.travel Domain Registrations
Namestrings and Conventions
Initially, all names registered in the .travel top level domain will be at the
second level. All names must be correctly formed according to IANA name string
conventions. No two-letter names will be registered.
Sponsoring Organization Structure
STRUCTURE AND NATUREThe Travel Partnership Corporation ("TTPC" or the "Sponsor") is a District ofColumbia non-profit corporation formed for the purpose of sponsoring the.travel top level domain (TLD), a new sponsored top level domain (sTLD).Membership in TTPC is fully open to any bonafide travel trade industryassociations, organizations or entities. TTPC's rules of operation are set outin its bylaws, which are available on request. TTPC's current members number 13 organizations of which the following 9 arerepresented on its board: Pacific Asia Travel Association, International Hotel& Restaurant Association, World Travel & Tourism Council, InternationalAssociation of Convention & Visitor Bureaus, International Council of CruiseLines, The American Society of Travel Agents, International Air TransportAssociation, European Tour Operators Association, and United Federation ofTravel Agents' AssociationsMANNER OF CONDUCTING OPERATIONS INCLUDING POLICY-FORMULATION (i) TTPC - TTPC, a non-profit corporation owned by the global travel industrythrough its members, has been established for the sole purpose of serving the.travel sTLD community. TTPC currently has 9 members on its board and 4officers. It was incorporated in Washington D.C., on February 12, 2002(ii) Membership and Contributing Organizations - TTPC is a consortium of travelindustry bodies representing a cross-section of the global travel and tourismindustry (hereinafter the application will use the terms "travel industry", orvariations on that term, such as "travel sector", to denote the term "traveland tourism industry"). TTPC has a policy of open membership and currently themembers of the initial board represent approximately 70% of the potentialregistrant base within the 18 industry segments making up the .travel community(Part B "Appropriateness…" sets out these industry segments). There is no international umbrella organization spanning the entire travelindustry. There are some 700 associations and trade organizations in theindustry, all of which are eligible to become members of TTPC. TTPC has begunits membership recruitment with sectoral associations that, in turn, havemembership that includes national, local and individual entities. The currentmembership of TTPC provides endorsement by key organizations. Early membershipand support from TTPC's 9-member board was the essential first step to broadermembership recruitment. The 18 segments that TTPC has identified offer defined limits to membershipsuch that TTPC estimates that the effective registrant base of the .travelcommunity is approximately 500,000 entities. These organizations have long beenlinked through regional, national and sectoral associations and they regularlymeet in cross-sector trade gatherings, and, as needed, to develop and presentunified policy and promotion for legislative change or to address commonconcerns such as visa requirements. TTPC is a natural evolution of thiscommunity network. (iii) TTPC and the Registry - The interim board of TTPC directors has beenelected and is fully described in Part B "Initial Directors…" in thisapplication. The role of the board of directors is to determine and implementall policy for the .travel TLD under the terms of its contract with ICANN. Theboard, in developing and implementing policy, will be assisted by an executivecommittee and a communications committee.TTPC and Tralliance Corporation have divided key .travel operations amongspecialist services. TTPC, will develop the .travel community through: creationof products and services, pricing, eligibility, name selection, disputehandling and communication. Tralliance will provide day-to-day management ofthe registry including: implementation of TTPC policy, oversight of servicecontracts, financial management, and support for TTPC's policy and NeuLevel,Inc. will provide registry operator services. Authentication services will beprovided by travel associations, ChoicePoint, Inc ("ChoicePoint" or "CP") andthe International Air Transport Association (IATA). Details of these outsourcedservices are found in Parts C, D and E.Tralliance Corporation is the applicant. (In this application the terms"Tralliance", "Registry" and "applicant" refer to Tralliance Corporation."Registry Operator" and "NeuLevel" refer to NeuLevel, Inc.)FUNCTIONS AND MISSIONThe .travel TLD will be an sTLD serving the global travel community. The majorgoals of the .travel sTLD are: increased identity, increased adoption ofInternet technology and improved linkages between the industry and itscustomers. The present alternatives available under existing TLDs do not provide thetravel industry with benefits of identity, search efficiency or controlled nameselection. For the travel community, an sTLD offers: - Stronger community identity through an industry-wide common identifier andthrough the support of a specialized representative Sponsor, TPC;- Increased awareness of Internet usage and technology application within thecommunity, through the leadership role of its associations in the Sponsor andthrough the policy role of the Sponsor and Registry in Internet forums; - Application of name registration processes to services that improve thecommunity and the Internet, such as directory services (detailed in Part C1)and improved, current, Whois data (described in Part B (E));- Clear identification of leadership in technology within the community asindividual successes are highlighted;- Development of Internet policy expertise;- Dispute processes for eligibility and name selection review tailored to thecommunity and offering an early, low cost means of handling complaints; - Clear eligibility rules and authentication practices; and- Well-understood eligibility, and name rights offer certainty to potentialregistrants and consumers.Objective and transparent criteria for eligibility and independentauthentication will establish all registrants as legitimate providers oftravel-related products, services, and information. DEFINITION OF COMMUNITYThe .travel TLD will serve a community restricted to businesses, organizations,associations, and private, governmental and non-governmental agencies operatingin the portion of the travel industry defined by the eighteen travel sectorsset out in the section "Appropriateness of Sponsored Community". The Sponsorand its members have approved initial policies and procedures that define thiscommunity in the key areas of eligibility, name selection, authentication anddispute. The travel industry is well-supported by national, international and sectoralorganizations. It is an industry that has defined itself over many decades. Thetravel industry is linked through approximately 700 associations and tradeorganizations. From the International Air Transport Association (IATA), toorganizations of cruise operators such as International Council of Cruise Lines(ICCL), to hotel and restaurant associations such as International Hotel &Restaurant Association (IH&RA), to associations of travel agents such as UnitedFederation of Travel Agents' Associations (UFTAA), the travel industry isorganized by its associations, whose representatives, in turn, make up the TTPCboard. All of the foregoing organizations are members of TTPC. Each of the TTPC-identified business segments have for many years sharedpractices, have worked on business and political problems together and haveongoing communications programs. The associations in these industry segmentsexist because they have common needs and purposes. TTPC and the .travel toplevel domain will serve to link and support these existing lines of sharedactivity by reinforcing their commonality and shared identity. The travel industry and its segments have long been at the forefront of usageof information technology, as reflected by the fact that approximately 99% oftravel transactions today occur over computer networks. The .travel top leveldomain will serve as a recognition of the importance of information technologyin the travel industry and as a means of focusing industry attention on theimportance of understanding of, and participation in, development of theInternet, as well as exploring industry-wide initiatives in informationtechnology such as industry directories, privacy, security and intellectualproperty.OPERATION IN THE INTERESTS OF THE STAKEHOLDERS OF THE COMMUNITY AND THEINTERNETThe .travel TLD has put in place business and technical policies that willimprove the travel industry for its customers. The first of these relates toeligibility (details are found in Part B (C)). The .travel domain willpositively authenticate the eligibility of every registrant, providingconsumers with the first global system of industry recognition in the travelsector. This eligibility will be determined by independent authentication. Authentication data will be stored in a Registry database made up of datasupplied by each registrant in support of its eligibility and its name rights.This data will be checked annually and updated if it has changed and willprovide a single source of data concerning name rights and will serve to permitthe Registry to alert registrars and registrants of a potential need to updateWhois records. Stakeholders will also benefit from a second database-the .travelDirectory-(available at no extra charge at the time of registration), avalue-added service, that will hold product and service data supplied by eachregistrant on an "opt-in" basis organized around a specialized taxonomy andvocabulary created for the travel industry, facilitating searching by thepublic and the trade (the directory is referred to as the ".travel Directory"in this application).
Appropriateness of Sponsored TLD Community
COMMUNITY TO BE SERVEDThe .travel TLD will serve a community restricted to businesses, organizations,associations, and governmental and non-governmental agencies operating in thesectors of the travel industry represented by the eighteen travel segments setout below.The overall population within these sectors has been estimated to be in excessof 1,000,000 travel providers, purveyors, and associated entities. TTPC, aswell as research organizations, project that the effective .travel registrantbase, is approximately 500,000 entities. Specifically, the industry segmentsdefined by TTPC and their estimated size are:Industry Segment/Number of Potential RegistrantsTravel agents/100,000Tour Operators/1,500Airlines (scheduled and charter)/500Hotels/Resorts/550,000Restaurants/350,000Car Rental Companies/500Cruise lines/500Bus/Coach Operators/15,000Bed & Breakfast Houses/100,000Ferries/5,000Passenger Rail Lines/500Theme Parks/5,000Convention & Visitor's Bureaus/5,000National Tourism Offices/200Travel Guide/Magazine Publishers/500Camp Facility Operators/100,000Computer Reservation/Travel Technology Providers/100Travel-Consumer Research Orgs/100Total: 1,234,400The Registry has undertaken its own research of thousands of travel-related keywords applied against all gTLD zone files and estimates that only 10% of theeffective registrant base detailed in the projections above have web sitestoday. Thomson Publishing have provided the Registry with a similar estimate.The large number of potential registrants provides .travel its base andexpectation for growth.SERVING GLOBAL TRAVEL CONSUMERS1.35 billion scheduled passengers (international and domestic) flew onscheduled airlines and 9.2 million passengers took cruises in 2002 as reportedby the International Civil Aviation Organization and the International Councilof Cruise Lines, respectively. A large and expanding consumer base brings withit a large and expanding base of travel businesses. These businesses aregrowing within the framework of the network of more than 700 associations andwithin the sectors defined by TTPC.TTPC will add new services that will support both the industry and consumers.It is the Registry's intention to offer all registrants an opportunity to havea .travel Directory listing at no extra charge at the time of registering adomain name (see Part C1 for details of .travel Directory). The .travelDirectory is intended to be a comprehensive library of information about alltravel products and services traded worldwide, to effectively and efficientlymatch buyers to sellers.SERVING THE GLOBAL TRAVEL INDUSTRYThe .travel top level domain will be the first and only means by which theentire global and regional travel industry and its organizations are abledirectly to participate in domain policy formation and implementation.Regional, national, international and sectoral associations are members of TTPCand will have a membership voice on its board. These same associations andothers will also, for the first time, have an opportunity to serve theirmembers by authenticating name eligibility placing those organizations intomeaningful, daily contact with DNS