu.au and latrobe.edu spaces, recognising La Trobe as an education provider. La Trobe also holds 8 existing domain names containing the applied-for .latrobe string in latrobemelbourne.edu.au, latrobesydney.edu.au, latrobeonline.com, latrobeonline.net, latrobeonline.com.au, latrobeuni.com.au, latrobeuni.org.au and latrobeuni.net.au.
La Trobe believes that the .latrobe gTLD is unlikely to cause confusion with either a generic term or any existing TLDs. La Trobe is a leading and pioneering university brand with significant reputation in countries all around the world. La Trobe has used the term “La Trobe” in conjunction with its provision of its learning, teaching and research since its establishment in 1967. As such, the La Trobe brand is well known for being a higher education provider.
18(b). 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 .latrobe gTLD are consistent with ICANN’s Affirmation of Commitments: to promote user trust, competition and user choice. La Trobe also seeks to foster its online reputation as an education provider of high repute and provide an authoritative internet space through which La Trobe is able to communicate with its prospective and current student body, supporters, educators, staff, and other related parties, directly and effectively. La Trobe aims to create infinite possibilities for its students, staff and the community through education and research. The ability to create domain names on demand under the .latrobe domain space related to specific initiatives and developments clearly supports these goals. The key purposes for the .latrobe gTLD will be to:
- provide gateways to audience content;
- attract and recruit high quality students and staff (including promoting courses that La Trobe offers);
- enable access to online education;
- promote La Trobe’s achievements and activities;
- promote La Trobe’s quality teaching and the learning experience it offers;
- attract research funding; and
- reinforce the La Trobe brand, and its credibility as a provider of high quality tertiary education and research.
The .latrobe domain space will not only be used as La Trobe’s key marketing and promotional channel, to protect and enhance La Trobe’s brand online but also to support the delivery of high-quality education online. 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 .latrobe gTLD will make positive contributions to the wider internet community by providing:
DIFFERENTIATION (INCREASED TRUST):
The .latrobe gTLD will simplify how internet users, including students and educators, interact with La Trobe for various purposes, by providing a distinctive domain space, where such internet users will be able to easily access the information they need, anytime, anywhere, via a range of devices. With the proposed .latrobe gTLD, internet users will be able to directly navigate to the .latrobe gTLD site, saving time and resources searching for the correct site or sub-site, or for relevant information that resonates with the user. La Trobe seeks to use the .latrobe domain space to provide its internet users with an online experience that would make them feel engaged, empowered and convinced of La Trobe’s transformative possibilities. The proposed .latrobe gTLD will also provide an exciting new way of creating shorter and memorable URLs making it easier and simpler to communicate for educational and related purposes. The current domain name system has shown that it is vulnerable to malicious abuses due to registration of domain names which seek to exploit user confusion. La Trobe can address some of these vulnerabilities by maintaining complete control over the domain names registered under the .latrobe domain space. Together with user trust, internet users will be able to rely on the authoritativeness of the domain names under the .latrobe domain space, which will differentiate interaction between internet users and La Trobe online.
COMPETITION:
The differentiation of the .latrobe gTLD as a trusted site for La Trobe will drive existing and new TLD registry operators to make improvements in mechanisms to improve user trust of their TLDs. Internet users will be encouraged to interact with domain names under the .latrobe domain space. As a result, .latrobe will have a flow on effect to enable increased competition. Therefore, the benefits of the proposed .latrobe gTLD will be distributed not only to its direct users, but to the internet community at large forcing improved and competitive services 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. 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. La Trobe has the ability to create second or third level domain names which are relevant to its user base, services and products. With the ability to create domain names customised by course and by audience type such as mba.latrobe and alumni.latrobe respectively, La Trobe will be able to use the .latrobe domain space to engage with its potential users on a more intimate level. La Trobe 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 user choice.
18(b)iii. WHAT GOALS DOES YOUR PROPOSED GTLD HAVE IN TERMS OF USER EXPERIENCE?
