.pos

.POS is a dedicated, neutral and governed namespace for businesses that sell goods and provide services, and for the global commerce ecosystem that supports them. Point of sale and point of service are where commerce actually happens: shops, restaurants, clinics, hotels, market stalls, mobile trades and their online equivalents. The businesses operating there have no namespace of their own. They are identified through the systems of whichever providers they happen to use, a point-of-sale vendor, a payment processor, a marketplace, a bank, and that identification changes whenever the provider does. Nothing in the current namespace reflects the one element that stays constant: the business itself. The purpose of .POS is to correct that at the level of naming. A .POS domain gives a business a persistent, recognisable name of its own, which does not depend on any single provider and survives a change of provider. The Registry Operator's role is that of a registry: to operate the TLD securely, to publish and apply transparent registration policies, and to keep the namespace open on equal terms to all eligible registrants and all accredited registrars. What .POS is not, stated as commitments: • Not a payment, point-of-sale, ordering or settlement service. The Registry Operator does not compete with the providers of those services. • Not a proprietary platform. Registration will never require a registrant to adopt technology controlled by the Registry Operator or to change any existing commercial relationship. • Not a closed or exclusive namespace. Names are allocated to eligible third parties through accredited registrars on a first-come, first-served basis, subject to published policy and to the mandatory rights protection mechanisms. • Not an identity scheme, trust service, licence or certification. A .POS registration is a domain name registration; it is not a guarantee of any characteristic of the registrant and will not be presented as one. The mission is centred on point of sale and point of service and the commerce ecosystem around them; that is the meaning by which the namespace will be governed. Operating principles: 1. Namespace first. Every further capability is subordinate to providing a recognisable, governed place in the DNS for the commerce ecosystem. 2. Neutrality. No point-of-sale vendor, processor, acquirer, bank, marketplace, delivery, accounting or technology provider will be favoured or disadvantaged in registry operation, policy or name allocation. 3. Portability. A registration belongs to its registrant, is not conditioned on the use of any provider, and is not forfeited when providers change. 4. Eligibility before assurance. Registration is open to businesses selling goods or providing services and to organisations serving them. The Registry Operator will require, by consistent and commercially reasonable means, a demonstrable connection between the registrant and the name registered. The namespace will not present itself as governed while allowing business identities to be registered by parties with no legitimate relationship to them. 5. Assurance as a layer, not a promise. Any enhanced verification offered above that baseline will be optional; it will be described as checks performed at a point in time rather than as certification of a registrant's legal status, solvency or good standing; and it carries no representation that any third party will recognise, accept or reuse it. 6. Room to evolve. The Registry Operator defines the namespace, its purpose and its principles. It does not fix today the technical architecture the surrounding ecosystem may develop, and will not use the registry function to compel its adoption. Benefits: recognisability for businesses and their customers; persistence across changes of supplier and technology; open competition among providers around a neutral namespace; free choice of registrar.