management and increasing awareness andunderstanding of the Internet and its use by their members.Since TTPC's membership includes associations these members are experienced inreceiving and reviewing membership information. Their role in authenticationdraws on this experience by extending the data they take concerning theirmembers to include name selection and eligibility data which they will thenverify according to their standard process. IATA will carry out the same datacollection and authentication for applicants that are not members ofassociations. This is also a standard procedure for IATA, which is thecredentialing agent for all travel agents in the world.APPROPRIATENESS OF THE COMMUNITY(i) Organization and Self-Definition - The .travel community is made up of morethan 1,000,000 individual entities organized within national/regionalassociations, which are in turn, members of their respective internationalassociations. For example, the American Hotel & Restaurant Association, GermanHotel & Restaurant Association, and Japan Hotel & Restaurant Association areall members of the International Hotel & Restaurant Association. This patternis repeated in essentially all sectors. TTPC's approach to membership to datehas been to recruit the highest level organizations first, since theserepresent the interests of their broad base of membership but there are fewerof these. Certain smaller segments such as ferries, passenger rail lines andbed and breakfast houses are not yet represented.There are approximately 700 organizations representing a potential registrantbase of 500,000 to 1,000,000 in the .travel community. Among them areorganizations formed as long ago as International Association of Convention &Visitor Bureaus in 1914 and the International Council of Cruise Lines asrecently as in 1990. When fully constituted, TTPC's board will be made up of 25members from associations representing almost 100% of the industry. The9-member interim board, representing approximately 70% of the potentialregistrant base of the travel community, has endorsed the .travel TLD and thisapplication.(ii) Size and Scale-The travel industry is international in size and ofsignificant global economic importance. Its size and scale can be highlightedby a few key statistics (from World Travel & Tourism Council sources):- The travel industry is estimated to have generated US$ 4.5 trillion of worldeconomic activity in 2003, and supports just under 200,000,000 jobs, directlyand indirectly.- International travel is an industry whose annual revenue is nearly four timesas large as the value of total global steel exports. Its revenue is 50% greaterthan that of the export value of the international clothing and textilesmarkets, and roughly equal to the value of global automobile exports.- The travel industry is a major source of worldwide employment. Tourismemploys two times as many people as are employed in agriculture globally; eighttimes as many as in mining; and three times as many as in communications.- Travel accounts for 10% of all international trade and 5% of total globaleconomic output.Not only are its economic magnitude and breadth important reasons for thetravel industry to be recognized in the Internet through its own domain, butits size and scale, both financially and in human terms, support its highdegree of potential viability as a top level domain.(iii) The Internet and the Travel Industry - The current online population ismore than 3,000 times the number of people who were online just seven yearsago. The travel industry's use of the Internet has kept pace with its overallrate of growth. According to Forrester Research, travel is the number oneelectronic commerce category. Forrester projected in 2003 that the total valueof online transactions would be approximately US$27 billion out of a totalonline commerce transactions amounting to US$95 billion, making it the singlelargest category in online commerce.Given the continuing growth of the Internet and the role that it now plays inthe industry, the travel business sector is keenly interested in establishingits own, industry-specific space on the Internet to more effectively conductbusiness.The importance of the Internet to the travel industry and the importance of thetravel industry to the Internet make the .travel community an appropriateaddition to the sTLD group.(iv) The Internet and Travel Consumers - The growth of the Internet hascoincided with a radical shift in consumer demand and behavior, whose impact isparticularly notable in the travel industry. At the same time as the Internetbrought consumers a breadth of selection, competitive price discounting, and anactive engagement in the search for products and services, the recent economicdownturn has marked a new level of careful consumer purchasing.Research firm Yesawich, Pepperdine, Brown & Russell (YPB&R) has reported thatconsumers now have "strategic control" of their own travel plans; 6 out of 10users use the Internet for travel planning and 58% believe that they can getthe best rates online. According to YBB&R, the key consumers-now and in thefuture-will be those with access to the Internet via broadband connectivity,because this group wants to plan their own travel.With the Internet as an integral part of travel decision-making, the travelprovider community needs a "home" on the Internet where consumers will findready and intuitive access to the travel content and information.(v) Improved Searching - The travel industry is the largest "target" ofInternet searches. According to Overture (a leader in search advertising), inMarch 2003, the term, "travel" accounted for more Internet searches than anyother industries, with over 168,000,000 that month. Books, music, movies, andtickets combined accounted for the second largest number of searches with164,000,000.It is clear from these figures that travel searches are an important feature inmany, if not most travel transactions. Yet locating precise and detailedinformation is made more difficult by the current distribution of travelsuppliers across the Internet. A key aim and utility of the .travel TLD will be to relieve the frustration ofconsumers struggling in their quest to locate the greatest value, or mosttailored vacation, and to enable the members of the travel industry to turnthose searchers into satisfied customers. The .travel TLD will accomplish thisgoal, first by providing a single location identified as a source of travelindustry businesses and second, by establishing the .travel Directory ofproducts and services.
