.docs Domain

The mission of Microsoft Corporation is to transform the way people work, play and communicate throughout the world through the provision of software, services and hardware. Microsoft does business throughout the world, with offices in more than 100 countries and over 90,000 employees. Every day, billions of consumers and businesses work, play, and communicate using Microsoft software, services, and hardware.

Microsoft is a world leader in developing innovative technology to enhance individual and business productivity. In the 21st century, consumers and businesses are continually searching for ways to communicate and share information more easily and to share documents seamlessly and reliably with friends, family, and co-workers. Microsoft's Docs service enables Facebook users to create and share Microsoft Office documents directly with their Facebook friends, using the tools available in Microsoft Office 2010. Every month tens of thousands of consumers use the Docs service to share information.

A .docs gTLD may provide a platform and opportunity to expand the potential of this document sharing solution and play a key role in enabling innovative ways for users to communicate more efficiently and to integrate the Docs service into their business productivity workflows.

The mission of the .docs gTLD is to lay the ground work for providing consumers and businesses who interact with Microsoft through the .docs registry with a more secure and authentic experience and to promote the Docs service.
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We expect that our customers will benefit if the .docs gTLD registry allows us to lay the groundwork for providing a more secure, globally recognized platform to complement our ongoing efforts to further enhance the security, stability, and reliability of the Docs service. We are assessing how a .docs registry can enhance these efforts.

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

The goals of the proposed .docs gTLD are to lay the groundwork for providing consumers who interact with Microsoft through the .docs gTLD with an increased sense of security and authenticity and to promote the Docs service.

We anticipate that operation of the .docs gTLD will provide us with the opportunity to personalize, extend, and leverage Microsoft technology to create new inventions and new markets. Because the .docs gTLD is the gTLD counterpart to our enormously popular Docs service, the importance of maintaining and growing this popularity and the Docs service itself dictates that we operate the .docs registry to the highest service levels.

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

Our proposed .docs gTLD will add competition and differentiation to the current space because there is no gTLD currently targeted at enabling consumers and businesses to share documents and information more easily and seamlessly. A .docs gTLD may provide a platform and opportunity to expand the potential of this document-sharing solution, and may play a key role in enabling innovative ways for users to communicate more efficiently and to integrate the Docs service into their business productivity workflows.

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

The goals of the .docs gTLD are to lay the groundwork for providing users who interact with Microsoft through the .docs gTLD with an increased sense of security and authenticity for their document- and information-sharing needs and to promote the Docs service. Dot Docs is a memorable and instinctive TLD that immediately describes what we do.

iv. Provide a complete description of the applicants intended registration policies in support of the goals above

The Microsoft Domain Name Management team is responsible for the development, maintenance and enforcement of the .docs Domain Management Policy (dDMP). This policy defines the rules associated with eligibility and domain name allocation, sets out the terms governing the use of a .docs domain name and describes the dispute resolution policies for the .docs TLD. We intend to update the dDMP as appropriate to reflect Microsoft's commercial and strategic interests as well as ICANN Consensus Policy and Temporary Policy developments. We describe the dDMP below.

Registration of a .docs domain name is undertaken in four steps: Eligibility Confirmation, Naming Convention Check, Acceptable Use Review, and finally Registration.

Registration of .docs domain names will be restricted to Microsoft Corporation and its wholly owned subsidiaries. All domains in the .docs registry will be registered to Microsoft Corporation or one of its wholly owned subsidiaries.

Checks will be performed to ensure that each applied-for domain name satisfies the .docs Naming Conventions. Each .docs domain name must:
• not be a prohibited label such as "example";
• be at least 3 characters and no more than 63 characters long;
• not contain a hyphen on the 3rd and 4th position (tagged domains);
• contain only letters (a-z), numbers (0-9) and hyphens or a combination of these;
• start and end with an alphanumeric character, not a hyphen;
• not match any character strings reserved by ICANN; and
• not match any protected country or territory name identified in the internationally recognized lists set forth in Specification 5 to the New gTLD Agreement, unless Microsoft reaches agreement regarding release of such names with the applicable government or pursuant to a proposal reviewed by the ICANN Governmental Advisory Committee and approved by ICANN.

The .docs registry may support Internationalized domain names (IDN) at the second level.

.docs domain names must be used solely for purposes that, in Microsoft's sole discretion and judgment, enhance its strategic or commercial interests. .docs domains shall not be used to knowingly infringe, violate, or misappropriate the intellectual property rights of any third party.

Registrants may not assign any rights in .docs domains to any third party.

Microsoft will require that the WHOIS data for all .docs domains is accurate and complete.

v. Will your proposed gTLD impose any measures for protecting the privacy of confidential information of registrants or users?

Microsoft is committed to protecting the privacy of employee and customer data.

The .docs registry will be operated by the Microsoft Corporation, a corporation organized under the laws of the State of Washington; data will be processed in accordance with applicable data protection requirements. We intend to comply with the Personal Data obligations set forth in Section 2.10 of the Registry Agreement.

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

We anticipate engaging in the types and scope of outreach and communications appropriate to the operation of a registry anticipated to support a proprietary service in which the service provider and its wholly owned subsidiaries are the registrants of all second-level domain names.
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We believe that the operation of a gTLD registry that matches our service name, the registration of all .docs domain names in the name of Microsoft Corporation or its wholly owned subsidiaries, and the use of those domains in accordance with our requirements will serve to eliminate or minimize social costs and negative consequences/costs imposed on consumers.

i. How will multiple applications for a particular domain be resolved, for example, by auction or on a first come first served basis?

We anticipate that domains in the .docs registry will only be registered to Microsoft Corporation or its wholly owned subsidiaries. We do not anticipate receiving multiple applications for a particular domain and, accordingly, believe that there will be no need for any resolution.

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

Because all .docs domain names will be registered to Microsoft Corporation or its wholly owned subsidiaries, there will be no cost benefits for registrants.

iii. 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 10 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?

We do not intend to make contractual commitments to registrants regarding the magnitude of price escalation because the universe of registrants will be limited to Microsoft Corporation and its wholly owned subsidiaries. We intend to comply with the provisions of Section 2.10 of the Registry Agreement.


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Microsoft is committed to operating this registry in full compliance with all applicable laws, consensus policies, RFCs and the Registry Agreement. Microsoft will follow GAC advice and abide by the requirements in Specification 5 of the Registry Agreement by reserving from initial registration and at no cost those country and territory names contained in the following lists:
1. The short form (in English) of all country and territory names contained on the ISO 3166- 1 list, as updated from time to time, including the European Union; and
2. The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names, Technical Reference Manual for the Standardization of Geographical Names, Part III Names of Countries of the World; and
3. The list of United Nations member states in 6 official United Nations languages prepared by the Working Group on Country Names of the United Nations Conference on the Standardization of Geographical Names.
We will develop the process for reserving these names from registration, in consultation with our technical service provider, Neustar, who has confirmed their willingness and technical capability to assist with compliance.
Because all domains in this registry will be registered for purposes which serve Microsoft's strategic business aims, the reserved names cannot be offered to Governments or other official bodies for their own use as this would conflict with the Mission and Purpose of the TLD. However, for the same reason, they will not be offered to third parties who would be of concern to the GAC.
Microsoft may seek to reach agreement with applicable governments or pursuant to a proposal reviewed by the ICANN Governmental Advisory Committee and approved by ICANN regarding release of country and territory names for registration at the second level by it for its own use.
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