The proposed .latrobe gTLD will provide a positive user experience, which meets the changing and growing needs of the global internet community. La Trobe 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 La Trobe. Therefore, the .latrobe gTLD will:
- provide an easy and intuitive reference and access point for internet users;
- provide shorter and memorable URLs thereby promoting brand recall and making it more communicable for promotional and marketing purposes;
- promote user engagement by providing La Trobe with the ability to create second or third level domain names customised to La Trobe’s courses and audience types such as mba.latrobe and alumni.latrobe respectively;
- represent authenticity thus promoting user confidence;
- direct internet users to relevant information in a timely manner by creating domain names on demand;
- allow the use of IDNs at a later stage to enable users to interact directly in their native language;
- allow the use of geographic names at a later stage 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.
At this stage, La Trobe does not intend to use geographic names and⁄or IDNs at the second level. However, as the use of the .latrobe gTLD evolves, La Trobe may utilise geographic names and⁄or IDNs within the .latrobe domain space in accordance with registration policy. The use of geographic names and⁄or IDNs is intended to:
- connect internet users with relevant information as applicable to the territory;
- comply with required rules and regulations in the relevant territory; and
- allow internet users to engage with .latrobe in their native language, creating a more positive user experience and encouraging diversity.
The .latrobe gTLD 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 already allows an eligible party to lodge a claim through existing Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) or other dispute resolution processes, the .latrobe gTLD will additionally reduce potential abuses in the registration processes and overall costs to internet users by restricting the eligibility criteria for second and third level domain names in this space. 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 organisations and bodies related to or affiliated with La Trobe will be eligible to register domain names in .latrobe 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.
La Trobe is committed to the protection of privacy and confidential information in accordance with its objective of increasing user 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 users’ confidential information including Information Privacy Act 2000 (Victoria, Australia), Health Records Act 2001 (Victoria, Australia) and Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Commonwealth, Australia).
Privacy is of fundamental concern to La Trobe’s users as such La Trobe has a strong interest in ensuring a high level of privacy protection for its users as demonstrated by the implementation of its various policies including ‘Privacy – Personal Information Procedure’ (Policy Database Document Reference Number 514010D dated 6 May 2002) and ‘Privacy – Health Information Procedure’ (Policy Database Document Reference Number 541012D dated 6 May 2002). La Trobe has implemented its own privacy statement to outline how La Trobe will manage personal information collected through the use of its website, demonstrating its commitment to the protection of user privacy and confidential information. La Trobe ensures that the personal information collected on its websites will only be used and disclosed for the purpose(s) for which it was collected. Any other type of use and disclosure will require the user’s consent, or be in accordance with prescribed exemptions under privacy laws.
As the .latrobe gTLD will only be available to organisations and bodies related to or affiliated with La Trobe initially, 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. La Trobe 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, La Trobe 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.
La Trobe will deploy Domain Name System Security Extensions (DNSSEC) which is intended to benefit both La Trobe and its users interacting with La Trobe 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 .latrobe gTLD. La Trobe already implements measures to protect privacy or confidential information of its users against misuse, loss, alteration and unauthorised access. Such measures include the use of firewalls, Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) data encryption and password authentication.
La Trobe 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 .latrobe 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.
Information regarding La Trobeʹs gTLD will be shared via:
- press releases to mainstream media
- direct communications with affiliates, alumni, students and staff
- social media releases
- promotion of details on existing La Trobe websites and digital channels.
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.
18(c). What operating rules will you adopt to eliminate or minimize social costs?
As a restricted gTLD, registration will only be open to organisations and bodies related to or affiliated with La Trobe at this stage and no unassociated third parties will be able to register domain names under the .latrobe domain space. Therefore, it is not anticipated that third party trademark owners will incur costs in relation to the .latrobe gTLD. The affiliate entities wishing to register domain names must ensure that all the policy requirements for registration are satisfied. La Trobe 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.
As no unassociated third party will be permitted to register domain names at this stage, it is estimated that time and money spent by users who have been targeted by malicious abuse in utilising services on the internet will reduce over time as a result of the new, trusted .latrobe 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 initial use of the proposed new gTLD will be restricted to internal business use and La Trobe and affiliate entities are intended to be the registrants under the .latrobe 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, at this stage, 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, at this stage, so pricing incentives or pricing increases are not applicable or relevant as no additional fees are to be charged.