Representation
MANNER OF REPRESENTATION AND INPUTRepresentation and member input for the .travel TLD will be led by the board
and executive committee of TTPC in consultation with membership and supported
by the Registry. The TTPC board will meet twice a year. In addition, the full
TTPC membership will meet in March of each year. Policy formation and
development is difficult to initiate in large groups and is an ongoing task
that is better suited to a small group that has a precise mandate. For these
reasons, the executive committee of TTPC will have the task of developing
policy, receiving policy input from members and bringing policy recommendations
to the board. The executive committee will be three people nominated and
elected by the TTPC board.
TTPC has also created a communications committee which, in coordination with
the Registry, will serve as a channel for the community to provide the board
input into how policies have been implemented, the experience of registrants
with these policies, the effectiveness of procedures (both technical and
non-technical) and opportunities to improve support and services. In this role,
the committee will complete the policy cycle by focusing on application of
policy in the community. As with the executive committee, the communications
committee will be a three-person committee drawing its mandate from the board.
The TTPC committees, by working closely with the Registry, will elicit comment,
advice and support from independent registrants, individual members of
associations, as well as registrars, on issues of policy and planning for
.travel services and procedures.
The Sponsor will participate in ICANN constituencies and programs, in most
cases through the Registry, which will serve as the ongoing participant and
which will communicate with the Sponsor on issues arising in ICANN. The
Registry will support the Sponsor in developing policies and positions on such
issues, which the Registry will then bring to ICANN forums on behalf of the
.travel TLD. The Registry will also communicate ICANN issues to registrants and
receive their input through its website, participation in trade meetings and
events, and through joint communications programs with TTPC
member-associations. Registrants will also be encouraged to participate in
those parts of the ICANN structure that are open to them.
In addition to these direct means of representation, the policies and
procedures adopted by TTPC for eligibility, authentication of eligibility,
dispute resolution and communication are all designed to reinforce its
representative nature and to implement its community mission. These policies
are detailed later in this application.
Openness and Tansparency
OPENNESSThe structure of TTPC is based on the principle that it is representative ofthe associations that make up the travel industry. TTPC membership is open toany bona fide travel association within the eighteen industry sectorsidentified as making up the .travel community, with these sectors togetherelecting 25 board members. TRANSPARENCYA sponsored top level domain receives policy delegation from ICANN, and itscommunity is part of the broader Internet community. As such, the Sponsor'spolicy and feedback mechanisms have been drawn with ICANN's public processesand forums in mind.Transparency in the .travel TLD will be based on two layers, one layer ofpredictable forums and procedures and one layer of reporting, comment,recommendation and modification. The first layer includes standard agreements,documented practices and procedures, and predictable timetables for meetings,review, consultation and comment and so on. The second layer involves broaddissemination of reports and other material, and mechanisms to receive input.TTPC plans to follow this structure of transparency.TTPC, prior to launch of its startup phase will finalize and publish thefollowing:- A .travel domain organization description, including its committees;- Meeting timetables for the TTPC board and its committees;- A policy and procedure manual covering all aspects of domain management fromregistration to disputes, to renewal transfers, privacy and registrarselection;- A policy review and initiation procedure; and- Standard registrar agreements.Also prior to launch of the startup phase, TTPC will publish communications andfeedback procedures including:- A segment of the .travel website devoted to communication to and fromregistrants, with a mechanism for public posting of communications fromregistrants;- A procedure for broad dissemination of board reports and policies for itsmembers; and - A procedure for policy initiation and modification by registrants through themembers, executive committee and the board of TTPC.ONGOING OUTREACHBeyond these formalized mechanisms of communication, TTPC and Tralliance willuse membership drives-promoting membership in TTPC-as a mechanism to continueto strengthen the membership, representativeness and participation in TTPC andthe .travel TLD policy processes. In addition, the well-established annualschedule of meetings and trade shows held by TTPC members includes more than 25annual gatherings at which the Registry will attend to communicate directlywith registrants and potential registrants as well as to promote the use of the.travel domain. In addition, TTPC's members are associations havingwell-established communications programs offering a direct communicationschannel to the industry through their newsletters, websites and email. TheRegistry will use all of these means to distribute information, TLD FAQs,presentation templates and so on. All of these methods will be in addition tooutreach through the Registry website and its own communications programs. TheRegistry has engaged an industry veteran to lead liaison with industryassociations.
Register .travel Domain
A. Add new value to the Internet name space
NAME VALUE
The domain name extension, .travel, provides a simple and recognizable category
name that identifies long-standing business activities and global social
activity, together with clear international institutional networks.
The name extension does not designate a recent trend in the Internet or the
information economy, nor does it designate a product or service. It is not an
abbreviated form that may not be recognized or changed by usage or location.
The travel sector identifies itself now by the designator "travel industry."
TTPC's membership, representing approximately 70% of the potential registrant
base of the 18 proposed industry segments, concurs that no key industry
organization is overlooked by the name extension.
The .travel name extension is the English language term used by the global
travel industry. Given the usage of English in all travel segments, the
extension, .travel, is a common, understood and accepted term that is
synonymous with the industry. The .travel top level domain is differentiated
from existing TLDs by virtue of the fact that it is the only domain that will
encompass all of the features that are essential both to identify the
registrant as part of the travel community and to provide that community the
support it requires.
In particular:
- No other domain offers a registration mechanism that is linked to association
and authentication data improving identification of industry members;
- No other domain offers eligibility and authentication that provide a
verification of extensive registrant information for all registrations; and
- No other top level domain links all registrant name selection to rights to
use that name, ensuring a high level of intellectual property protection.
