Mission and Purpose: Charleston Road Registry Inc. dba Google Registry (Charleston Road Registry), a company wholly owned by Google, provides registry services to the public. Google is a technology leader focused on improving how millions of users connect with information. In line with Google’s mission, we make information accessible by extending the utility of the Domain Name System while enhancing the performance, security, and stability of the Internet. We aspire to create unique web spaces where users learn about products and services in a targeted manner. The primary purpose of the applied-for gTLD is to provide a dedicated, recognizable, and trusted space where registrants can enact second-level domains that relate to broadcasting, podcasting, media casting, and digital streaming. This applied-for gTLD provides registrants ability to categorize their online locations, securely manage their digital presence, and offer a highly recognized web space to the general Internet population.
Intended Registrants and Users: Charleston Road Registry intends to operate the applied-for gTLD as an open registry. The ultimate goal is to allow various businesses and individuals to comprehensively manage their domain space for casting and media-related offerings. Registration will be widely accessible, and any interested parties will be authorized to register domains in accordance with standard, open registry policies. The intended registrants include podcasters, streaming platforms, broadcasters, media companies, and digital creators. The intended users of the applied-for gTLD are the general Internet public and consumers who will navigate to these domains to securely access broadcasting technologies, audio streams, multimedia content, and services.
Related Activities: The applied-for gTLD will provide registrants with the ability to customize their domain names to signal to Internet users the precise nature of their websites. The specialization goal of the applied-for gTLD is to extend the broadcasting and media identity to each dedicated second-level domain space. This provides a centralized mechanism by which individuals and companies can easily link their diverse initiatives, allowing them to actively manage their digital presence and coordinate the introduction of web spaces for digital streaming services. Launching the applied-for gTLD will generate increased competition in the online marketplace by adding incremental availability to the domain pool. The applied-for gTLD provides an authoritative environment for the provision of targeted content. The applied-for gTLD will spur further innovation by providing an accelerated platform for the seamless introduction of new offerings and enhanced branding.
Sustainability Over Time: Charleston Road Registry will strive to provide the highest level of user experience through operational stability, security, and performance for the applied-for gTLD. This purpose is highly sustainable over time due to Google's long-term corporate standing, continuous investment, and robust technical infrastructure. We are uniquely positioned to provide this experience given our relationship with Google; Google invests heavily in IT infrastructure and maintains a record of excellence in operations. Google runs one of the largest DNS system globally, maintains industry-leading uptime, and offers enterprise services on which governments depend. Google keeps speed, reliability and scale in mind with each new service, ensuring ongoing stability for the registry's lifetime. Google is well-financed and committed to maintaining Charleston Road Registry, ensuring operation of the TLD remains viable, relevant, and fully funded.
The mission of .CAST is to provide a namespace associated with the applied-for string. The .CAST gTLD is intended to serve a broad range of registrants and users, including individuals, businesses, organizations, communities, projects, and other entities that identify with, relate to, or wish to be associated with the concept represented by the applied-for string.
The purpose of .CAST is to enable registrants to establish online identities using domain names that correspond to this concept. To achieve this purpose, Hair Apparent, LLC will make .CAST available for registration through registrars and other appropriate distribution channels; maintain a secure, stable, and reliable registry infrastructure; implement registration and operational policies that support the availability, security, and integrity of the namespace; and provide ongoing administration of the gTLD to enable registrants to register and use domain names within the namespace.
The purpose of .CAST is sustainable over time because the applied-for string has multiple commonly understood meanings and broad applicability across society. As society, technology, and methods of communication evolve, organizations and individuals will continue to establish online identities associated with the applied-for string.
The proposed .cast top-level domain represents the everyday word cast in its full range of senses - sharing and streaming audio and video, the people who appear in a production, and casting in creative and practical settings from performances to hobbies.
Intercap Registry proposes to operate .cast as an open namespace, available for registration by the general public without restriction.
Intended registrants include individuals, creators, businesses, and organizations of all kinds that publish audio or video, present productions and performances, or use the word in its many other senses. Intended users are members of the general public seeking that content.
Intercap Registry will make .cast names available worldwide through ICANN-accredited registrars, promote awareness and adoption of the namespace, publish its registration policies ahead of launch, operate the TLD openly, respond promptly to reports of abuse, and comply with applicable safeguards.
Demand for this category is sustainable: publishing audio and video and presenting live and recorded productions are standing activities for individuals, businesses, and organizations across sectors, and are not tied to any trend, platform, or single company.
Link Freedom Group (LFG) aspires to become a best-in-class, vertically integrated domain name registration authority, see linkfreedomgroup.link. This TLD is part of a carefully curated portfolio of strings that LFG intends to pursue in ICANN’s 2026 New gTLD Program. In assembling this portfolio, LFG focused on securing meaningful, memorable, and commercially compelling strings that resonate strongly with end users and offer long-term growth potential.
Over the past four years, LFG (Nova Registry) has successfully grown its flagship TLD, .LINK, from approximately 125,000 to more than 300,000 domains under management. This growth has been driven by innovative distribution strategies, the expansion of registrar partnerships, and a granular pricing model that has enabled .LINK to remain competitively priced while avoiding the significant fee increases implemented by some other registry operators.
LFG’s experience in the domain name industry has reinforced one of the key lessons from the 2012 application round: long-term sustainability is strengthened through portfolio diversification. By spreading operational costs and mitigating revenue fluctuations across multiple TLDs, LFG is better positioned to withstand market volatility and invest in continued growth. Accordingly, LFG believes that even obtaining a subset of the TLDs for which it has applied will establish a diversified portfolio capable of supporting long-term economic stability, operational resilience, and sustainable growth.