SERVING THE GLOBAL TRAVEL INDUSTRY
The .travel top level domain will be the first means by which global and
regional travel industry organizations are directly able to participate in
domain policy formation and implementation. These same organizations will also,
for the first time, have an opportunity to serve their members by
authenticating name eligibility placing those organizations into meaningful,
daily contact with DNS management and increasing awareness and understanding of
the Internet and its use by their members.
The .travel Directory will assist the .travel domain holders in regions and
nations by making local and regional product and service suppliers more readily
searchable and by providing current and extensive data.
SERVING GLOBAL TRAVEL CONSUMERS
To facilitate consumers' needs to locate specific travel information it is the
Sponsor's intention to offer registrants a domain name with a listing in the
.travel Directory, to improve how .travel and its registrants will serve travel
communities. The .travel Directory will be a source of information about
travel products and services traded worldwide, helping to effectively and
efficiently match buyers to sellers. The state-of-the-art .travel Directory
will enable precise searching.
BUSINESS ACTIVITIES
The .travel top level domain represents a collection of endeavors and
activities that are important in all regions of the world. The following are
examples of this span and importance (these and the data following in this
section are derived from the World Travel and Tourism Council):
In 2003, the world's travel generated close to US$ 4.5 trillion of economic
activity (total demand). The industry's direct impact includes; 67 million
jobs representing 2.6% of total employment, US$ 1.3 trillion of GDP equivalent
to 3.7% of total GDP.
In 2003, Asia/Pacific's travel is expected to generate US$ 947 billion of
economic activity (total demand). The industry's direct impact includes; 38
million jobs representing 2.3% of the total employment, US$ 265 billion of GDP
equivalent to 3% of the total GDP.
In 2003, Africa's travel is expected to generate US$74 billion of economic
activity. The industry's direct impact includes 5 million jobs representing
2.6% of total employment and US$ 21 billion of GDP, equivalent to 3.4% of total
GDP.
In 2003, United States' travel is expected to generate US$ 1.4 trillion of
total economic activity. The industry's direct impact includes 6.5 million
jobs representing 4.8% of total employment and US$ 462 billion of GDP
equivalent to 4.3% of total GDP.
SOCIAL ACTIVITY
Travel is perhaps the single most identifiable, cross-cultural social activity.
And, unlike many social activities that are private and local, travel is a
broad-based, naturally social activity that interacts necessarily with
suppliers, other travelers and travel information, all of which will be
facilitated and improved by the availability of the .travel extension and its
services on the Internet.
INSTITUTIONAL NETWORKS
TTPC has identified eighteen industry segments that define the travel
community. Spanning and linking these segments are approximately 700
associations and organizations. Among these, international organizations are
both of long-standing, such as the International Association of Conventions and
Visitor Bureaus have been in existence since 1914, while the International
Council of Cruise Lines was formed in 1990, indicating the continuing growth
and renewal in the institutions making up the travel system.
The travel industry's institutional network is international and will be
strengthened and improved by the existence of the .travel domain name as its
single point of reference on the Internet. The creation of TTPC by the travel
industry and its support by its representative associations is a direct
reflection of the value these associations see in the .travel top level domain.
The Internet of today is more than the communications network of a few years
ago, it is now an infrastructure giving rise to new issues of privacy,
intellectual property, network security and international trade in digital
products. The benefits and problems relating to these issues will require
coherent responses from well-informed communities sharing interests and
purposes. The .travel community, with its array of representative
organizations, will be better able to understand and respond to challenges and
opportunities of the Internet where a single domain name identifies them and
focuses issues through policy participation that is includes them.
BENEFITS TO THE DNS
Attracting new suppliers and users to DNS service is a matter of identifying
benefits to be received, and promotion and communication of those benefits to
prospective users. Key in these new benefits to the DNS system and its users is
that the .travel TLD will provide an authenticated identifiable domain for one
sector of business. Ancillary to its policies of eligibility and authentication
are annual checks of registrant information to ascertain if there have been
changes, leading to potential improvements in Whois delivery.
The .travel domain will offer the travel industry domain name benefits that
have not been available to now. The first of these is industry identification
on the Internet. Tied to this benefit is the industry and customer support that
is to be achieved through registrant authentication and name selection based on
name rights. Identification as part of the travel industry through name
registration will also carry with it optional inclusion in the .travel
Directory, a first in the travel sector.
In order to achieve maximum benefit from the availability of a new TLD,
benefits must be communicated. Through the .travel TLD, a large number of
associations will be involved in TTPC and as authentication agents. This base
of organizations, through their grassroots participation and fee revenue
generated from authentication, will have an incentive to inform their members
of the benefits of .travel name registration. To this point travel associations
have had no particular incentive to promote any name registration to their
members, a fact reflected in the current estimated 10% Internet penetration
rate.
Much of the current online activity in the travel industry now occurs through
intermediary organizations such as ticket brokers or consolidators, meaning
that many industry organizations have not had a reason to develop their own
Internet presence. With the availability of the .travel Directory and industry
authentication that a .travel name provides, these organizations will have a
compelling reason to register their own names and choose to list their products
and services in the .travel Directory.
COMPETITIVE BENEFITS
The launch of the .travel domain will place it in direct competition with many
registries, both gTLDs and ccTLDs, and should provide competitive
differentiation among registrars. There are many new service features in the
.travel domain:
- Improved identity through a name that identifies the registrant's business;
- Inclusion in the first central, .travel Directory for the travel industry;
- Authentication of industry membership;
- Registration of names that reflect registrant rights to name usage, with
reduced concern for cyber-squatting and speculation;
- A thick registry, with improved Whois;
- A Sponsor that is a representative of their industry and that provides a
channel and procedure for industry-specific policy development; and
- A dispute process that includes provision for industry-managed resolution of
eligibility and name selection denial, supplementing UDRP.
For registrars the .travel domain offers:
- A sponsored domain, that increases the number of such domains for those
registrars that are developing a specialty in sponsored domain services;
- A global, business-oriented domain with a large potential registrant base;
- An authentication process that adds value to the name selection, but which
does not impose additional technical or business burdens on the registrar.
Register .travel Domain
B. Protect the rights of others
This Part to a large degree summarizes the rights impact of policies provided
in more detail in Part B (C).
Screening for both eligibility and for name rights will be performed during the
registration, transfer or renewal process, prior to a name registration being
accepted or renewed. In addition, eligibility data will be updated annually and
any changes to relevant data will initiate an eligibility review in the same
manner as for an initial registration. Failure to meet eligibility criteria at
any time will give rise to a possible revocation of the registered name.
ELIGIBILITY
Applicants for a .travel domain name must be verifiable participants in the
travel industry and each name applied for be a name to which there is a right
that has been established through rights registration or use. Each applicant
will be required to declare which category of right it relies on for the
registration. In all applications, eligibility and name selection rights will
be authenticated by a third party specialist as detailed in Part B (C).
ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS
Most abusive registrations can be eliminated or minimized by the eligibility
and authentication procedures policies proposed by TTPC. Only verified travel
organizations or businesses will be entitled to register a name. Name
registration in the .travel TLD by non-travel entities, to permit redirection
to non-travel sites or to provide non-travel information (e.g. pornographic
sites), will be virtually eliminated by requiring the applicant to be a member
of the travel industry. Cyber-squatting will be reduced by eligibility
requirements and virtually eliminated by name selection requirements.
NAME SELECTION REQUIREMENTS
In addition to protection against cyber-squatting, name selection requirements
virtually eliminate speculative and block purchases of registrations that
stifle use and expansion of the domain. A registrant must hold a right to the
name registered, virtually eliminating speculative generic or product-related
registrations.
PRIORITY OF RIGHTS
Several entities around the world may hold legal rights to the same name string
by virtue of use or under national registration systems. The .travel domain
will not attempt to assess equivalence or priority of rights. The first to
apply for a given name will be allowed to register that name if they otherwise
meet name selection and eligibility requirements. UDRP and Sponsor-created
processes such as CEDRP are the appropriate processes to deal with disputes
over priority of rights.
At the commencement of the startup period, members of TTPC whose membership and
eligibility data have been authenticated by their association not less than ten
days prior to the startup period, will be given the opportunity to register
names during the sixty day startup. No other applicants will be accepted during
that time. All other policies for eligibility and name selection apply equally
during startup and later. The startup period will provide a controlled test
phase for authentication systems, name selection procedures and registry
operations by opening registrations to pre-authenticated members of TTPC
member-associations, but will not otherwise grant priority to any applicants.
RESERVED NAMES
Some names such as country and place names (e.g. Russia, New York) and industry
names (e.g tickets, trips, global, international) may be names currently in use
by a travel entity. However, these names have a value to the entire travel
industry. Even though one business may have a legal right to the name its
registration would inhibit use by a broadly-representative agency. A limited
list of such words (e.g. major city names in English or the local language)
will initially be reserved and will only be opened for registration under
policies determined by the Sponsor after consultation with the community.
THIRD-LEVEL NAMES
The Registry will not create second level categories for the purpose of
registering names at the third level. Registrant rights to use the third-level
will be restricted in the .travel domain through the registrant contract in
order to prevent abusive sale to ineligible entities. Eligible name registrants
will be entitled to create third-level names for their own use, or the use of
controlled entities. Registrants will not be permitted to sell or distribute
names at the third level since these names might be obtained by ineligible
entities. Names at the third level will not otherwise be limited. Use of the
third-level by an ineligible entity will entitle the registry to revoke the
second level name.
ILLEGAL USE AND COMPLIANCE
Use of a name that is barred or prohibited by law or legal proceeding in any
jurisdiction, will permit the Sponsor to revoke the name.
The .travel domain policies and procedures on eligibility and name selection
provide a mechanism to ensure ongoing oversight. These policies can be readily
altered from time to time to provide any further limitations required by
applicable legislation.
C. Assurance of charter-compliant registrations and avoidance of abusive registration practices
ELIGIBILITY POLICY
Applicants for a .travel name must be, and will positively represent that they
are a member of the travel industry in one of the eighteen industry segments
initially identified by TTPC. After the startup phase, they need not be a
member of an association and may be an entity of any type, including a sole
proprietorship or partnership. In the course of name registration and prior to
name confirmation they will provide eligibility data including:
- Full name;
- Data supporting name(s) selected;
- During the startup period only: membership in an association that is a member
of TTPC; and
- Local business information, such as business license number.
The full registration and authentication process is detailed later in this
Part. What follows is a summary noting other policy elements.
A registration may also be denied in three other circumstances, all of which
require tracking procedures: a change of eligibility status during the
registration period; transfer to a new entity; renewal by the registrant where
eligibility status has changed.
Where the registrant's circumstances have changed (i.e. a change in any of the
information, such as change of business name) it will be contractually
obligated to file new authentication data and authentication will occur in the
same manner as in initial registration. Annual checks of authentication data
will be initiated by the Registry and the applicable association. The
registrant will be informed of the outcome of the all reviews. In the case of
denial of eligibility the registrant will be able to seek a review within 30
days and the name will not be impaired until the review request period has
lapsed. Where eligibility is denied a name will be revoked.
In the case of transfer to a new registrant, the original name
holder/transferor and transferee will be obligated to file new authentication
data under penalty of name revocation. The name will remain unimpaired until
authentication has occurred and any review request period has lapsed or a
review has been completed. In the case of a denial of eligibility of the
proposed name holder, the name will be revoked.
There will be no auto-renewals at the time of renewal; all registrants will be
required to complete a new authentication form or to confirm all original data.
Authentication, confirmation, deferral and denial will all occur in the same
manner as in initial registration.
Names that are denied in the course of initial registration will be returned to
the pool of available names. Names that are denied in the course of changed
circumstances, renewal and transfer will be held in reserve for six months and
then returned to the pool of available names.
NAME SELECTION POLICY
Name selection in the .travel domain will be restricted to names to which the
applicant has a right through registration, or use of the name as the name
under which it carries on business (the "Doing Business Name"). Each applicant
must designate the category of right it relies on for the registration.
The applicant will be entitled to apply for all names to which it has a right,
but will not be entitled to apply for certain reserved names that fall into
categories of country and place names and industry names (e.g. France, trip,
travel, ticket, beaches, international, global etc.). A limited list of such
industry names in English as well as the names of major cities in English and
local form, will be reserved pending finalization of policies in consultation
with the .travel community.
All names will be available on a first-come-first-served basis and the Sponsor
will not attempt to determine priority of rights among potential applicants
that may have similar rights to the same name.
THIRD-LEVEL NAMES
Third-level names will be restricted under the terms of the registrant
agreement in the manner detailed above in Part B(B).
REGISTRATION AND AUTHENTICATION
(i) Startup Phase - The sixty-day startup period is designed as a test of the
authentication process, the registry technical system as well as the Registry
operations. Registrations will be limited to members of associations that are
members of TTPC. Each applicant will supply data to become pre-authenticated by
their association. ChoicePoint, Inc. (CP), will perform the final
authentication and its database will be populated prior to the startup phase.
CP will issue each qualifying applicant a Unique Identification Number (UIN).
Holders of a UIN, register through an ICANN-accredited registrar, that has
entered into an agreement with the Registry (hereafter "registrar" means one
with dual accreditation). Each registrar will send to NeuLevel, the Registry
Operator, all required registration data, and the registrant's UIN. If the
name is available, NeuLevel will send the UIN, domain name, and registrant data
to CP for authentication. CP will authenticate by comparing the UIN, registrant
contact data, and domain name selection to its database received from the
participating travel associations and by verifying that the name selected
matches the .travel name selection policy.
If the CP authenticates a match, NeuLevel will complete the registration of the
domain and enter the domain name into the .travel zone and Whois databases. If
the authentication is not successful, NeuLevel will return the appropriate
failure code to the registrar, and the registration will not be completed.
At the conclusion of a registration, the registrar will give the registrant a
domain name's identity code and send them to the .travel Directory. The
registrant will not be required to enter data in the .travel Directory.
(ii) Go Live Phase - During the go-live phase, registration of .travel domain
names will be open to all entities, businesses (including sole proprietorships
and partnerships) and organizations involved in the travel industry, whether or
not they are a member-association of TTPC. All registrants will be required to
be authenticated, with a UIN from CP (if applicable), or during registration,
through a Registry authentication web site. Regardless of their manner of
authentication, all registrants will be required to register their domain name
through a registrar.
Registrants with a UIN will register a .travel domain name during the go-live
phase in the same way as during the startup phase. If the UIN submitted by the
registrant, along with other data meets all authentication and name selection
requirements, the name will be registered in the same fashion as in startup.
Registrants WITHOUT a UIN will submit required domain registration data to
NeuLevel via a registrar. In this circumstance, authentication by CP will not
occur in real time. Therefore, NeuLevel will reserve the domain name until it
is authenticated (or fails authentication as described below). Once the name
has been reserved, the registrar will be debited the full registration fee. The
registrar will then be required to provide the registrant with its domain
authorization code, and send the registrant to the Registry authentication web
site managed by NeuLevel to begin the authentication process.
The registrant will have 24 hours from name reservation to enter the required
data into the authentication web site using their authorization code. In
addition, the registrant will be required to indicate its primary country of
residence which will determine which authentication provider (i.e. CP or IATA)
will perform the authentication as follows.
- If a resident of the United States or Canada, CP will authenticate within 36
business hours, and will notify NeuLevel of the results. NeuLevel will notify
the registrar whether the authentication has been approved or failed and the
registrar will notify the registrant. Where authentication fails, the
registrant will be provided with information about the registry authentication
denial review process. No refunds will be issued for any registrant that fails
authentication, which TLD policy will be communicated to the registrant at the
beginning of the process.
- If the registrant is not a member of a TTPC association (or is a member
without a UIN) and is also not a resident of the United States or Canada,
NeuLevel will send authentication data to IATA via email. IATA will
authenticate within 12 calendar days, and notify NeuLevel. NeuLevel, will send
these results to the registrar. The registrant will be provided with
information about the appeal process through its registrar. No refunds will be
issued for any registrant that fails authentication, which TLD policy will be
communicated to the registrant at the beginning of the process.
If the authentication succeeds NeuLevel will register the domain. If the
authentication is not successful, NeuLevel will return a failure code to the
registrar, and the registration will not be completed. On name renewal every
registrant must renew their representation of eligibility and confirm or amend
their authentication data. In addition, the Registry and associations will
carry out an annual check of registrants to confirm that all authentication
data remains accurate. Where information has changed the Registry will
determine whether authentication should be repeated or Whois information
updated. The Registry will inform the registrant of any such requirement.
Transfer of a registered name from one eligible entity to another will require
the proposed new holder to submit its own authentication data and pass the same
authentication review as is required on initial registration. Failure to file
such data, or filing of false data will be grounds for revocation of the name
registration.
All ineligible entities will be denied name registration until they have filed
a request for repeat authentication. If they pass authentication they will be
permitted to select names that meet name selection criteria.
Register .travel Domain
D. Assurance of adequate dispute-resolution mechanisms
DISPUTE RESOLUTION
The .travel Sponsor, TTPC, has adopted authentication policies and procedures
that ensure eligibility at the time of initial application, on renewal and on
transfer and which provide a means to challenge eligibility.
The .travel domain will implement both the ICANN Uniform Dispute Resolution
Policy and proposes to develop dispute policies similar to the Charter
Eligibility Dispute Resolution Policy now used by sTLDs, and will include both
policies in its registrant agreement. TTPC also proposes to supplement UDRP and
CEDRP-like policies with its own informal review process in the case of denial
of eligibility and name selection only. This process will permit a denied
applicant the right to apply for a review of its eligibility or name selection
denial. The dispute process will consider claims that the applicant meets
eligibility criteria or that the applicant has rights to a name that has been
denied where that name is not on the reserve list. Only a denied applicant will
be given access to the process conducted by a TTPC-named panel.
OTHER REGISTRATION
A registration may also be denied in three other circumstances, all of which
require tracking procedures: a change of eligibility status; transfer to a new
entity; and/or upon renewal by the registrant.
- Where the registrant's circumstances have changed (i.e. a change in any of
the information that is contained in the authentication data it filed, such as
its business name) it will be under a contractual obligation to the Registry to
file a new authentication data form and authentication will occur in the same
manner as in initial registration. However, in this case, a registrar is not
involved in the process and there is a presumption of eligibility so that the
name is not deferred or impaired. The registrant will be informed of the
outcome of the authentication review. In the case of denial of eligibility the
registrant will be permitted to seek a review within 30 days and the name will
not be impaired until that review has occurred or until the review request
period has lapsed. Where eligibility is denied a name will be revoked following
notice to the registrant. The same informal appeal process as is available for
initial registration and denial will be available at this stage.
- In the case of transfer to a new entity, the name registration will be
treated as in the case of a change of circumstances in the original registrant.
The original name holder/transferor as well as the new name holder/transferee
will be obligated to file new authentication data under penalty of name
revocation. The name will remain unimpaired until authentication has occurred
and the review request period has lapsed or a review has been completed. In the
case of a denial of eligibility of the proposed name holder, the name will be
revoked following notice to the registrant.
- In the case of a name renewal, there will be no auto-renewals and all
registrants will be required to complete a new authentication form or to
confirm all data originally filed. Authentication, confirmation, deferral and
denial will all occur in the same manner as in initial registration. As in the
case of initial registration, there will be no fee for re-authentication on
renewal, other than the normal name registration fee which will be the same as
for an initial registration.
Names that are denied in the course of initial registration are returned to the
pool of available names. Names that are denied in the course of changed
circumstances, renewal and transfer will be held in reserve for six months and
then returned to the pool of available names.
INELIGIBLE ENTITIES
All ineligible entities will be recorded and denied name registration until
they have filed a request for authentication due to a change in the
circumstances that caused them to be denied. Once authenticated, they will be
permitted to select names that meet name selection criteria.
Register .travel Domain
E. Provision of ICANN-policy compliant WHOIS service
The .travel top level domain will be a thick registry enabling the Registry to
provide complete Whois information. The Registry Operator will provide this
service.
The .travel domain will receive all applications through ICANN-accredited
registrars and each of these registrars will provide complete Whois
information. Updates of eligibility data annually as well as at the time of
transfer and renewal, will provide the Registry the opportunity to inform
registrars and registrants that Whois data may require correction. More
information on the Whois service is set out in Part E.
Source: http://www.icann.org/tlds/stld-apps-19mar04/travel.htm
Register .travel Domain
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